The Ripple and XRP: Why it Happen?
A separation between XRP and Ripple is set to come into
effect, a move that will allow both retail and institutional investors to have
a clear idea of what the two are and what they stand for.
Contrary to perception, Ripple and XRP are two different and
totally independent entities. However, most people, for the longest time have
used ‘Ripple’ to refer to the underlying cryptocurrency XRP. While it has been
okay, things could soon change as the Securities and Exchange Commission pushes
for a clear distinction between the two.
A separation between XRP and
Ripple is set to come into effect, a move that will allow both retail and
institutional investors to have a clear idea of what the two are and what they
stand for.
Ripple is a San Francisco startup company, and the majority
holder of cryptocurrency XRP. The company develops software that banks use to
facilitate fast, global financial transactions powered by the network’s
underlying cryptocurrency XRP. Its platform is one of the most successive,
having been used by large financial institutions to enable cross-border
payments.
Founded in 2012, the American
technology company was originally named OpenCoin before being renamed Ripple
Labs in 2015. The company’s main objective is to provide a frictionless
experience for sending money using the power of the blockchain. What is Ripple cryptocurrency XRP
Financial institutions are
increasingly joining the company’s growing global network also called RippleNet
to process customer payments reliably, instantaneously and cost-effectively
from anywhere in the world.
Ripple has offices in San
Francisco, New York, London, Sydney, India, Singapore, and Luxemburg. The
company’s value comes from being the creator and majority holder of digital
currency XRP. Ripple owns about 60 billion of the 100 billion XRP tokens that
will ever be in circulation.
The company placed about 55
billion of the XRP coins it owns in a secured escrow account from which it can
only release 1 billion every month. Ripple has never come close to releasing 1
billion tokens to the market as part of an effort that seeks to prevent over
flooding of the market that would significantly affect the value of the altcoin
Ripple core product away from
its XRP holdings is xCurrent, a network used by banks as a messaging
solution for settling cross-border payments in real time. The company
also owns xRapid, a solution that allows financial institutions to convert
fiat currencies to XRP quickly and cheaply.
XRP is an independent
digital currency that is used to facilitate transactions on the Ripple Network.
The technology behind the cryptocurrency is called XRP Ledger and acts as the
blockchain in which the XRP token reside. The ledger is community-based which
means only users can decide whether it succeeds or fails.
The virtual currency acts like a
bridge between different fiat currencies as well as a source of liquidity. The
first version of the cryptocurrency dates back to 2004 as work of web developer
Ryan Fugger. However, the protocol in its current form began in 2012,
immediately after OpenCoin now Ripple Labs came into being.
Developed as a currency for
powering the Ripple Network, XRP allows people to send money digitally. The
cryptocurrency came into being as an upgrade of Bitcoin with the aim of solving
issues of high transaction costs and slow transaction speeds associated with
the popular digital coin. XRP can process transactions in as little as 4
seconds compared to Bitcoin which can take minutes. It can also handle up to
1,500 transactions per second.
Ripple Labs helped develop XRP,
resulting in the creation of 100 billion XRP tokens that are used to run and
power the Ripple Network concept. While the people behind XRP and Ripple are
the same, the two operate independently. The fact that the network is open
source and XRP can be bought, ensures the independence of the two form each
other.
Ripple Labs owns 60 billion XRP
coins of the 100 Billion produced at inception. The remaining coins are traded
freely in the market. Despite being the majority holder, Ripple only utilizes
the XRP tokens in one of its product, xRapid. The product was developed with
the aim of providing a form of liquidity to XRP tokens while acting as a bridge
currency for cross-border payments. The success of Ripple, the company, is not
in any way tied to the value of XRP the currencies.
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