Ripple primarily provides payment solutions as they dub it, the payment system of the future using blockchain technology and ripple is powered by its own cryptocurrency XRP. As we know that Bitcoin depends on the miners that validate each transaction Bitcoin blockchain processes and this keeps the network secure all the time. Then in return Bitcoins are released in the form of rewards to keep the network secure and running. Bitcoin uses the proof of work algorithm in this you need to work to earn coins but Ripple uses proof of state algorithm, so in Ripple, there are no miners all 100 billion Ripple coins (XRP) were created at the time of the launch that was way back in 2012. Out of 100 its creators kept the 20 billion and gave the rest to the company, and since then Ripple has been distributing these coins to their clients as the need. And the company still holds around 50 billion tokens.

Ripple uses an algorithm called novel consensus algorithm to validate all the transactions on the platform. And it also recommends its users to use only trusted contributors to authenticate the transactions, but as we all know that in Bitcoin anyone can be a miner.

This type of network can’t be called a decentralized network not exactly. Well, it is decentralized but not quite to the extent because this gives the power in the hands of Ripple to control the company. Ripple is the global real-time payment processor network, and it aims to connect all the banks in the world to allow cross-border payments instantly. In other words, Ripple is a network which aims to work with the banks and provide seamless operations for its users. On the other hand, other cryptocurrencies want to replace banks and want users to use their currency globally. That is why Ripple was not received well in the world of cryptocurrency market for its goal to assist banks and in that sense Ripple is going against the cryptocurrency market norms.

How does it work?

A blockchain network called the RippleNet powers ripple. RippleNet is the core of Ripple ecosystem. It connects payment providers, corporations, banks, and asset exchanges. It delivers the seamless experience that lets you send and receive money from all over the world. RippleNet provides connectivity of many payment networks almost instantly, and with RippleNet you can trace back the money in real time. And the cherry on top is that it has very low cost. RippleNet gives access to XRP the most used, fastest and scalable digital asset payment method in the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU79HunxJp8

Let’s put it this way, suppose a bank wants to trade EURO for USD then it may take several days to complete the transaction and trade it. But with Ripple, you will have access to a central currency that is XRP so with ripple platform you can trade EURO for XRP and then XRP to USD and your transaction is done. And you can also do a reverse transaction of this analogy. But this might seem that they are adding in an extra step to do that but this whole transaction takes approximately 5 seconds so it is far better than the traditional exchanges that can take up to few days and that too with a fraction of the cost than the traditional transfers.

RippleNet has expanded rapidly it has a large pool of banks and payment providers on ripple. Ripple has over 100 customers and more than 75 deployments. RippleNet has three core components that are xCurrent, xRapid, xVia.

xCurrent is used by banks to process payments around the world for their customers. With this type of solution, banks settle their overseas payments in a matter of seconds. And they can also track the transaction from one end to another end.

xRapid is used to secure the liquidity for payment providers. As with traditional methods, liquidity costs tend to very high and due to low currency accounts in the emerging markets so Ripple solves this problem by using XRP.

xVia is the platform that is used by banks to send their payments. It has very simple payment interface with a simple API and software installation is not required. xVia is used to send payments all around the world seamlessly and transparently.

The Team at Ripple

The minds behind the Ripple has decades of experience in technology and financial services.

Brad Garlinghouse is the CEO of the company. Previously he served as the CEO and chairman of a company called Hightail; it was a file-sharing site. Brad completed his B.A in economics from the University of Kansas and completed his MBA from Harvard business school.

Ripple also has Marcus Treacher as their SVP of customer success and David Schwartz as their chief cryptographer. Stefan Thomas is the CTO while Asheesh Birla serves as SVP of Product. Ron Will is the CFO, and Cory Johnson is the Chief Market Strategist with Antoinette O’Gorman as Chief Compliance Officer.

Ripple also secured investment from the top venture capital companies like CME Ventures, Google Ventures, Accenture, Seagate, and standard chartered. Digital Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz are also among the list of investors.

With such a splendid team and the backing of some of the industry leaders have sure helped with the growth of the Ripple. Ripple continues to grow since the day it first arrived at the scene, and in future, it will continue to grow so. Do you know Ripple is sitting third in the world of cryptocurrency market? So soon it will be in mainstream use.

Ripple XRP

XRP was built to solve on-demand liquidity problem in the cross-border payments for payment providers. Banks and financial institutions can use XRP to improve liquidity in real-time without any need to fund foreign accounts to do that. With XRP, payment processors all over the world can use it to reach other markets and also better the speed of payment delivery and also reduce the cost of foreign exchange. XRP is listed on multiple markets that trade cryptocurrency you can buy or exchange with your traditional currency.

If you compare XRP with other cryptocurrencies, it has an extra advantage over them as BTC takes more than 1 hour to complete a transaction and ETH takes around 2 or more minutes to complete a single transaction. And if you talk about Traditional systems, they are the worse as they take around 3-5 days to complete a transaction. On the other hand, XRP takes just 4 seconds to complete the given transaction. XRP handles around 1500 transactions per seconds so one can say it is highly scalable. While ETH handles only 15 transactions per second and BTC handles only three to six transactions.

Another advantage of a distributed system like XRP is that the validators are always growing on the platform so improving the system day by day. Over the span of five years of its existence, it has proved its worth to the businesses.

Roadmap to the Future

Ripple was first launched in 2012, and since then it has progressed heavily. That is why Ripple offers no realistic Roadmap for the future. Its only goal is to increase the size of the RippleNet. Ripple is not very transparent about their future plans, but as an established company like Ripple, this is not the reason for users to worry about.

Recently Ripple launched a project called Xpring which aims to help the new entrepreneurs to establish themselves in the market. And Ripple will provide them with the technical support as well as financial support also. They will oversee the progress of the projects run by entrepreneurs and make them better if possible.

Ripple aims to make the XRP used worldwide. If not a complete domination then the global adaption is the priority. And they are making many partnerships to make that happen. Their Xpring was part of the plan to introduce Ripple to as many people as possible.