Ripple is the sole enterprise blockchain solution in the world for global payments. The developers behind Ripple realized that despite the numerous advances in technology, the infrastructure for payments we continue to use today was actually built back before the internet took off or even developed. Since then, it has only seen minimal updates. With Ripple, they aim to create a new payment infrastructure that improves reliability and speed while reducing the cost.
Who Runs Ripple?
Ripple is truly a global company, with offices around the world. These offices can be found in San Francisco, London, New York, India, Sydney, Luxembourg, and Singapore. The leadership of the company combines experience in financial services, compliance, and technology that spans decades.
The team includes CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Global Head of Strategic Accounts Marcus Treacher, Chief Compliance Officer Antoinette O’Gorman, Chief Cryptographer David Schwartz, CTO Stefan Thomas, VP of Finance Cameron Kinloch, SVP of Business Development Patrick Griffin, and SVP of Global Sales John Mitchell. The board of directors has experience in policy, regulation, and finance.
What Issues Does Ripple Improve with the Current Payment Infrastructure?
Among various problems associated with the current infrastructure for payments, Ripple focuses on addressing a few major ones. The Federal Reserve, Institute of International Finance, and World Trade Organization estimated that the infrastructure costs $1.6 trillion. It is also incredibly slow, with payments taking between three and five days to settle. To make matters worse, there are high failure rates. Ripple comes in response to the demands for an experience that is seamless, cost-effective, and reliable.
What Is RippleNet?
RippleNet is the network behind Ripple, connecting payment providers, banks, corporations, and digital asset exchanges. It delivers the single frictionless experience that lets you send and receive money globally. RippleNet provides connectivity across various payment networks with instant settlement on demand. There is always certainty, as you can trace the funds in real-time. To top it off, it has a low operational cost and low liquidity costs.
How Does Ripple Improve on the Blockchain?
Ripple is better than the other blockchain systems you will find because it is built on the most advanced type of blockchain technology. This allows for scalability as well as security while interoperating various networks. Ripple even gives users optional access to the fastest as well as most scalable digital asset used for payments in the world, XRP.
What Is XRP?
XRP was built specifically for enterprises as an on-demand choice for sourcing liquidity in cross-border payments. Banks can use XRP to source liquidity in real-time on demand without any need to fund nostro accounts in advance. Payment providers use it to reach into other markets, improve the speed of payment settlements, or reduce the cost of foreign exchanges. You can buy or exchange XRP on multiple popular cryptocurrency markets.
Compared to other cryptocurrencies, XRP settles incredibly quickly, taking only four seconds. By comparison, ETH takes over two minutes to settle and BTC takes over an hour. Traditional systems are even worse, taking three to five days. XRP is also highly scalable, handling 1,500 transactions every second. XRP can even be scaled to handle the same amount of throughput that Visa has. By comparison, ETH only has 15 transactions per second and BTC only handles three to six.
Another benefit of XRP is that it is distributed across the globe thanks to its open-source technology. The set of validators is always growing, improving the system. XRP has proven its stability and governance for five years, more than enough time to give businesses confidence. Since 2012, XRP has consumed negligible energy and has closed every single ledger without an issue. The dedicated team of engineers ensures this trend continues.
As of Sept. 17, 2017, Ripple held 6,462,128,816 XRP with 38,531,538,922 XRP distributed. 55 billion XRP were to be placed in escrow, which will happen by the end of the year. This allows investors to mathematically confirm the maximum XRP that is able to enter the market.
Best Ripple Wallets
To store your XRP you will need a wallet which can hold it, the “official” wallet is Gatehub – an online service you can signup for to generate an address. You are able to store your funds there, receive them and send them to other Ripple users with their name, wallet name, Ripple address, or email address.
Another option is to use a Hardware wallet, the Ledger offers you the ability to store your XRP a lot more safely if you wish you wish to hold them in “cold storage”. You can read our full review here if you’d like to find out more about these types of devices.
How to Buy Ripple XRP
The easiest way to purchase Ripple is to first buy some Bitcoin or Ethereum and then swap these for it on an exchange. In this section we will show you how you can purchase Ether with a Credit or Debit card using the Coinbase website and then swapping it for Ripple XRP at Changelly.
Register at Coinbase
For first time buyers of crypto currency, we recommend that you use Coinbase to make your first purchase – its easy to use, fully regulated by the US government so you know it is one of the safest and most reputable places to purchase cryptocurrency from. Coinbase offers the ability to purchase Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum with a credit or debit card or by sending a bank transfer. The fees are higher for cards but you will receive your currency instantly.
You will have to carry out some identity verification when signing up as they have to adhere to strict financial guidelines. Make sure you use our link to signup you will be credited with $10 in free bitcoin when you make your first purchase of $100.
To get started, click the “Sign up” button where you will be taken to a registration form where you will need to enter your name, email and choose a password.
Coinbase will then send you a link via email to verify your email account, once you click the link in the email you will be taken to a verification page. You must then add your phone number and upload a photo of your ID – this can be a passport, driving license etc. You also have to add your payment details, so you can add your bank account or a debit or credit card as required – after a short period your account will then be verified and you can then make your first purchase.
