Bitcoin's influence over cryptocurrency prices could end soon, says Ripple CEO

Cryptocurrency prices have been highly correlated with bitcoin, falling in lockstep for the first half of 2018.
That could be coming to an end as markets begin to understand the major differences between cryptocurrencies and their use cases, says Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
"It's early, over time you'll see a more rational market and behaviors that reflect that," Garlinghouse says
"There's a very high correlation between the price of XRP and the price of bitcoin, but ultimately these are independent open-sourced technologies," Garlinghouse told CNBC's "Power Lunch" Wednesday. "It's early, over time you'll see a more rational market and behaviors that reflect that."

Ripple is the name of the San Francisco-based company developing a network for faster global financial payments, while XRP is the name of the digital token that financial institutions on the network can use to transact quickly.

The company itself had a record first quarter, signing 20 production contracts with new firms, Garlinghouse said. Ripple announced a deal with the largest bank in Kuwait on Wednesday, adding to companies like MoneyGram that are already testing XRP for cross-border payments.