There is a lot of interest in Cryptocurrencies lately especially in the more real-world use coins like XRP which is a blockchain fast trading currency from the company Ripple.

If you don’t know much about XRP or Ripple you are not alone. XRP has flown under the radar for quite some time now. Its an undervalued cryptocurrency due to the fact that it’s a bankers coin and goes against the whole original Bitcoin (BTC) philosophy of a decentralized untrackable real-world currency. But its starting to gain in value, so if you are looking to buy XRP in Australia read on to safely purchase and store your XRP online or on a Nano S hardware wallet.

What Makes XRP blockchain so good? – Quick history lesson?

The main reason I’m so bullish on Ripple XRP is due to the fact it has a 3 second processing time. You can send funds all the way around the world in less than 3 seconds and it will only cost you a fraction of a coin like 0.001 XRP (variable-rate depending on traffic)

This is a big reason banks are looking to invest in Ripples XRP cryptocurrency blockchain due to its speed, stable price, and reduced cost of doing the business of settling funds around the world. (Reduced fees from Swifts old system by up to 60% claimed)

Not like Bitcoin which currently has a huge backlog of transactions, which can take hours to process and actually can cost over $10 for a transaction when the price goes high. But it is still the market leader.

What is Ripple XRP?

Ripple works directly with banks to change how they send money around the world, cheaply, efficiently, and very fast. XRP is the currency banks can use to transfer funds around to other banks around the world. Like a bridge between foreign exchange currencies.

Ripple XRP is pre-mined at full value of 100 Billion coins, This means no more can ever be released or mined. Not unlike Bitcoin that requires a huge amount of power to mine a single bitcoin now. XRP is actually very environmentally friendly. I’m glad to see a few crypto miners are starting to use solar panels for their bitcoin mining rigs to offset the power use.

In October 2017, Ripple has licensed this amazing blockchain technology to over 100 banks around the world. Including two main Australian banks, Westpac and National Australia Bank.

Then a while back, American Express decided to team up with Ripple. Then out of the blue Michael Arrington’s $100 million cryptocurrency hedge fund will be valued in Ripple’s XRP and dividends paid out in XRP. These are all huge real-world use of Ripples technology.

MoneyGram is also using XRP for cross-border transactions.

How to Buy XRP Australia? Option 1

We are actually very lucky here in Australia that we can purchase XRP directly with Fiat currency or in other words real Aussie dollars.

In other countries you would first need to purchase something like Bitcoin, Litecoin, or Ethereum, then convert or swap that over into XRP.

To buy Ripples XRP in Australia just go over to a popular crypto exchange site called BTC market. This is an ADCA (Australian Digital Commerce Association ) regulated trading platform so you know they are trading by the rules.

Sign up and go through their verification process. You will need to provide them with some form of government ID like digital scans of your driver’s license or passport. Once these have been uploaded the verification process may take a few days depending on how busy they are. For me, it was around 2 days. Some of my friends have had verification only take a few hours.

After you have been verified

Once you have been verified BTC markets will send you through options to deposit funds. You can push across other cryptocurrencies and convert them into XRP or you can deposit your hard-earned cash via BPAY. Osko or POLI Payments. I just use BPAY and usually take around 2 days to arrive in my account at BTC Markets.

Osko payments are the new national payments scheme which is designed to process your funds between banks usually within 10 minutes. I have found this a great way to catch the dips and instantly transfer over money from my bank to BTCmarks.

Don’t use a credit card as the processing time will take longer and there is a fee to process them around 1.5%. Direct debit is free from a nominated savings account.

Supported Banks for POLI Pay

Australia and New Zealand Bank Bendigo Bank CUA St.George Bank Bank of Melbourne Bank of Queensland IMB Suncorp Bank BankSA Commonwealth Bank National Australia Bank Westpac BankWest Citibank Newcastle Permanent

So what do you do in the meantime? Well, time to do some research in the cryptocurrency that you would like to purchase and also decide if you would like to set up a hardware wallet or a software wallet.

This is where you will store your Bitcoins, Litecoins, Ethereum or XRP. Sure you can leave your XRP Ripple crypto coins on the exchange after you have purchased them, but I don’t recommend it. There have been some crypto exchanges hacked in the past or just close down and everyone loses their crypto investment. Your funds are much safer in a Hardware/Software wallet.

BTC Market Fees to Buy XRP/AUD, BTC/AUD, LTC/AUD, ETH/AUD, ETC/AUD,

Just like trading on the stock exchange, there is a fee to process your buy orders but its very small.

Trading Fee % 30 Day AUD Volume 0.85% $0.01 – $500 0.83% $500.01 – $1,000 0.80% $1,000.01 – $3,000

Buying XRP with a credit card, Option 2

Another option is to use a credit card on one of the most popular crypto buying sites in the world called COINBASE.

