What is Ripple? In-depth Analysis of Ripple (XRP) 

I. What is Ripple?

Ripple is a global payment system and currency exchange network that can handle transactions from anywhere in the globe. Ripple is frequently used as a trusted intermediary between two parties in a transaction since the network can immediately validate the trade. Ripple can support trades for a wide range of fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, and commodities such as gold.

“Ripple was designed from the very beginning as a replacement for SWIFT (a leading money-transfer network) or to otherwise replace the settlement layer between major financial institutions,” says Pat White, CEO of Bitwave.

Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb founded Ripple in 2012 as a blockchain-based digital money transfer network to meet the demands of financial transactions. The major goals of the Ripple network are as follows:

• Ripple works on an open-source and peer-to-peer decentralized platform that helps in easily transferring various forms of fiat money, be it pound, dollar, or rupees, or cryptocurrencies, like Ether or Bitcoin.
• Its services included being a medium of exchange, international payment settlement, and remittance system.
• Ripple protocol was developed primarily for ensuring secure, instant, and almost free global money operations irrespective of amount without any chargebacks.

II. History of Ripple

When Ryan Fugger started RipplePay in 2004, he developed the initial version of Ripple. People might use the site to provide credit to others in their neighborhood. Ripple is therefore the uncommon crypto project that existed in some form prior to Bitcoin (BTC), but not as a cryptocurrency at the time. Ripple was referenced in an email by Bitcoin’s enigmatic founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, who used the alias Satoshi Nakamoto.

Jed McCaleb, a programmer, began working on the XRP cryptocurrency and blockchain in 2011. In 2012, he assembled a team, obtained investors, and approached Fugger about using his RipplePay network. Fugger agreed to relinquish management of RipplePay.

Ripple would later form alliances with financial institutions. In 2019, it reported that its RippleNet payment network was used by over 300 financial institutions in over 45 countries. If you’re contemplating whether this cryptocurrency is a solid investment, Ripple’s early success is a plus.

The SEC filed a complaint against Ripple on December 22, 2020, for selling $1.3 billion in unregistered securities through its XRP cryptocurrency. Ripple has responded by asserting that XRP is not a security.

III. Striking Features of Ripple (XRP)

RippleNet, Ripple’s blockchain infrastructure, aims to give banks fast, low-cost, and easy cross-border transactions. As a result, it is a feasible alternative to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which is currently utilized by the majority of institutions. Ripple offers various advantages to customers who do international transactions:

The XRP cryptocurrency uses a consensus method combining numerous bank-owned servers to verify transactions. Validators confirm the validity of proposed transactions by comparing them to the most recent version of the XRP Ledger. To be validated, a transaction must be approved by the majority of validators.

RippleNet offers a wide range of cross-border payment services to companies and financial institutions. These are some examples:

IV. Core Technology of Ripple (XRP) 

Ripple’s proprietary technology, known as the ‘Ripple Consensus Protocol Algorithm,’ is used to power an open-source, permissionless, decentralized blockchain system that resolves transactions in 3-5 seconds. The Ripple Consensus Protocol Algorithm describes how the XRP Ledger is administered via a network of independent Ripple validator nodes, 80% of which authenticate and verify network transactions. Although anybody may become a validator, Ripple manages and assures a list of trustworthy validators. The Unique Node Collection refers to this list of trustworthy nodes (UNL). Ripple employs the XRP Ledger for real-time payments and settlement, as well as serving as the home of XRP, the digital asset assigned to bridge the many different currencies in use throughout the world.

The Ripple Consensus protocol overcomes the double-spend problem by prohibiting a malevolent individual from spending the same digital money twice. It is difficult to achieve this without a central authority since it might lead to a disagreement regarding the order of events, especially when numerous transactions co-occur. Ripple’s functionality eliminates the requirement for financial institutions and remittance firms to pre-fund accounts with On-Demand Liquidity prior to transacting and paying across borders.

