Ripple is a digital currency built on top of the XRP Ledger. The ledger uses a decentralized system of governance and has over 150 validators

Ripple | Everything you need to know about XRP

Current Price of Ripple (XRP) = $0.35 USD

Current Market Capitalization = $17B

Ripple is a digital currency built on top of the XRP Ledger. The ledger uses a decentralized system of governance and has over 150 validators spread across the world. With no central authority in charge, transactions are fast and cheap. The XRP Ledger supports RippleNet and RippleX, the leading products of the platform.

Not enough can be said about Ripple's potential to bring down the financial system in the future. XRP is already threatening SWIFT's dominance in cross-border money transfers. This guide will take you through the history of Ripple as well as explain its growth potential.

What is Ripple and why was it created (XRP)?

Ripple is a form of digital money created especially for payment networks and banks. The cryptocurrency is a native RippleNet token. RippleNet is a payment system run by Ripple Labs and built on top of the XRP Ledger, which is an open source and decentralized blockchain technology. The payment system is characterized by its fast transaction speed, with an average transaction settlement speed of four seconds. Comparatively, the transaction settlement time on the Bitcoin network is 3600 seconds.

The idea behind Ripple is older than the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Ryan Fugger is credited with conceptualizing a decentralized real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system in 2004. Later in 2012, Jed McCaleb and Chris Larson expanded on the idea and created OpenCoin, the precursor to Ripple.

In the OpenCoin whitepaper outlined a blockchain based payment system that would target financial institutions as its primary customers. After being renamed Ripple, the founders created a company called Ripple Labs, and hired Brad Garlinghouse as CEO, to run the payment system.

One of the areas where Ripple made an immediate impact was cross-border payments. Developers created RippleNet to streamline transactions. When transacting in fiat currency, consumers and businesses often suffer the inconvenience of having to exchange between currencies, in addition to suffering losses from exchange rate differences. RippleNet uses the XRP token as an intermediary to streamline fiat currency exchange without slippage.

Additionally, digital currency facilitates faster settlement of transactions at speeds never seen before in traditional payment industries. Due to the use of the peer-to-peer transaction system, Ripple users enjoy micro-rates where the average fee is $0.0003403. RippleNet's competitors in the traditional payment sector, such as VISA, charge a fee thousands of times higher.

How does Ripple work?

First of all, Ripple is a digital currency that draws its strength from blockchain technology. Most blockchain platforms obtain consensus through proof-of-work (PoW) or proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanisms. The PoW system is slower and consumes more energy, unlike the PoS system, which allows faster validation of transactions and consumes less energy.

However, blockchain platforms like XRP Ledger use another form of consensus, in this case, called the Wave Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA). Consensus is simply the way nodes in a blockchain network maintain agreement and correctness. The RPCA runs through the 150+ nodes that make up the global XRP Community.

The consensus system has given Ripple seven years of stability, which has allowed Ripple developers to expand the product range of the ecosystem. For example, developers have been able to extend the capacity of RippleNet in a way that it offers on-demand liquidity to its business customers. This makes global payments faster and cheaper.

3 important characteristics of Ripple (XRP)

Fast settlement of transactions

Payments made through the XRP Ledger take less than 4 seconds to complete. This is thanks to Ripple's network of validators that are located on every continent. RippleNet removes pre-funding requirements when it comes to trading and remitting cash. As a result, transactions are confirmed almost instantly. Furthermore, the immutability of the details published in the XRP Ledger has improved the transparency around international payments.

Highly scalable

Currently, Ripple can handle up to 1,500 transactions per second 24 hours a day. This is incredible considering that the average number of transactions per second (TPS) on rival networks like Bitcoin is 5. Ripple developers have determined that RippleNet is scalable to handle the same TPS as VISA, which was 65,000 as of July 2019. 2019. Therefore, XRP is not only able to offer transparency and profitability, but also offers high TPS.

Steady

Stability is a difficult concept in cryptocurrencies, especially considering the number of forks that happen for philosophical reasons. Since Ripple was founded, the ecosystem has remained strong and dynamic. So far, more than 59 million forks have been closed without problems. Additionally, ACRP's consensus mechanism is energy efficient, so there is no need for major and potentially destabilizing improvements.

Is it worth investing in Ripple?

Ripple presents two main reasons why investment is worthwhile. First of all, the price of digital currency is low. At the time of this writing, one XRP token was worth $0.250355. Interestingly, the price is a far cry from the $0.00634 it was worth in early 2017.

Why would the low price make Ripple worth the investment? Today, Ripple has a wide appeal in society and continues to grow. Products like RippleNet have shaken up the global payments industry and there's more to come. As such, XRP could gain more usage, the result of which could be a higher valuation. The possibility that the price of XRP will grow in the future should provide a strong incentive for one to invest in it today.

Another thing that gives Ripple value is that it solves problems that consumers and businesses have struggled with for years. While consumers want convenience and lower transaction costs, businesses want faster transaction speeds. RippleNet achieves this and can do better. Ripple will undoubtedly play a bigger role in international payments, especially if the world continues to shift towards digital payments.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ's)

1. What is Ripple Labs?

Ripple Labs is the company responsible for the development of Ripple. Ripple is a blockchain platform that offers payment solutions where its vision, according to the Ripple website, is to allow the world to move value in the same way that information moves. RippleNet is the most valued product of Ripple Labs and has more than 300 financial institutions from 40 countries as clients.

2. Is Ripple comfortable?

Yes. Ripple allows you to make digital payments without having to rely on intermediaries that often complicate the transaction process. Also, users wait less than 5 seconds to settle transactions.

3. What is XRP used for?

The main function of XRP is to facilitate the exchange and sending of value through the RippleNet payment settlement system. It plays the same role as fiat currency in the SWIFT system for global payments.

4. What is Ripple's main selling point?

Ripple promises fast transaction speeds with very low fees. The platform settles transactions in no more than 4 seconds. In terms of fees, the average network transaction fee at the time of writing was $0.0000147.

5. Does XRP experience price volatility?

Yes. All digital assets experience price fluctuations, especially since they are a new concept that the world is still trying to understand. Over the last three years, the price of XRP has constantly fluctuated but has started to stabilize.

6. Does XRP price volatility affect on-demand liquidity?

No. On Demand Liquidity (ODL) is a solution that Ripple is testing to facilitate faster cross-border payments. To ensure that the price volatility of XRP does not affect financial institutions adopting ODL, Ripple has prioritized a shorter transaction settlement time (less than 4 seconds), so that institutions do not have to hold XRP for long. , thus limiting your exposure to volatility.

7. How are Ripple and XRP different?

Ripple is the company that manages RippleNet, RippleX, and all other solutions built on top of the XRP Ledger. XRP, on the other hand, is the digital currency that facilitates transactions on RippleNet and RippleX. The value of the digital asset is independent of Ripple.