Ripple: Paving the way for faster banking transactions

At the dawn of a new decade, cryptocurrency has become more popular than ever. More people are joining the bandwagon, investing in digital assets and using them in everyday transactions.

Leading the crypto revolution are the top-performing digital coins in the market including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA) and Ripple (XRP). These assets have special features that give them the edge over hundreds of other cryptocurrencies available in the market.

Despite the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency in mainstream applications such as investment and payment processes, there is still a gap between the crypto market and financial institutions. Fortunately, Ripple solves this problem by bridging today’s traditional and modern financial worlds.

Amidst strict regulations from government bodies, how does Ripple implement a payment system that helps consumers, companies and banking institutions? Get to know more about Ripple in this deep dive here at BTC Post!

What Ripple cryptocurrency is all about

Ripple is an open-source network created by Ripple Labs that acts as a currency exchange and remittance platform. The US-based crypto company developed the payment protocol and exchange network to offer financial institutions handling various currencies quicker means for cross-border transactions.

On normal banking transactions, the money you wire to another person goes through a series of intermediary networks for it to successfully transfer. This takes days and several overhead charges to process, especially if it’s an overseas transaction. This is what Ripple cryptocurrency aims to solve.

What sets Ripple apart from other cryptocurrencies in the market including Bitcoin and Ether is that its network acts both as the digital currency and a payment platform used for real-time transactions.

Through the network’s native coin known as XRP and the RippleNet platform, banking institutions can wire and convert money seamlessly. On the other hand, customers won’t have to hire intermediaries for faster remittance services.

How Ripple started

Although Ripple Labs was established in 2012, the Ripple prototype was conceptualised by Ryan Fugger in 2004. He created the company RipplePay that utilised the original version of Ripple with the core idea of a peer-to-peer network that would eventually replace banking systems.

The network was originally referred to as OpenCoin until the reins were handed over to American programmers and co-founders of Ripple Labs Inc., Jed McCaleb and Chris Larssen in 2013.

Currently, Ripple Labs is managed by Brad Garlinghouse, the company’s chief executive officer. He’s well known in the start-up industry for funding well-known technology companies Diffbot and Purestorage.

XRP: The network’s native coin

Alongside Ripple Labs, the network’s native coin called XRP was also launched in 2012. XRP was engineered by McCaleb, the company’s co-creator, alongside developers Arthur Britto and David Schwartz.

This digital asset is used to facilitate transactions on the network. A user can purchase XRP as an investment asset, a coin to exchange for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currency, or as a way to finance transactions on the network.

Although XRP is Ripple’s native coin that has a value on its own, its main function is to be a mediator between payment providers and banking institutions. The transacted money will be converted into XRP and exchanged back to fiat currency once it reaches the recipient.

XRP does not rely on blockchain technology unlike other cryptocurrencies in the market that uses either a proof-of-stake or proof-of-work protocol to verify transactions. The XRP ledger is powered by an open-sourced protocol technology called Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA) with nodes that acts as network validators to verify transactions.

RippleNet

Aside from the XRP ledger, Ripple also has a network supporting remittance and payment transactions called the RippleNet. Even if XRP is Ripple’s native coin, the network can function independently from it. This network makes the process easier for banking institutions to exchange currencies in real-time without intermediaries.

This cross-border payment technology has three solutions in place, namely: xCurrent, xRapid and xVia. All these services make RippleNet a centralised network that allows financial institutions to meet client demands.

xCurrent

The xCurrent service provides global scale banking services to Ripple clients with lower overhead fees. It allows payments to be processed without needing to convert the currency to XRP under a set of guidelines.

xCurrent is built around the Interledger Protocol (ILP) that acts as a network for different ledgers and payment systems to operate and provide services to their clients. It’s a cryptographically secure way for banks to send money from one end to another, allowing fast and transparent transactions.

xRapid

This software solution provides liquid assets to companies and banking institutions to provide their clients with monetary transaction services. xRapid is beneficial for providers who want to minimise liquidity costs, especially if they have no financial means to support their services.

Through the xRapid solution, XRP serves as the bridge currency between the providers and their clients to settle transactions including money transfers and remittances. Liquidity costs are high with global banking services and xRapid provides these financial institutions with lower capital requirements for liquidity, allowing them to seamlessly offer services without high overhead charges from intermediaries.

xVia

At the dawn of a new decade, cryptocurrency has become more popular than ever. More people are joining the bandwagon, investing in digital assets and using them in everyday transactions.

Leading the crypto revolution are the top-performing digital coins in the market including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA) and Ripple (XRP). These assets have special features that give them the edge over hundreds of other cryptocurrencies available in the market.

Despite the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency in mainstream applications such as investment and payment processes, there is still a gap between the crypto market and financial institutions. Fortunately, Ripple solves this problem by bridging today’s traditional and modern financial worlds.

