Ripple’s X-rapid has scored big and landed partnerships with 3 major exchanges which will help greatly with XRP’s liquidity. The partner here is Bittrex, which will help their USD liquidity. The have also partnered with coins.ph for the Philippines and a Mexican exchange as well for the Peso. Liquidity will make XRP more attractive for buyers, especially if you can buy a crypto straight with USD.
Ripple itself has partnered with Saudi Arabia’s National Commerical Bank to get into the banking industry in the middle east, putting them in direct competition with XLM.
These two are good news for Ripple in the middle of their lawsuits and shows that XRP can go toe to toe with XLM.