Over the past few weeks, there has been a fair bit of confusion on cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and tokens. Even though there are distinct similarities between the three, now would be a good time to take a closer look at what Ripple – or XRP – and Bitcoin are trying to achieve. Comparing these two directly is quite interesting, although it is important to remember they are completely different projects in the end.
2. Bitcoin
Most people active in the world of cryptocurrency and digital assets have heard of Bitcoin. It is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency focusing on decentralization. It is also a payment method for both consumers and merchants alike. Completing smaller payments remains a bit of a challenge, although the Lightning Network may – hopefully – alleviate those concerns some day.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency in its truest form, issued on a blockchain through the process we know as “mining.” It has a global reach and continues to make a lot of headway all over the world. It is also a currency without any real governance, even though mining pools are responsible for validating transactions. Some people will argue the mining pools make Bitcoin less decentralized than it should be since a few pools control the majority of the network’s mining power.
Perhaps the biggest drawback to Bitcoin is how it takes 10 minutes – or sometimes, hours and days – to fully settle a transaction. This is mainly due to the current block size limit and all payments occurring on-chain. These technical challenges may some day be resolved, though. Bitcoin is a proper currency for people who want to be free of banks and traditional finance.
1. Ripple
Ever since the Ripple project was launched, a lot of people have been opposing the idea. Then again, Ripple – and its XRP currency – are often wrongfully labeled as a cryptocurrency, since that is not entirely true. Ripple’s XRP token is a digital asset issued on a distributed ledger. It also shares some decentralization traits, although on a much smaller scale compared to Bitcoin.
All XRP transactions pass through nodes and validators, similar to Bitcoin. However, on the Ripple network, those transactions do not rely on the mining protocol. That is not surprising since it is impossible to mine XRP whatsoever. Ripple also has a higher degree of governance, as the Ripple Consensus ledger relies on institutional validators run by global banks and a few other institutions.
One thing Ripple provides the Bitcoin network cannot – in its current form – is a lightning-fast settlement speed. The consensus mechanism used by the Ripple Consensus ledger settles transactions in mere seconds, assuming the transaction took place using the XRP asset. It is evident Ripple can’t be put in the same category as bitcoin, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be successful. It is not a digital asset most diehard cryptocurrency users would like to have in their portfolio, but that is understandable.
If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.
Fuck Xrp ill use it like a two cent hooker just to obtain btc and pump my baby ETH
lol i like this guy
That was a nice introduction, but where’s the article???
awe you must have forgot to buy some when it was below 1/2 cent lol
No i had 18k or .26 btc invested at 550 satoshis and sold off xrp and made 3 btc and invested again in the king Ethereum and i started buying ETH at $7…My balance is 6.25 btc and growing 🙂
At least explain to people that crypto fanboys hate ripple only because ripple works with banks instead of against banks. Ripple is better than Bitcoin in every way!!!! It’s MANY times faster than bitcoin (it matches and can actually exceed the throughput capacity of Visa), and transaction costs are a fraction of the cost of bitcoins transaction costs, which have sky rocketed as of late. Honestly, Bitcoins only saving grace is that it was the first on the block!
XRP Is pretty cheap at the moment (after the recent plunge). Buy back in.
Where can I buy XPR?
Poloniex or Gatehub (.net). STart by buying bitcoin on coinbase, then transfer the bitcoin to Poloniex. I also believe Kraken now offers USD to XRp trades.
I have coinbase account but doesn’t offer XRP, and I have 100$ worth of bitcoin. Also I do not really understand how Kraken trade USD with XRP.
You got it. But ripple is really better than bitcoin they just hating it because it was backed by big banks.anyway good article.
So what’s the deal with Ripple not being a crypto currency? Isn’t that just, like, an *opinion*?
I’ve seen that sentiment expressed a lot lately, and I just don’t get it. I’m not particularly fond of Ripple myself as I don’t see any possible use case where it would be used by actual people, outside of inter-bank settlements, but it’s not bloody OneCoin, is it?
Ripple has none of the attributes that makes bitcoin a breakthrough technology…. ZERO…NONE. It’s fun watching the banks pump it and the clueless buy it though.
do you think its some that will eventually become popular in use
Ignorance is bliss in your case. I’ve been involved with BTC for 4 years now, but it’s incredibly obvious (to anyone who hasn’t fallen in love with just BTC) a better widget exists. Ripple will easily surpass BTC over the coming months. It already has in some metrics. BTC will have a seat at the table for a long time as it has the advantage of being the first in the door, however people need to open their eyes to what’s coming.
I am new to crytocurrency, and I’m loving it. If the big institution are creating there own crytocurrency much like ripple, I bet you it will rise as fast a Bitcoin, because the big institution have a lot of money backing them up , if they wanted to they could have made XRP started around $10.00. I watch ETH rise to $148.00 today it is an extremely exciting increase from $12.00 about 2 Months ago. I became a believer once I realize my account was tripling in numbers.
People who bash XRP have to realize, BTC had 10 years to get their problems straightened out but sat on their hands. Now they’re held hostage by 5 Chinese mining pools. The only thing Bitcoin is good for is a money transfer. It is not the future of digital payments. Yes Ripple is big business doing crypto. If you’re in crypto for an investment, then get on board with XRP. If you’re in crypto to fight the control of big banks then you’d better back a different coin than bitcoin because the have peaked and are nothing spectacular.