Interledger is also used by Ripple for Interoperable Payments. Interledger is an open protocol for sending payments across several ledgers. With its open and less complex architecture and protocol, Interledger readily enables interoperability for any value transfer system. The Interledger provides a consistent global financial infrastructure via which anyone connected to the Interledger may deal with another individual using the underlying systems and currencies of their choosing. The Interledger Protocol is neither a blockchain, token, or centralized service; rather, it is the foundation of the Interledger protocol suite. Interledger is a common method of connecting financial or fintech systems. When two companies or people participate in an online commercial transaction, the sender sends money while the receiver receives money. The Interledger architecture or design enables connections to route money from the sender to the recipient across the network.

PayString is also used by Ripple for its Universal Payment Address service. PayString is a one-of-a-kind protocol for creating human-readable addresses for any type of payment and any currency of choice. PayString provides financial institutions to give their users/clients with a single, straightforward, and easy-to-use address that works across all payment networks supported by their wallet. It is sometimes referred to as a payment email. Users may utilize human-readable addresses to transport value in their preferred currency across the PayString network thanks to its open-source standards and protocols. Participants in this network can contact one another using a defined address. When trading with any cryptocurrency or fiat cash, the PayString protocol may be utilized. Any individual or user may easily and efficiently deploy their PayString server using HTTP/DNS standards, using a basic ID that works across any payment network and in any currency.

RippleNet’s advanced blockchain technology for global payments makes it easier than ever to run a high-performance and efficient payments or financial settlement business, allowing financial institutions to expand into new international markets and eliminate pre-funding by leveraging the power of XRP via RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity service.

With its On-Demand Liquidity, XRP currently operates in over 55 countries and 120 currencies, leveraging the RippleNet contemporary infrastructure and cutting-edge blockchain technology to simplify payments services, decrease financial services costs, and remove pre-funding. RippleNet’s streamlined network partnership enables its clients to effortlessly grow their network and access critical corridors by connecting and transacting with renowned receivers in major global marketplaces.

V. What is XRP?

1. Detailed Information about XRP

XRP is a cryptocurrency that is powered by the XRP Ledger, a blockchain created by Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and David Schwartz. McCaleb and Britto would later discover Ripple and use XRP to perform network transactions. You may acquire XRP as an investment, a token to swap for other cryptocurrencies, or a means to fund Ripple network transactions.

Notably, XRP’s blockchain works slightly differently from that of most other cryptocurrencies. Other cryptocurrencies make their transaction ledgers and verification methods available to anybody who can swiftly solve complex equations, but transactions are safe since the majority of ledger holders must agree with the verification in order for them to be added.

Instead, the XRP Ripple network centralizes the process in certain ways: while anybody may download its validation software, it maintains distinct node lists from which users can choose to validate their transactions depending on which members they believe are least likely to deceive them. It presently has 35 trustworthy validators on its default list. Ripple chooses which validators to include on this list and is also responsible for six of these validation nodes. Users may, however, opt out of this default list and theoretically remove Ripple-backed validators altogether from their transactions, instead establishing their own lists of trustworthy validators. This would allow the network to continue to authorize transactions even if Ripple the firm was no longer active or even existed.

As new transactions arrive, the validators update their ledgers every three to five seconds to ensure they are consistent with the other ledgers. If there is a mismatch, they will pause to determine what went wrong. This enables Ripple to safely and swiftly validate transactions, giving it an advantage over competing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

2. XRP Allocation

100 billion XRP were pre-mined in January 2013 and allocated as follows:

• 20% was retained by the founders of XRP. Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb each received 9.5 billion XRP. Arthur Britto received 1 billion XRP.
• 77.8% was allocated to Ripple.
• 0.2% was airdropped as an experiment to try and expand usage as part of the launch.

