Found in 2012 by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb, ripple is a technological domain for digital payment network managing financial transactions and it has its crypto coin labeled as XRP.
Since its inception, Ripple has become the third-largest crypto coin right behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. Ripple works on a public and decentralized system that performs a smooth money transfer in different currencies and cryptocurrencies.
This system makes use of a credit intermediary to link in the trust chain between the two parties involved in a transaction. This credit intermediary serves as the gateway, being the medium of receiving and sending currencies to public addresses over the Ripple network.
Just like the US Dollar (USD), ripple is also used as a mediator to convert one currency to another; only that ripple is much cheaper than the dollar (USD). Transaction time using the ripple domain only takes four seconds. This is one distinctive feature of using ripple compared to Bitcoin, Ethereum, or even the bankable banking systems.
From its humble beginnings, the Ripple news broke out online and continued to make noise as a credible payment platform option. It started to draw the attention of several banks and eventually tied up with them. Some of the banks supporting ripple include Santander, Axis Bank, Union Credit, etc.
Ripple’s Crypto: XRP
Ripple coin known as XRP works as a linking currency to other digital currencies. The ripple XRP is a digital coin representing the value of money being transferred from one account to another. The transaction on XRP only costs $0.00001, relatively much cheaper than regular banking transactions.
Unlike the biggest cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum), Ripple is not running a blockchain domain. However, to keep track of transactions, ripple has developed its own system called, Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA).
The Ripple Transaction Protocol (RXTP) functions using two currency types – the IOUs and XRP. According to ripple developers, users save up to $3.76 per payment by using the Ripple domain instead of banking options.
In 2017, the ripple price ballooned to $0.30 per coin, surging from its low $0.01 per coin. This tremendous price appreciation is brought by ripple’s affiliation with several banks as well as the positive outlook of investors towards ripple XRP.
How to Buy the crypto Ripple XRP
There are a few ways on how to buy ripple. The first thing that you need to secure is a ripple wallet. Basically, a ripple wallet is where you will store the ripple coin. Just like the other crypto coins, XRP gives you the option to choose between a software wallet and a hardware wallet.
Purchasing the XRP can be done using fiat currency such as the dollar, euro, yen, etc. You can also trade crypto coins like Bitcoin for XRP on particular exchanges online. The other way to get XRP is to invest directly in XRP through a fund.
Once you are able to buy the crypto coin, withdraw the money into your availed Ripple wallet.