I agree with you, @michiel. I don't see a solid reason for XRP to go up like this. Banks are buying their XRP from the company with a discount. So it is only Hype.
On the other hand, BTC is still unable to solve the scalability problem! This is giving a big chance to competitors.
Yes you are right, BTC has its problems but LTC, Dash ect. are competitors but Ripple isn't. I think people that buy Ripple because the problems of BTC are missing the point.
100% agreed.