Not liking poloniex much right now. They only have 2k USD daily limit. How the hell is anyone with serious capital supposed to withdraw from there? Even if you go level 2 verification, your limit us still only $25k. People that end up with millions are going to have a long and painful extraction process.
you can step up your verification levels which in turn, increases your withdrawal limits as well as you purchasing limits (per day/week limits).
There are rumor of coinbase accepting XRP one of these days (we are all hoping they are true). I dont use Kraken (only Poloniex, Coinbase and Gatehub.net).
Why would the banks need to specifically use XRP? The idea of Ripple is the only value I see here. I think there are a lot of confused “investors” snapping up XRP thinking they will have real value in the future. Over 60% of all XRP is held by a private company.
I own ‘other coins’, but XRP has the most potential to be worth much more than current prices within 2 years.
There are much better coins out there than MAID!
Many people love bitcoin because its bubble has grown so large. It was never meant to be used as a form of speculation, which is what most people are currently using it for. It was meant to be used as a way to pay for goods and services quicker, cheaper, and more dependable than what it costs to go through governments, taxes and regulations. Unless there is a widespread acceptance of bitcoin around the world as a global currency, I don’t understand how it would be logical to continue “investing.” Is there something I am missing? I personally see a more trusting investment in the technology behind it all.
XRP has many benefits for banks as opposed to the antiquated SWIFT system for international value transfer between financial institutions. The reason Ripple gets so much criticism from the crypto community is because most cryptos (bitcoin, litecoin, monero, etc) were created to circumvent the traditional banking system and need for 3rd parties.
Sell perfect money for Naira at 247xchanger.com. it’s easy, safe, and available 24/7. You can also earn money by referring others to us through our affiliate referral program. Get started today by signing up through this link below247xchanger is Nigeria trusted cryptocurrency merchant company. Visit https://247xchanger.com today and register. A trial will convince you.
lót coi mới sướng e ơi|minh tim gai goi o tra vinh gia 300k co ko|Di chơi k em|Em
ở đâu a vt|Nay Co ma ai xoi dc|Emnayvudepdayditchuavay|zú khủng
hóa|Sa0 lột ra hết ha em các|Yo veo tetas|Mình thấy bộ
ngực này hình như là face, mình thấy có một lớp da ở vếu khi người ta zoom gần lại:))|Xàm con gái mà vậy do đó|Hàng
được đây|Ngon vải trưởng|Nholansaicolamthycoicadolotranhe|Nút nự
đi|Nút nư đi|Có đi chơi ko|00:41 Tình
cảm – Một khi đã bỏ ra thì không thể thu hồi, lại không thể quên đi.
⚱|33:53 Stt này được 999 share em sẽ công bố ck tương lai.
ahihi. |31:13 Nếu không cho có nghĩa
là bạn đang yêu thầm tớ đấy…. |02:32 Câu tán tỉnh
là em copy đó, nhưng tình cảm dành cho anh là thật
lòng. |34:43 Nếu cậu là protêin histon thì tớ sẽ nguyện là ADN để quấn chặt lấy cậu.
|03:22 Trời tối quá em không biết đường nào để đi đến trái tim anh.
|00:43 Nhiều khi muốn có 1 mối quan hệ mập mờ, Không phải tình yêu,
không phải bồ bịch, càng không phải
người dưng. |50:10 Muốn chăm sóc anh cả đời, muốn thuê
người đánh gãy chân anh |34:44 Anh ơi anh có hiểu rõ đường đi lối lại ở đây không.
|46:15 Này anh, anh xem hộ em xem trong mắt em có gì hộ cái.
|46:50 Tôi đứng nơi đó để nước
mắt hoà vào mưa |25:50 Có phải cuộc sống quá bon chen nên anh mãi vẫn chưa tìm đến em?
|Phê quá em oi|Gia bao nhieu z e|Hiện jo ở đâu giá khởi
điểm là bao nhiêu|Co em nao o ngu tu go may ko dt cho a
nhe|Ket ban zalo.0971894286|Có em nào ở sa dec đồng tháp k a cần tâm
sự|anh sẽ dành cho em 41 phút|A muốn làm chồng em|Cai do duc vao
roi bu vu ko pt sao ta|nhìn cặp vú thèm xuất tinh|co em nao o dalat a
can de tam su nha|co e nào ở gò vấp ko alô ah Voi.
ah dang buồn muốn tam so nhiều nha.
ah thích lam tinh lam e nao OK gọi ah nha 09478444991|The
e dinh tam su the nao vay|sao lại thế nhỉ|Gaigoi its me tolove|Amazing!!!!|23:
35 Trời đổ mưa rồi sao anh chưa đổ em? |21:
40 Cần lắm một vòng tay… ☹|22:11 Tôi đứng nơi đó để nước
mắt hoà vào mưa |Bu bn cu roi e|11:40 Bố tiên sư mấy con muỗi, thấy người đẹp cứ BÂU vào.
Ai LIKE cho sự xinh đẹp của em đi ạ ? |Uh tiểu 4x
“Mb68i07895cB40 Chào bán cu the a vo chong”
31:13 Nếu không cho có nghĩa là bạn đang yêu thầm tớ đấy….