Purchase Ethereum or Bitcoin
For this guide, we will be purchasing Ethereum to swap for our target cryptocurrency. The reason for this is that it has far cheaper fees than bitcoin for sending and the transaction also happens a lot faster. So in Coinbase, visit the “Buy / Sell” tab at the top, select “Ethereum”, choose your payment method and enter the amount you wish to purchase – you can either enter a US Dollar amount or a number of Ether.
You will then be asked to confirm your transaction, if paying with a card you might have to complete a verification with your card provider. Once that’s complete, your Ethererum will be added to your account.
Purchase Ripple at Binance
If you are familiar with how exchanges work, the one we recommend for purchasing XRP is Binance. It’s easy to signup and you get 2 BTC worth of withdrawals each day without having to submit ID verification, all you need to do is send your BTC or ETH to your account there and swap for XRP. For more information read our complete guide to Binance here.
Using Changelly
If you are more of a beginner, then Changelly is a very easy way to buy XRP.
The next stage, is to use the Changelly website to swap your Ether for XRP. Use this link and enter how many Eth you will like to convert and it will show you how many XRP you will receive in return, if you are happy then go ahead and click the green “Exchange” Button.
On the next screen you will be prompted to register an account which you can do so by using a social media account or entering your email address.
Once that’s done, you will be taken to a page showing the transaction details – check it over and make sure the amounts are correct. Once you are happy click the green “Next” button.
On the next screen, you will be prompted for your XRP wallet address where you will receive the coins. Paste this into the box and click the green “Next” button.
You will then be shown a final confirmation screen, again, make sure all details are correct before proceeding.
Changelly will then provide you will an address to which you mush send your Ether, so copy the address that they give you and then head back to your coinbase account.
Send Your Ethereum or Bitcoin
In Coinbase, click the “Accounts” and Select your Ethereum Wallet on the left and then click “Send”.
Enter the address that Changelly gave you before.
Click “Continue” and then you may have to confirm the transaction with your email or phone if you have 2 factor authentication enabled.
The transaction will now be sent over the Ethereum network and will take a short while to arrive – you can check in your Changelly account where it will notifiy you of the following steps :
- Waiting for payment
- Exchanging
- Sending to your wallet
Once it’s complete a confirmation message will appear on the screen saying “Transaction Complete”. You can now check your Ripple Wallet where you can confirm you now own your XRP.
How Big Is RippleNet?
RippleNet is constantly growing all over the globe. At the moment, you will find digital asset exchanges, payment providers, banks, and more. All of these entities process and provide liquidity payments via RippleNet, enhancing their cross-border payment services. There are over 100 customer and 75 commercial deployments.
The list of entities using RippleNet includes numerous financial institutions you have definitely heard of and most likely interact with regularly. Just some of these include the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, RBC, Santander, Standard Chartered, Credit Agricole, Westpac, Axis Bank, UBS, SEB, SBI Remit, UniCredit, and BMO.
xCurrent for Payment Processing
xCurrent allows banks to process payments across the globe for their customers. With this solution, banks instantly settle payments across borders, including end-to-end tracking. The banks send messages to each other, confirming payments in real-time before starting the transaction and to confirm its delivery.
xRapid for Liquidity
xRapid allows payment providers to source their on-demand liquidity. Liquidity costs tend to be high since payments in markets that are still emerging typically require local currency accounts that are prefunded. Using XRP, xRapid delivers on-demand liquidity, lowering the cost but still allowing emerging markets to take advantage of real-time payments.
xVia for Sending Payments
xVia is what businesses use to plug into the RippleNet and send payments. This is the standard payment interface with a simple API and no software installation required. With xVia, users can seamlessly send payments around the globe in a completely transparent way. They can even attach rich information, such as invoices. xVia allows for tracking as well as delivery confirmation, including in wallets and other nontraditional networks. Thanks to the real-time, on-demand global payments, xVia frees up the capital just sitting in foreign currency accounts.
Conclusion
Ripple and RippleNet can be a very useful tool for banks and other financial institutions, as well as businesses of all types. Banks can use it to get new revenue, while payment providers will benefit from expanding their reach. For corporate entities, Ripple simplifies the payments. In addition, exchanges will benefit from an increase in volume.
5 Comments
Hi Oliver
Thanks a lot for your guide!
I followed all the steps but for some reason I’m not able to send my ETH from Coinbase to Changelly.
Will I need a different wallet for XRP and which one do you suggest?
Thanks
Erich
I will also be waiting for Oliver to reply on that question 🙂
This is the official wallet – https://gatehub.net/
For cold storage you can use the Ledger hardware wallet – https://blockonomi.com/trezor-vs-ledger/
Thank you for this guide – a lot of good info here.
The big question for me is why Ripple would be better than other cryptocurrencies? And I don’t mean for the banks and corporations. Sure, it’s cool that the network could allow for more efficient money transferring, but how is it going to facilitate a more fair economy the way Bitcoin and other cryptos will? It kinda feels like Ripple is just a more efficient tool for the major financial institutions to continue oppressing the world through economic depravation. Please correct me if I’m wrong…
Stay away from Gatehub.