Ripple Price

Ripple is immensely different from Bitcoin and Ethereum due to the fact that it is not just a cryptocurrency.

Instead, Ripple is actually two things, a company and a system. It is both the name of the developer company and the payment settlement system, currency exchange and as a network to send remittances.

The cryptocurrency of Ripple is XRP, which unlike bitcoin or Ethereum cannot be mined.

The History of Ripple

Ripple was first conceptualized by Ryan Fugger in 2004, with the purpose of making a decentralized monetary system and which will allow individuals and other entities to make their own money. Ripple was also founded by Jed McCaleb who was developing a currency where it can be viewed and verified among members.

Together they founded OpenCoin, which was renamed to Ripple Labs in 2013 and then rebranded to Ripple on October 6,2015.  They then obtained a virtual currency License from the New York State Department of Financial Services on June 13, 2016.

Ripple is not like most cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin which concentrates on changing the way transactions and currencies are done. Ripple instead focuses on delivering service to financial institutions like banks.

The companies and institutions that are using Ripple are many. Unicredit, the Swiss company UBS and the Spanish Banking group Santander are using Ripple as a system.

Ripple as cryptocurrency

This is interesting to note that XRP, or ripple as the cryptocurrency, is used, with other fiat currencies like the Pound and the U.S. Dollar, in its internal ledger.

This means that XRP is at a cryptocurrency representing services made by Ripple to other financial institutions.

There are 100 billion XRP created at the start, which will be the total Ripple supply. What this means, like bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is that it cannot be printed back again once mined.

Current market capitalization is at $8 billion dollars and all-time high is at $.3989, on May 17, 2017. And started trading actively on August 4, 2013.Daily movement average is at $111 million with more than 38 billion XRP circulating

It is backed by the trust of the community, but its fundamental value is seen with its participation in the global international financial market.

Ripple as cryptocurrency in the market’s eyes

It is interesting to note that while it can be deemed as decentralized since Ripple the company cannot force people to buy or sell or make more XRPs, the founders of Ripple have 20% of all XRPs  mined. This has led to suspicion at the Ripple cryptocurrency.

However, as of 2016, nearly half of that 20% has been donated to charity. In fact, they have given XRPs to people who support humanitarian causes. This is done when members of the network pool their surplus processing powers of their computers and electronic devices to entities that fight Aids or finding ways to treat cancer.

Also, founders Jed McCaleb and Arthur Britto would be selling their XRP at a specific rate over several years as well, so that XRP would be stabilized.

Ripple as the cryptocurrency is tied to Ripple as a payment or processing system. The great thing about this is that even if Ripple the company is shut down for any reason, XRP as cryptocurrency and as a system will still remain, with the backing of the notable companies, internet providers and even the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ripple can calculate 15 transactions per second, compared to bitcoins’ 3- 6 transactions per seconds.