The crypto world has become so diverse, alluring, and comprehensive that it is no longer impossible to notice. The news feed is buzzing with stories about new crypto records, our favorite cafes and restaurants start accepting payment in digital money, and the release of a popular Netflix series is enough to create a token. What is it - yet another bubble, a short-lived fashion trend, or the new reality? Only time can show us what it will be. In the meantime, all we can do is dive into this new mysterious world of virtual assets. In this article, we will talk about one of the brightest representatives of the popular crypto universe - Ripple. You will learn its history and find out why it is an attractive investment instrument.

History of Ripple

Despite being launched in 2012, the creators began to work on the Ripple project long before Bitcoin or the blockchain were introduced. Back in 2004, Canadian programmer Ryan Fugger started to develop RipplePay, an interbank payment system. A year later, he presented the first version of it. However, RipplePay was unpopular among users and failed to become a successful project.

Nevertheless, the developers never stopped working on their brainchild. Soon, American businessman Chris Larsen joined the project, who later became its CEO. Larsen offered Fugger to create their own cryptocurrency within the Ripple platform although initially, they did not intend to create a separate digital coin.

In 2011, the company transformed into a fast payment service. Its main goal at the time was to become the main competitor of the SWIFT system. For that reason, in 2012, the company created the RippleNet blockchain network with internal currency XRP to conduct online international transactions and interbank settlements for various financial institutions.

The company went through a major rebrand and became known as Ripple Labs in 2013.

It is important to understand that Ripple is both a payment platform and a digital currency. The difference is that RippleNet allows you to transfer fiat money and cryptocurrency around the world, while Ripple (XRP) is the underlying decentralized digital coin used for providing liquidity.

Main features of Ripple

There is one main difference between the Ripple cryptocurrency and other virtual assets. The developers created the coin as an innovative means of exchange, while the majority of altcoins were just an alternative to fiat money. Owing to Ripple, users worldwide can quickly and easily carry out transactions, avoiding nonbank financial institutions, as well as exchange currencies.

In addition, Ripple transactions are conducted quicker compared to Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency market leader. So, each transaction in BTC takes 600 seconds to process. Meanwhile, Ripple transfer processing takes just 4 seconds.

Another difference between XRP and BTC is that, unlike the developer of the flagship cryptocurrency, everyone knows the identities of Ripple creators. Indeed, experts suggest that Satoshi Nakamoto is just a nickname of a person or a group of people that developed the world’s first digital coin. Moreover, the company that developed the XRP altcoin constantly maintains and controls its brainchild, while BTC has long been in free float. This makes Ripple a more centralized asset than Bitcoin.

Most cryptocurrencies use blockchain technology, while encryption guarantees users anonymity and security. Nevertheless, the creators of Ripple decided to go even further. So, they developed their system based on payment gateways*

There is a legal entity headquartered in the United States behind the XRP cryptocurrency, making it more attractive for investors seeking to put in a large amount of money.

Mining is not available in the Ripple system. The creators of the platform abandoned the idea of mining altcoins and created 100 billion digital coins at once. The virtual asset has not been issued since then.

*Altcoin is any cryptocurrency created after Bitcoin.

*Fiat money is a government-issued currency that is not backed by gold or other precious metals. Its nominal value is set by a state, regardless of the value of materials used to make it.

*Gateway is any company acting as a credit intermediary that receives and sends currencies to public addresses using the XRP system.

XRP price and its investment options

Although 100 billion coins have been issued, only 39 billion are in circulation today. The rest of them have remained within the company. In November 2021, Ripple’s market capitalization reached $56,699,559,895.

In 2013, the Ripple coin was worth $0.0059. The token has been showing positive dynamics since then. XRP started to rise in value in mid-2017 when the quotes soared 20 times in 2 months.

The coin hit the all-time high in December 2017 when the world saw spectacular growth in the global cryptocurrency market and Ripple was considered the main competitor to Bitcoin by market capitalization. However, in the first month of 2018, XRP plummeted by 68%.

In early April of 2021, the cryptocurrency updated its three-year high amid the possibility of an IPO* announced by the company.

In terms of the short-term outlook, XRP is expected to move in a bearish trend in 2022 and price volatility to be minimal. At the same time, crypto experts believe that market sentiment will turn bullish in 2023.

Although Ripple cannot be mined, traders willing to invest in it have a chance to buy, sell, and exchange the altcoin through an intermediary company.

All you need to do to invest in Ripple right now is register an account with a brokerage company. It only takes a few minutes. For instance, account registration with InstaForex takes just 3 minutes.

To calculate your potential profit, you can use the Forex calculator on the InstaForex website.

Then, feel free to buy or sell the cryptocurrency. MetaTrader 4 from InstaForex, a widely popular trading platform among all traders, will become your ideal assistant to trading Ripple.

*IPO (initial public offering) is the process of offering a fixed amount of a new cryptocurrency to attract investments.

Monitor Ripple prices and charts online on the Instaforex website.

Prospects of Ripple

Crypto market analysts argue that the XRP system will enjoy a bright future. Some of them even say that Ripple will soon overtake such popular international payment services as SWIFT and Western Union.

About 50 international financial organizations cooperate with the Ripple platform today. They save about $4 on each transaction owing to the innovative system.

At the same time, online stores (eBay, Amazon) and services worldwide, accepting XRP payments for orders, flight tickets, and hotel rooms, are growing in number.

In addition, Ripple Labs is now working on the implementation of Ripple in the field of law and computer games.

At the same time, the future of Ripple directly depends on certain factors, including the company's prospects in the Asian market and the presence of strong competitors among payment systems.

Since the launch of the Ripple system, competition in the cryptocurrency market has grown significantly. So, traders have received limitless investment opportunities, and projects have faced the need to compete for each user.

As for the XRP cryptocurrency, although the coin is considered a rather promising investment, traders are ready to spend no more than 5% of their investment portfolio on it.

Read all the latest news about Ripple and other cryptocurrencies online in the Analysis section on the InstaForex website.

Conclusion

The Ripple system is one of the world’s most promising digital projects. Unlike other popular virtual assets, Ripple cannot offer users full decentralization. At the same time, it has close ties with many international banks and investment companies. This particular feature of the system is viewed by many cryptocurrency analysts as the main driving force behind Ripple’s success. For that reason, the XRP cryptocurrency can be considered a reliable investment instrument.