XRP Price (XRP)

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of XRP.

What Is XRP?

XRP is the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, a cryptocurrency payment system created by Ripple Labs Inc. XRP is its "digital asset built for global payments," implying that Ripple plans to rival money transfers usually conducted by the banking system. XRP would allow users to send money at a very low cost, attracting the potential interest of retail customers and banks alike. A key value proposition of Ripple is its minuscule transaction costs while offering transaction finality of under five seconds.

The company was founded in 2012 by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb and is based on the work of Ryan Fugger, who created the XRP Ledger in 2012. The XRP Ledger is an open-source cryptographic ledger powered by a peer-to-peer network of nodes. McCaleb eventually left Ripple and founded Stellar, another payments-oriented cryptocurrency.

After the company rebranded from its original name OpenCoin to Ripple, it pursued high-level partnerships with Bank of America, Santander, and Standard Chartered. However, Ripple soon got into legal trouble with US regulatory authorities over not complying with the Bank Secrecy Acts, and was later labeled as an unregistered security. This lawsuit has still not been resolved as of early 2022. Moreover, the company has been accused of misleading advertising in the early stages of its existence.

How Does XRP Work?

Ripple proposes a cheaper and more efficient alternative to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system to process international transactions. This is supposed to happen via the Internet of Value, which is the umbrella term for several of Ripple's products: RippleNet, the XRP Ledger, the XRP coin, and RippleX.

RippleNet is its global network that financial institutions can use to transfer money more quickly and at a lower cost than through traditional systems. This is possible thanks to the single API that is needed to connect to RippleNet. RippleNet also offers On-Demand Liquidity (ODL), thereby removing the need for pre-funding in cross-border transactions. It essentially acts as a middleman between two transacting parties and smooths out liquidity between different foreign currencies. For instance, a European retailer may not wish to receive US dollars and vice versa. ODL steps in and uses XRP as a bridge to facilitate the transaction.

XRP Ledger is Ripple's open-source blockchain with the XRP coin as its native asset. It runs independently of the Ripple company, although Ripple uses it for various purposes. While not as popular as other blockchains, the XRP Ledger can also be used as a settlement layer.

In contrast to Ethereum, the XRP Ledger does not use a Proof-of-work consensus mechanism. It also does not work with a Proof-of-stake consensus mechanism like many of its rivals. Instead, it uses the XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol, which is a more centralized and efficient solution to reduce transaction finality time and transaction costs. With the XRP Ledger, transactions can be completed in mere seconds, much faster than the ten-minute block time of Bitcoin or traditional systems like SWIFT.

Finally, RippleX is a platform offering blockchain solutions to projects that want to provide payment-oriented services. Instead of building their own DApps and blockchain solutions from scratch, companies can harness the expertise and products of RippleX and the XRP Ledger to provide mainstream compatibility and an engaging user experience. Thus far, two protocols have launched on RippleX: Interledger, a payments company providing compatibility between different payment systems, and PayString, a solution that simplifies payment addresses.

In conclusion, Ripple has a naturally attractive value proposition for cross-border payments, which to this day has not been adequately solved by other protocols. Ripple can become a legitimate alternative to the SWIFT system with its increased speed and efficiency.

However, the unresolved SEC vs Ripple lawsuit continues to loom in the background for Ripple. Before the company can attempt to challenge legacy solutions like SWIFT, it will first need to resolve its unclear regulatory situation.

How Do You Buy XRP?

XRP is available on most centralized exchanges like Binance, Bithumb, KuCoin, Huobi Global, Bybit, Gate.io, FTX, Bitstamp, Bitfinex, Kraken, and others.

How Do You Store XRP?

You can either store your XRP on an exchange, where the exchange is responsible for the safety of your asset or store your XRP in a cold or hot wallet.