RippleWhat is Ripple?

Ripple is one of the world’s first serious blockchain companies, and on this page we explain both the company and its coin in plain English. Ripple was founded in 2012 in San Francisco. The company built a payment network, RippleNet, designed to make international bank transfers faster and cheaper. XRP is the cryptocurrency that lives on this network, and banks can use it as a kind of universal “switching fuel” between currencies.

That puts Ripple in a different category from most cryptocurrencies. Where Bitcoin was built to bypass banks, Ripple was built for banks. Some crypto purists dislike that approach. Others see it as the fastest path to mainstream adoption.

XRP has consistently sat in the top 10 of all cryptocurrencies by market cap, which means there’s an active and liquid market for buying and selling.

Imagine sending 1,000 euros from a Dutch bank to a partner in Mexico. Without XRP, your bank typically sends the money via a chain of correspondent banks, each one charging fees and adding delay. With XRP, the chain shortens dramatically:

1. You initiate the international payment.
2. Your bank converts the euros into XRP on the open market.
3. The XRP is sent across the Ripple network in 3-6 seconds.
4. The receiving bank sells the XRP for Mexican pesos.
5. The pesos land in the recipient’s account.

The XRP only “exists” in the middle of this transaction, it’s the bridge currency. The end customers see euros in, pesos out.

XRP cannot be mined. Unlike Bitcoin, where new coins are gradually released through mining, all 100 billion XRP were created at the launch of the Ripple network. The Ripple company holds about 60% of those coins in escrow and releases small amounts into the market on a fixed schedule.

That means there are only two ways to get XRP:

• Receive it from someone who already has it (a transfer to your wallet).
• Buy it from a broker or exchange, the most common route.

At BTC Direct you can buy XRP starting from 10 euros, with iDEAL, credit card or bank transfer.

• Original goal — Bitcoin: decentralised peer-to-peer payment, no banks / Ripple: faster international settlement between banks.
• Issuer — Bitcoin: none, community / open source / Ripple: Ripple Labs Inc. (US company).
• Total supply — Bitcoin: 21 million (cap) / Ripple: 100 billion (all created at launch).
• New coins — Bitcoin: mined, about every 10 minutes / Ripple: released from escrow on fixed schedule.
• Transactions per second — Bitcoin: 7 / Ripple: 1,500.
• Confirmation time — Bitcoin: ~10 minutes per block / Ripple: 3-6 seconds.
• Consensus — Bitcoin: Proof of Work (SHA-256) / Ripple: Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA).
• Smart contracts — Bitcoin: via Rootstock layer / Ripple: via Codius layer.