Coinbase only deals with a few cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. To be able to also purchase Ripple XRP means we have to do a few more steps.

First, buy Ethereum on Coinbase and then send it to Binance, from there you can convert it or swap it for XRP. If using a credit card there will be a small fee for the convenience.

This should only take a few minutes. So if you are having trouble getting verified on other exchanges then check out the Coinbase to Binance option.

I’m very much looking forward to the time when Coinbase will add XRP to their exchange to be purchased instantly. That will be a good day.

What is the best hardware wallet for XRP?

The Ledger Nano S is considered the best hardware wallet for XRP as well as many other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Etherium. From memory, I think they support over 25 different blockchain currencies that can be stored in their hard wallet. Many more CRYPTO ALTS are being constantly added and all that is required is a simple firmware update.

The Ledger Nano S looks like a small fold-out USB key. It has 2 buttons for inputting and selecting settings on the Nano S like passwords and which coin to trade with.

Without this USB key connected to your computer, no one can steal or get access to your XRP. If you are serious about protecting your investment then this is the best hardware wallet around.

So what happens if I lose or the Ledger Nano S fails?

This is the best part, just buy another Ledger Nano S, they even ship to Australia. You will be able to reload all your cryptocurrencies back in due to the secret password list you wrote down when you first set up your original Nano S. Keep a backup of this word list.

Be sure to keep this document in a safe place. Its the only way to recover your funds if something goes wrong.

The Ledger Nano S support a whole heap of crypto coins such as

Ark, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum/ Ethereum Classic

Expanse, Dash, Digibyte, Dogecoin, Hcash, Komodo, Litecoin

Neo (available soon for the Ledger Blue), Pivx, PoSW, Qtum, Stealthcoin

Stellar, Stratis, Ubiq, Vertcoin, Viacoin, Zcash and lastly Ripples XRP

Issues I have had with My Ledger Nano S

The Ripple App must be first loaded into your Nano S. This can be obtained by heading over to the Ledger download page and grab the Ledger Manager as well as the Ledger Ripple Wallet.

Install the Ledger Wallet Ripple as well as the Ledger Live. Once your Ledger Nano S is all set up (you have a pin code and the 24 security words) transfer only a small amount from your BTC Markets to the Nano S address. Just to make sure it all works.

It must be more than 20xrp to activate the ripple address. Once you see this come across which should only take few seconds you can transfer the rest. Hit refresh on the Ripple Wallet to see your funds (top right corner)

Don’t have any web browsers open while using the Ledger Ripple wallet. I found that Chrome sometimes does not play nicely with the app. For some reason, it won’t connect to my Ledger if the chrome browser is open.

Cannot open Ripple Wallet on Ledger Nano S

For me, it was because the Ledger Nano S ripple app was in “Browser support” mode. I’m not sure if this is the default or I accidentally turned on Browser support mode, (you must disable the browser support in order to run). It’s under setting in the Ledger Nano ripple nano S app.

Apart from these few simple early problems the Leger Nano S has been very reliable. I’m now glad I have full control of my Ripples.

What’s the Best Software Wallet for XRP?

There are two main software wallets for XRP. One is called Gatehub and the other is one called Toast Wallet. Both do an excellent job in securing your Ripple XRP.

GateHub is more of an All in One wallet which enables you to buy, and sell, on the market as well as receive and send XRP to anyone.

I started off with an online wallet but as time goes I came across so many horror stories of people getting their accounts hacked into and their XRP and other crypto coins stolen. So I decided to make an investment in the Ledger Nano S, and have never looked back.

My Prediction For Ripple XRP Future

As we move into a world when we want everything now, Ripple sure has positioned its self well. The world is quickly beginning to see the benefits of real-time transfers at a very cheap rate anywhere in the world.

I hate that I have to wait 2-3 days to make a BPAY payment, or when transferring funds to another account directly can also take days to clear. I want it fast and I want it NOW.

For the banks to use XRP it must rise in value. They don’t want to have to transfer $1 million dollars and have to purchase 2 million XRP coins. There would be too much movement in the market. They would prefer to only have to purchase say 100 thousand or less.

As more banks get onboard the supply will grow less. Remember that trillions of dollars are transferred around the world every day. Ripple only needs a fraction of this market for XRP to shine. Then there will be a light bulb moment when more banks will see the value in the savings and the fast speed in moving money.

Disclaimer

As always do your own research. Only spend what you are prepared to lose. I am not a financial advisor but I do know a little about cryptocurrencies and tech. I can see big world problems being solved with Ripple XRP its just going to take time. HODL.