What is Ripple
Bitcoin and Ethereum are very popular, with both of them holding over 65% of the cryptocurrency market share. The third biggest cryptocurrency, Ripple, is not as popular as the two mentioned above, but it holds as much potential as they do. Given how fast it is growing, it is important to learn about Ripple and get ahead of the investing public who will surely be coming for the cryptocurrency in a matter of months.
You will find everything you need to know about Ripple below:
The Problem
The benefits of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain was brought to the fore by Bitcoin. However, many years after launch, the world’s most popular crypto still struggle to gain the trust of the financial world and majority of the general public. The reason for this is: Bitcoin is decentralised payment network that was built to work independent of banks; BTC is the only currency that works on the platform, and Bitcoin has no known founding members and no physical offices.
Ripple was created to take advantage of all these shortcomings. With Ripple, people can enjoy the benefits of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain without the disadvantages of the Bitcoin network.
Also, Ripple performs transactions faster than Bitcoin and expends less electricity in comparison to Bitcoin.
The Solution
Ripple is a blockchain-based platform that enables secure and instant worldwide transactions at low-cost. The network handles transactions of all size, and it has its cryptocurrency token, XRP. However, it supports payments in fiat currency, other cryptocurrencies, commodities and so on. As a matter of fact, Ripple supports almost all units of value.
Because Ripple has a centralised network and physical offices, governments do not oppose them, and financial institutions trust them. Furthermore, since users can send and receive payments in various currencies, the Ripple platform does not rely on exchanges like Bitfinex, Coinbase etc.
Ripple is used as an alternative payment option by notable corporations like American Express, the Japan Bank Consortium, UniCredit, BBVA, Santander, UBS, and many other banks and payment platforms.
The Team
Ripple is run by a team of well-established men and women in the finance industry, and the company has offices in San Francisco, London, New York, and many other major cities in the world.
CEO Brad Garlinghouse has held management positions at AOL, Yahoo, Hightail among many others. VP Product at Ripple, Asheesh Birla. was VP of Global Technology at Thomson-Reuters, and during his time there, he helped transform the company into a renowned online financial content resource.
General Counsel, Brynly Llyr has previous work experience at PayPal, eBay, Charles Schwab, O’Melveny and Myers; where she led (and was part of) legal teams, gaining pertinent financial business experience.
All-in-all, they have a team of people who understand the business, and have held notable posts at some of the biggest companies in the world. This bodes well for Ripple, and the company has already seen significant growth. In the second quarter of 2017 alone, the platform processed transactions in excess of $11 billion, and its cryptocurrency, XRP grew by over 3970%.
The Market
As at mid-December 2017, the market cap for all active cryptocurrencies was over $550 billion with Ripple taking up just over 5% of the market share. And while different crypto platforms have different functionalities, there is enough room in the cryptocurrency market for Ripple to grow substantially.
Of recent, the company’s focus has shifted from targeting individual customers to banks and financial houses. As Ripple’s growth in 2017 shows (~8700% growth between July 2016 and mid-December 2017), this tactic seems to be yielding rewards.
The more the company’s value grows, the more the general public sees it as a viable competitor to Bitcoin as a payment platform. This, combined with the advantages Ripple has over Bitcoin could see the company take some users away from the largest cryptocurrency platform in the world.
The Competition
There are many new companies looking to replicate their business model, but Ripple is the first platform of its type, and over the years, the company has built trust, locked down partnerships, and consolidated their position in the market. Currently, Ripple is the third biggest cryptocurrency with a market cap of over $31 billion.
The Business
In simple English, Ripple’s business plan is to facilitate instant cross-border payments for e-commerce platforms, retailers, and financial institutions. With Ripple, you can send dollars from the United States to someone in China in a matter of seconds, and the recipient can receive the money in Yen, or whatever currency they want.
The Return
As mentioned above, Ripple has seen record gains in the year 2017. Therefore, all original investors have surely made exponential gains.
Potential investors can be encouraged by how quickly the company is growing and the notable partnerships they are locking down.
Transparency
Transparency is the biggest advantage Ripple has over other cryptocurrency networks. Their platform is blockchain-based, but for all intents and purposes, the company is not internet-based. As mentioned above, they have physical offices in many cities in the world.
Also, Ripple is one of the few cryptocurrencies that has a clear use case, and their management team is made up of well-known names in the financial scene. Ripple has provided reliable transaction services for ~5 years, and they work with over 100 companies worldwide.
Likelihood of Critical Mass
How many active users they have, and whether or not Ripple has achieved self- sustainable growth is unclear at the moment. What is clear, however, is that they have partnership agreements with some of the foremost financial institutions in the world, companies that have millions of customers. Therefore, even if the company has not achieved critical mass, it will in the coming months.
In conclusion, Ripple is a fast-growing cryptocurrency platform that was designed to work with the current banking system. Acceptance for the network is growing, and the company’s value is growing with it; this is a cryptocurrency with the potential to be much more than it is at the moment.
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