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Ripple is an open-sourced online payment protocol that went live in 2012. It is also the name of a currency which is abbreviated to XRP. The goal of this payment system is to do away with the middleman, i.e banks, and the charges that are incurred for making a transaction. Instead, Ripple take a tiny portion of an XRP and destroy it rather than redistribute it to stop the system from being swamped by any one individual.
It is a distribution network for all sorts of currencies, both fiat and virtual and makes any transaction possible in under four seconds. They are working solely with banks to offer a faster and cheaper alternative to sending real-time payments around the world. It’s this association with the banks that has had a dramatic influence on the Ripple currency.
It sees itself as a compliment to Bitcoin rather than a rival but it’s catching up fast in terms of popularity. Now is a good time to buy Ripple coins as all the positive press exposure to cryptocurrencies has seen its value appreciate rapidly. It’s value recently increased by 4300% in just one year. Many investors are choosing to buy this cryptocurrency because it is so much cheaper than its complimentary counterpart and they can get more for their money.
Knowing how to buy Ripple is much the same as purchasing any other form of cryptocurrency. The Ripple platform allows users to trade any type of currency. This is important because the more currency that is turned into XRP, the more liquidity there is and its value increases. By buying XRP on its own platform, you save on transfer fees and it’s all done ‘in house’ for ease.
However, before you even get that far you’ll need a wallet and an exchange company. There are many different varieties of wallet available now, but essentially they are all for the same purpose; to keep your coins and details safe. It also allows you to make payments and send XRP to other Ripple users.
Once you have your wallet and some funds in place, you’ll need an exchange company. Knowing how to buy Ripple from an exchange takes a little bit more knowledge than buying via a traditional broker, as it is a slightly different process of purchasing than other forms of cryptocurrency. The available amount of XRP has already been ‘premined’ and XRP is already written into the protocols, so there’s no need for a broker. You do, however, need an exchange to process your transaction instead. Once you have chosen one you are free to buy Ripple currency
Once you have your wallet you’ll need a Ripple exchange to purchase XRP. You can exchange any fiat currency such as Pounds, Dollars, Yen and Rupees. Exchanges such as Kraken, Bitstamp, Gatehub and BTCXIndia are all recommended by Ripple themselves. This is also confusingly known as mining, even though there is no mining involved. Using any of these various companies to handle your Ripple exchange will provide you with an almost instantaneous but professional experience.
Ripple working in unison with banks rather than against them is hugely significant. If the banks like what they see and decide to turn fiat money into XRP then the value of XRP will go through the roof. The Ripple coin price has already increased dramatically since its introduction five years ago, and indications are that it will continue to do so.
Cryptocurrencies are notorious for having unstable values. They can spike one way or the other with no warning at all, so it’s better to invest only what you can afford to lose. For example, the Ripple coin price as I write this is £0.3406, but at the same time yesterday it was worth £0.2166. Now, £0.124 may not sound like much but if you have invested significantly in XRP then that will have a profound effect on your overall balance. And that is just in 24 hours.
Your coin price is going to fluctuate - what you need to decide is how much to invest and where to invest it.
Digital currencies are not protected by the laws of any country, so when you choose a wallet it needs to be as secure as possible. If your wallet is hacked there is no authority to go to, you’ll simply lose the money. If the currency keeps increasing in value at its current rate, you could end up losing a lot of money.
Therefore, the best Ripple wallet is the one that is most secure. Something like the Ledger Nano S allows you to store your information offline and is known as a hardwear wallet. It costs around £80 and looks like a USB stick, but it can hold unlimited XRP coins and backs itself up.
Coinpayments is an online payment website that allows you to store your coins in their wallet and are recognised as one of the safest cryptocurrency payment platforms around.
The thing to remember is that if you lose your wallet or it gets hacked, you have in effect lost your money. Security should be the deciding factor when choosing your wallet.
The XRP price predictions look extremely promising. The entire cryptocurrency industry has been boosted by the favourable reports about Bitcoin in the media. Add to this the banking industry’s interest in working with them and their sensible long term business plan, and the future looks bright for XRP prices. Even conservative estimates for the next five years have the XRP increasing from USD$0.479 to USD$1.583, which is a 230% increase. As always, these figures are estimates and could change drastically, but generally speaking the XRP price prediction looks as though it’s going nowhere but up.
Reddit is a social messaging board based in America. It is divided into subsections according to subject and Ripple is just one of many communities that people comment in. With the Ripple Reddit you can post and reply to links, learn what the best exchange sites are to buy these coins, ask and dispense advice and much more. This forum is especially good for beginners as there is so much help available.