Chris Larsen donated 7 billion XRP from his allotment to a charity organization in 2014. Jed McCaleb contributed $2 billion to a donor-advised fund. McCaleb signed a departure agreement from the project in 2014, which stated that his remaining allotment would be stored in a custodial account and distributed to him on a monthly basis. The agreement includes a daily limit on the number of tokens he may sell. Ripple’s selling limits now allow co-founder Jed McCaleb to sell his allotment at a theoretical maximum rate of 1% of the daily trading volume.

3. XRP Noticeable Milestones

The outstanding quantity of XRP is intended to be deflationary. XRP is burnt to pay transaction fees on Ripplenet. XRP liquid and circulating supplies, however, are extremely inflationary.

Ripple placed 55 billion XRP in escrow in December 2017 to relieve worries that a big volume of XRP might enter the market at the same time, causing a significant price drop. 1 billion is provided monthly to fund Ripple’s continuous Ripplenet operation. At the conclusion of the month, any unused money is returned to escrow. Every month, Ripple re-escrows, 700 million and 300 million XRP become liquid.

Ripple generated revenue from ongoing XRP sales, which account for well over 90% of the company’s revenue. There are two types of XRP sales that the company discloses:

• Programmatic sales: These come from the company’s XRP reserve, and can be sold at a rate of no more than 0.25% of the average daily volume on defined exchanges.
• Direct sales from XRP II: These come from direct bespoke deals with institutional clients, and include (per Ripple’s 2016-2017 disclosures) reselling restrictions to ensure its partners do not purchase XRP at a discount from the company and then immediately flood the market with sales.

Ripple has sold over 1.2 billion USD worth of XRP through Direct Sales and Programmatic Sales.

4. Use Cases of XRP

Both XRP and the Ripple network operate together to facilitate the exchange of multiple currencies, including fiat currency and major cryptocurrencies.

Consider how XRP works on the Ripple network and its benefits as a cryptocurrency:

4.1. XRP is premined and functions as an intermediate exchange mechanism between two currencies or networks.

• XRP is created by a less complicated method of mining in comparison to Bitcoin.
• XRP facilitates quick conversion between different currencies on the Ripple network for its various customers from major banks to financial services.

4.2. The Ripple network operates neither on a proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism nor a proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism.

• Instead, it uses a distributed consensus mechanism via a group of bank-owned servers to confirm transactions and account balances on the network.
• This consensus works towards improving the integrity of the system by preventing double-spending.

4.3. Ripple transactions are very energy-efficient and are a lot cheaper than Bitcoin.

• Transaction cost on Ripple is as low as 0.00001 XRP for cross-border payments as against the huge fees charged by banks.
• Transactions with XRP are done within seconds as compared to many minutes taken by Bitcoin.
• XRP plays the role of a bridge currency which makes the exchange of one currency into another easier, whether it’s fiat or cryptocurrency.
• As opposed to Bitcoin’s limited total stock of 21 million coins, Ripple’s smart contract control releases a maximum of 1 billion XRP tokens every month. This makes it readily available for users to buy.

4.4. The Ripple ( XRP) cryptocurrency is beneficial to buy and invest in for these reasons besides being ranked 8th among all cryptos.

VI. How to earn & own XRP?

Using XRP requires the acquisition or receipt of the asset. Individuals interested in purchasing XRP can do so through a variety of channels, including centralized exchanges, peer-to-peer (P2P) investments, and decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

Buying XRP on a centralized crypto exchange frequently requires transferring fiat money (USD, EUR, JPY, etc.) to the exchange and then using that money to buy XRP. Customers may also use their credit cards to purchase digital assets on many cryptocurrency exchanges. Furthermore, depending on the exchange, you may pay for XRP using other crypto assets known as crypto-to-crypto pairings (such as XRP-BTC).

A P2P transaction entails meeting with a family member or someone who possesses XRP to acquire the asset directly. Please confirm that the individual holds XRP.

Because XRP is a cryptocurrency constructed on its own distributed ledger, it cannot be acquired on DEXs such as SushiSwap, Uniswap, or 1inch (called XRPL). The XRP Ledger contains a fully functional exchange where users may exchange issued currencies for XRP or with one another.