Amidst strict regulations from government bodies, how does Ripple implement a payment system that helps consumers, companies and banking institutions? Get to know more about Ripple in this deep dive here at BTC Post!

What Ripple cryptocurrency is all about

Ripple is an open-source network created by Ripple Labs that acts as a currency exchange and remittance platform. The US-based crypto company developed the payment protocol and exchange network to offer financial institutions handling various currencies quicker means for cross-border transactions.

On normal banking transactions, the money you wire to another person goes through a series of intermediary networks for it to successfully transfer. This takes days and several overhead charges to process, especially if it’s an overseas transaction. This is what Ripple cryptocurrency aims to solve.

What sets Ripple apart from other cryptocurrencies in the market including Bitcoin and Ether is that its network acts both as the digital currency and a payment platform used for real-time transactions.

Through the network’s native coin known as XRP and the RippleNet platform, banking institutions can wire and convert money seamlessly. On the other hand, customers won’t have to hire intermediaries for faster remittance services.

How Ripple started

Although Ripple Labs was established in 2012, the Ripple prototype was conceptualised by Ryan Fugger in 2004. He created the company RipplePay that utilised the original version of Ripple with the core idea of a peer-to-peer network that would eventually replace banking systems.

The network was originally referred to as OpenCoin until the reins were handed over to American programmers and co-founders of Ripple Labs Inc., Jed McCaleb and Chris Larssen in 2013.

Currently, Ripple Labs is managed by Brad Garlinghouse, the company’s chief executive officer. He’s well known in the start-up industry for funding well-known technology companies Diffbot and Purestorage.

XRP: The network’s native coin

Alongside Ripple Labs, the network’s native coin called XRP was also launched in 2012. XRP was engineered by McCaleb, the company’s co-creator, alongside developers Arthur Britto and David Schwartz.

This digital asset is used to facilitate transactions on the network. A user can purchase XRP as an investment asset, a coin to exchange for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currency, or as a way to finance transactions on the network.

Although XRP is Ripple’s native coin that has a value on its own, its main function is to be a mediator between payment providers and banking institutions. The transacted money will be converted into XRP and exchanged back to fiat currency once it reaches the recipient.

XRP does not rely on blockchain technology unlike other cryptocurrencies in the market that uses either a proof-of-stake or proof-of-work protocol to verify transactions. The XRP ledger is powered by an open-sourced protocol technology called Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA) with nodes that acts as network validators to verify transactions.

RippleNet

Aside from the XRP ledger, Ripple also has a network supporting remittance and payment transactions called the RippleNet. Even if XRP is Ripple’s native coin, the network can function independently from it. This network makes the process easier for banking institutions to exchange currencies in real-time without intermediaries.

This cross-border payment technology has three solutions in place, namely: xCurrent, xRapid and xVia. All these services make RippleNet a centralised network that allows financial institutions to meet client demands.

xCurrent

The xCurrent service provides global scale banking services to Ripple clients with lower overhead fees. It allows payments to be processed without needing to convert the currency to XRP under a set of guidelines.

xCurrent is built around the Interledger Protocol (ILP) that acts as a network for different ledgers and payment systems to operate and provide services to their clients. It’s a cryptographically secure way for banks to send money from one end to another, allowing fast and transparent transactions.

xRapid

This software solution provides liquid assets to companies and banking institutions to provide their clients with monetary transaction services. xRapid is beneficial for providers who want to minimise liquidity costs, especially if they have no financial means to support their services.

Through the xRapid solution, XRP serves as the bridge currency between the providers and their clients to settle transactions including money transfers and remittances. Liquidity costs are high with global banking services and xRapid provides these financial institutions with lower capital requirements for liquidity, allowing them to seamlessly offer services without high overhead charges from intermediaries.

xVia

xVia is the standardised payment feature of RippleNet that enables banks, corporations and payment providers to send payments across various networks through a standardized interface. Through xVia, payments and monetary transactions are sent seamlessly across the globe.

Ripple: Improving global banking transactions

Unlike standard banking processes, Ripple transactions are fast and seamless thanks to RippleNet’s innovative features. It only takes seconds to settle transactions through the network even if it handles millions of activities on its platform.

It’s no surprise that Ripple can change the future of banking with its solutions by further modernising outdated and expensive processes on an international scale. With every solution the network offers its partners, Ripple will further revolutionise the way people transact money in the future.

Currently, more than 200 banking institutions have partnered with Ripple Labs Inc. to help bridge the gap between medieval and modern payment transactions. Leading global banking and financial institutions including Bank of America, American Express, PNC Bank, MoneyGram, DBS and SBI Holdings have continued their partnership with Ripple to provide easy transactions to their customers using RippleNet solutions.

The company is further expanding its influence across the globe especially with its plans of extending services to Southeast Asia through its partnership with Tranglo, a prominent payment hub in the region.

With its continued growth in providing seamless, real-time and economic services to its constituents, there’s no denying that the Ripple cryptocurrency will remain one of the most important digital assets in the market.