Ripple (XRP) quickly became the town’s talk as it skyrocketed during late 2017 and early 2018. Although the first three months weren’t absolutely a smooth sail for XRP, it immensely increased 4300% in value way back in 2017.
Ripple continues to spark investors’ interest, ruling as one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the market at present. If you’re planning to take hold of some XRP coins of your own, here’s a little information you need to know about Ripple.
What is Ripple?
Ripple (XRP) is far apart from other popular cryptocurrencies as it was created by a private, for-profit company that aims to allow a frictionless method to send money around the world. Unlike Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), XRP coins are not mined but periodically released by Ripple Labs.
Actually, Ripple is the name of the network and company, while XRP is the name of the cryptocurrency. Moreover, the Ripple Transaction Protocol reinforces another type of cryptocurrency, which is “IOU.” IOUs denote debt (i.e., I owe you) which can be issued for any other kind of asset, not just for currencies. This can also be traded between various institutions.
Ripple’s platform serves as an open-source protocol designed to give way for a cheap and speedy digital transaction.
Nowadays, the banking system works slowly in transferring money between various institutions. While the banking system seems to be quite updated, Ripple strives to be the “internet of value,” which financial institutions can go to if they want to transfer money worldwide as quickly as possible. The fast handover of funds was made achievable through the use of the internet.
Ripple has already established a name for itself, and several financial institutions are predicting a sturdy future for this network.
Ripple claimed that banks could save about $3.76 for every payment by using their designed protocol. Banks like Axis Bank, Santander, Yes Bank, NBAD, Union Credit, UBS, and Westpac have already embraced the Ripple platform.
Every XRP transaction takes about 4 seconds, and their network can process up t0 1,000+ transactions every second. Taking into consideration the number of bank transactions every year— thousands or even millions, banks could save a significant amount using Ripple’s protocol.
From under $0.01, XRP goes over $0.03 swiftly in 2017 due to speculative interest and bank adaptation. Right now, several banks don’t pay much attention to XRP because it can suddenly change in value within seconds. Still, Ripple aims to make XRP a cryptocurrency that does not deviate much in value, guaranteeing banks that they are safe from high volatility.
The first and original version of Ripple was steadfast in allowing daily worldwide transactions like remittance payments. Hence, the pivot to engrossed exclusively on banks was seen as quite a turnoff by many.
Although some big tycoons may be able to invest directly in Ripple, other investors are limited to investing in Ripple’s native currency, XRP.
The long-drawn-out value appreciation of XRP is a winning end game strategy for Ripple because they have dominance over the majority of XRP. A gamble on XRP is a bet on Ripple. Hence, even when you can’t invest in Ripple itself, you can make gains through XRP.
Wondering what the easiest way to buy XRP is? Here’s a guide on how you can buy XRP in four easy steps!
Step 1: Get a Wallet
Before purchasing an XRP, the first thing you need to do is to get a wallet that you can use to keep XRPs. Just like with most cryptocurrencies, you are free to choose either a software wallet or a hardware wallet.
If you’re planning to put up just a little amount of money, you can settle for a software wallet because of its free accessibility. Although software wallets can run on computers and mobile phones for free, it is vulnerable to online criminal attacks.
Contrastingly, if you are thinking of stocking up, hardware wallets would be much better and beneficial for you. A hardware wallet is much of a physical device that is not connected to the internet, which makes you safe from online criminal activities. Hardware wallets are regarded as the safest form of wallet to store large amounts of cryptocurrencies.
Ledger Nano X or Trezor Model T hard wallets would be a good choice. Both of these wallets are reputable in storing multiple cryptocurrencies, including XRP.
Keep in mind that all Ripple wallets should be initially funded with 20 non-refundable XRP deposits to prevent low-level spam attacks like creating a fake account using your name.
Step 2: Create an XRP Address
After choosing a wallet, you need to create your own XRP address, made up of 25-35. The XRP address should start with “r” and should be case-sensitive.
For instance: rHJKHAJKSoefbndsBFuiHKHnJsjrui
Step 3: Find an XRP Exchange
Due to some regulatory issues, it became more difficult to find an exchange with XRP on their list. Currently, there are limited options to purchase XRP in the United States. You can either trade Bitcoins for XRP on some exchanges or purchase XRP with fiat currency.
You can purchase XRP through a credit card. If you are from the United States, Coinmama allows payment using a debit card, bank wire transfer, or a credit card. Coinmama is a reputable and trusted broker operating since 2013 so rest assured you are in a safe place to buy XRPs.
If you’re from the outside border of the United States, CEX.io is a London-based crypto exchange that could assist you in buying XRP through wire transfer or credit card. Like Coinmama, it has been operating since 2013.
Another reputable exchange you can go to is Binance, where you can also purchase several cryptocurrencies, including XRP.
There also exist platforms like eToro, which you can utilize to invest in XRP. However, eToro is not suitable for sending coins to others. In a nutshell, eToro is only a good platform to speculate on price.
While credit card purchases are much faster, don’t forget that they also cost higher fees. If you’re not in a haste to make a purchase, you can go for a wire transfer to get a better price.
Step 4: Withdraw XRP to Wallet
It would not be a bright idea to leave your XRP to the exchange where you bought them because you don’t have actual ownership of it, and you don’t have control over the private key for your coins.
It doesn’t matter where you got your coins. Make sure to withdraw them to your very own non-custodial Ripple wallet. And once the transaction is confirmed, the process of buying an XRP is successfully finished.
Through XRP seems to be a good catch because of its low transaction fee and fast, scalable global payment network. However, XRP’s future is still unclear because of the lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. But once its name got vindicated, Ripple would have a solid opportunity to appeal to bigger banks in the coming years.
As an investment asset, XRP investors could earn enormous returns once Ripple starts making contracts with banking sectors.
As with crypto, keep in mind that there’s always a great risk that accompanies a great reward. Although it currently stands among the best cryptos, make sure to make investments responsibly.