VII. Which Crypto Wallets are suitable for XRP?

Here is the list of popular and best Ripple XRP wallets:

1. Trust Wallet
2. Exodus
3. Abra Wallet
4. Atomic Wallet
5. Crypterium Wallet
6. FreeWallet
7. Edge Wallet
8. Bithomp
9. Gate Hub
10. Ledger
11. Uphold
12. Exarpy

VIII. XRP Recent Developments

Since the split, a worldwide community developer has taken up XRP development. XRPL validators have voted and approved the XLS-20, a proposal to add native non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to the XRP Ledger. 

A problem was identified that would have allowed unauthorized users to undertake a denial of service attack on a token issuer. The roll-out has been suspended, and developers are currently working to address the fault.

To address the issue, XRP Ledger team issued Ledger version 1.9.4 as a mainnet update. Developers are presently working on creating an Automated Market Maker (AMM) on XRPL in response to a pull request on the XRP Ledger source.

Developers recently launched the AMM Instance (Pool) allowing users to deposit, withdraw, and participate in the governance of the project. In addition, the amendment will also incentivize liquidity providers on the native decentralized exchange, XRPL DEX.

XRP Ledger has announced its integration into the Poly Network, the global cross-chain protocol for implementing blockchain interoperability and building Web3.0 infrastructure.

IX. Teams, Funds & Partners of Ripple (XRP)

1. Team

2. Investment Funds

3. Partners

X. Where is Ripple (XRP) information to be updated?

Currently, Crypto users can fully consult, research, and analyze information about Ripple (XRP) through famous media newspapers such as Nasdaq, Bloomberg, Forbes, AP News, Yahoo!Finance, CoinTelegraph, Coindesk…

These media are constantly updated with useful information, new activities, outstanding events of Ripple (XRP), and all the topics surrounding it. Accordingly, Meta Lion Ventures continuously updates the topic of outstanding projects in Blockchain and hot events organized between Meta Lion & partners.

XI. FAQs about Ripple (XRP)

• Is XRP owned by Ripple?

Although the names XRP and Ripple are sometimes used interchangeably, they are two separate entities. XRP is a cryptocurrency that operates on the XRP Ledger, sometimes known as a blockchain. Ripple is a for-profit firm that contributes to the development of XRP, the XRP ledger, and other initiatives.

• What is the Ripple XRP lawsuit?

Ripple Labs Inc. and two executives were sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020 for allegedly generating more than $1.3 billion through an “unregistered, continuous digital asset securities offering.” Essentially, the SEC claims that Ripple should have registered XRP as security when it raised funding beginning in 2013. Recently, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs asked the judge for a summary judgment to end the action before it goes to trial.

• How to buy Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency?

To buy Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency, sign up for an account on an exchange that offers it. Then purchase it by using any of the exchange’s accepted payment methods.

Due to Ripple’s issues with the SEC, many major U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges have suspended XRP trading. Here are a few options that offer XRP:

• KuCoin
• Uphold
• Coinmama

• Is XRP a good investment?

The fact that cryptocurrencies are volatile is not an exception. A tiny investment in XRP may be profitable if you anticipate Ripple’s development will continue. However, it is not as safe as investing in equities, but if Ripple succeeds, you may make a lot of money.

At the same time, Ripple’s potential is clear. It has the ability to replace an outdated and inefficient international money transfer system. Its financial connections are positive. And any beneficial changes in its legal standing might result in a price increase, giving investors gains.

Conclusion

Ripple is frequently provided alongside other major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and EOS, as well as conventional assets such as the most popular FX currencies, commodities, stock indexes, and gold and silver spot contracts.

Ripple has emerged as a fast and secure payment channel, allowing users globally without the constraints of government or other financial institutions, making it fully customer-oriented. And, based on previous price movements and our XRP price projection, it is prudent to hold XRP coins and acquire XRP, particularly if Ripple prevails in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit. However, before making any final decisions, conduct your own research.