What is Ripple (XRP)?
The goal of Ripple, the company is to improve cross-border money transfers by reducing cost, transaction fees and time. Anyone who has used Western Union or SWIFT to send money know the pains involved in doing something as simple as sending money internationally. For starters, it can take anywhere between 2-5 days for the money to clear and the costs associated with the transfer are ridiculous considering how normal and everyday the activity actually is.
Enter Ripple and their vision to become the system that the banks and finance institutions use to transfer money from one country to another. So rather than be a consumer facing currency, like Bitcoin, their cryptocurrency, XRP, would be used bank banks to transfer money. The bank would change currency 1 to XRP on the sender side. This volume of XRP would be sent to the receiving-side bank, which would then convert it to currency 2. The movement of XRP between banks in different countries would take seconds rather than 5 days – and that is how Ripple wants to change the world, using XRP.
“If you aren’t solving a real problem for real customers you’re not going to drive velocity in that digital asset.”
— Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple CEO
How does Ripple work?
Unlike other cryptocurrency, Ripple does not have a blockchain. It also cannot be mined, but we’ll get to that later. Ripple does not have a blockchain and instead uses its own proprietary technology called the Ripple protocol consensus algorithm. This means that every node must agree to every transaction to verify that it is correct.
Ripple (XRP) is a cryptocurrency that is pre-mined. There are 100 billion Ripple (XRP) that have been created and around 55% of it is owned by Ripple itself. They have done this to ensure that there isn’t runaway inflation. To ensure that they stay independent of price fluctuation, Ripple has locked up their holdings in escrow and will only release a certain amount of XRP into the market at regular intervals.
As mentioned above, Ripple (XRP) aims to work as a bridge currency for banks. So say you needed to send $5000 to your friend in Spain. Normally, you would take the $5000 dollars to your bank and pay the exorbitant fees to the bank for the service. Anywhere between 3-5 days later, your friend would receive a portion of that money in Euro, not because of the currency difference because because of the costs of transactions along the way.
With Ripple, the bank would convert $5000 to XRP and transfer that to the bank in Spain. XRP moves across the platform, literally in seconds. Your friend would see the Euro equivalent pop up almost immediately. The vision is that it would move at the speed of text messages. Imagine that!
What can I do with Ripple (XRP)?
Ripple (XRP) is positioned to function both as an institutional as well as consumer or retail cryptocurrency. Currently, you can do the following with Ripple (XRP):
Currency exchange:
Rather than having to convert currency 1 to USD and then on to currency 2, Ripple XRP would be the intermediate currency.
International transactions
Since it takes seconds to move Ripple (XRP) across international borders, one key use of Ripple (XRP) is to be the currency for banks to transact.
Payment
Like Bitcoin, you can choose to accept Ripple (XRP) as currency. So whether you are running an estore or are a freelancer, you can choose to be paid in Ripple (XRP).
Investment
Like investing in Bitcoin or Ethereum, you can buy Ripple (XRP) and wait for it to appreciate in value. When Ripple (XRP) launched in 2013, you could buy it for around $0.01. In 2019, Ripple (XRP) was worth $0.60. If you had invested just $1,500 then, it would now be worth $90,000!
How to buy Ripple in Australia?
You can buy Ripple (XRP) through any digital currency exchange. All digital currency exchanges in Australia are regulated by AUSTRAC.
Chillur is an Australian digital currency exchange, registered and regulated by AUSTRAC that simplifies the process of buying Ripple (XRP) in Australia.
You can buy Ripple XRP in Australia using Chillur in two easy steps.
Step 1: Create an account
Create your Chillur account using an email address and password. You will then need to verify your identity using either your passport or drivers licence.
Step 2: Transfer funds to your account
Use your banking app or web banking to transfer funds to your Chillur account.
Once the funds settle (1-2 business days), the system will automatically buy Ripple XRP (and 9 other cryptocurrencies)
Congratulations! You now own Ripple XRP in your Chillur account
How do I invest in Ripple?
Investing in Ripple is the process of buying Ripple today with the expectation that it will go up in value in the future.
Portfolios with Ripple XRP have seen returns of 200% after 3 years.
You can invest in Ripple XRP using Chillur in three easy steps.
Step 1: Create an account
Create your Chillur account using an email address and password. You will then need to verify your identity using either your passport or drivers licence.
Step 2: Buy the Chillur 10 bundle
Chillur offers bundles of cryptocurrencies. What this means is that rather than picking and choosing which cryptocurrency to buy and at what price, you are able to buy 10 cryptocurrencies in a go. Chillur handles how much and the purchase price.
Step 3: Track your investment performance
Simply login into your Chillur account and track the performance of your portfolio either through a laptop or your mobile phone.
Where do I store my Ripple?
All cryptocurrencies are stored in cryptocurrency wallets. Cryptocurrency wallets are physical devices as well as mobile phone apps that either specially designed to hold just one kind of cryptocurrency or you can store multiple cryptocurrencies in the same wallet. Ripple is one of the few cryptocurrencies that doesn’t have its own wallet but can be stored in wallets that are easily available to purchase online. In addition, if you are buying Ripple (XRP) from an exchange, you have the option of saving the cryptocurrency in that exchange as part of your account services too.
What’s next for Ripple (XRP)?
Signing up banks to use their international currency transfer process. At the time of writing, Ripple had already signed up with some big names like Santander and IndusInd as well as money transfer services like Western Union and Moneygram. While none of these institutions have yet replaced their currency transfer protocols with Ripple, signing up for a test is an important first step. This shows that the banks agree with the principles of what Ripple is trying to do and are now testing to see if they work.
Two important challenges from Ripple are to get into as many exchanges as possible so that more and more people are able to buy Ripple XRP; and to stay ahead of the competition. There is nothing stopping the current money transfer services like SWIFT doing the exact same thing that Ripple is – and with their current network of partners on board, they could theoretically leapfrog over Ripple. That said, it’s been over 5 years and they haven’t shown any inclination of change so things look good for Ripple.
To be honest, the best way to find out what the future holds for Ripple XRP is to join them on that journey. And that’s exactly what the people who have bought Ripple XRP in Australia are doing.