Cryptocurrency has taken the entire world to another level with majority of the society opting for it. Well, I’m sure you’ve heard about Bitcoins. I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to give you a detailed insight about Ripple which more or less like the bitcoins but with a few enhancements.
Over the years, different cryptocurrencies have been created to suit the need for an alternative coin ‘altcoin’. Ripple was founded by Jed Mc Caleb and Chris Larsen as a global and bank money transfer system that doesn’t require any third party supervision as compared to other cryptocurrencies. Without a doubt, Ripple is way more affordable as compared to its alternatives. This has attracted more cryptocurrencies investors. However, the journey to its current success hasn’t been an easy one. Here is the history of Ripple systems.
History of Ripple
The Ripple cryptocurrency has grown to be widely known as XRP. Although it was released on 2012, the XRP is older than most cryptocurrencies including bitcoin. However, it only got into the big leagues after putting a professional team in place which included Jed Mc Caleb and Chris Larsen.
Chris Larsen, born in 1960 San Francisco California, co-founded the Open Coin that later on began the development of the Ripple. The payment idea was based on a concept by Ryan Fugger. The system allows instant money transfers between two different parties. In the quest to enhance security, Ripple was designed to rely wholly on one common ledger which is based on independent servers constantly validating transactions with their records.
Jed Mc Caleb on the other hand is a resident of San Francisco California. He is known for the development of eDonkey, Ripple and Mt. Gox. By the beginning of 2018, His net worth was estimated at $20 Billion, which landed him a spot in the Forbes’s list among the world’s richest people (40th position). In his quest to make changes in our economic system, Jed began the development of a brand new cryptocurrency in 2011, along other co-founders of the Ripple, which they planned to be a bit different from the usual mining in bitcoins.
He later partnered up with Chris Larsen who ended up being the CEO of the company known as Open Coin. The new Ripple protocol was a vision they believed was going to change the World. Both founders had previously worked in Bitcoins hence that meant they knew what they were doing. Mc Caleb continued working with his partner in developing the Ripple protocol not until 2013 where he resigned from his active role in the company and started an organization based on the Stellar open source protocol together with Joyce Kim. He currently serves as the chief tech. officer in Stellar.
Enough about the history, I’m sure you are curious to understand what ripple really is and how does it works if there is no mining in it as compared to its counterparts.
Understanding Ripple
This currency is a bit different from your usual cryptocurrency but is able to achieve the same role played by its counterparts. It might be a bit complex to understand but let’s use a case study.
Consider, John who wants to transfer money to Chloe but they both decide to use middlemen. John gives Lexie, his agent, the $500 that he is supposed to give to Chloe. The agent is also given a password to accompany the money. Chloe then receives the money from her agent, Livingstone who only authenticates the validity of his client by the original password provided by John.
Well, the money Livingstone gives Chloe is from his account meaning, Lexie owes Livingstone $500. The money is then agreed upon between Lexie and Livingstone as they are part of the same system when the payments will be made. Livingstone can also get the money through counter transactions for example, if one of Lexie’s clients is to pay her $500, the money can go directly to Livingstone.
I hope with the above illustration; you get the basic concept of this cryptocurrency. However, Ripple is a bit more technical than that but that’s actually the basic idea. You can also depict that the transactions require high levels of trust. The cryptocurrency uses a medium known as Gateway which can be opened by anyone. The Gateway is used as a middleman in transactions between different clients. More to that, Ripple can be used to exchange different currencies and doesn’t discriminate. For example, If Chloe wanted his money in bitcoins, all John needs to do is open a gateway, send money in whatever currency he has let’s say US dollars and Chloe will receive it in bitcoins as requested.
Multiple ripples can be used to create a trust rippling condition for the users. Ripple uses a consensus routine that validates the account balances to stop any chance of double spending. This is different from other cryptocurrency since it doesn’t require mining. This routine reduces its reliance of a central exchange systems such as the systems used in common cryptocurrencies. Additionally, this gives Ripple an added advantage since it uses less amounts of electricity and the end transaction is faster as compared to other cryptocurrencies. Moreover, to use Ripple, you do not require any proof of your work ethics.
The Ripple system has a mathematical algorithm that is unchangeable hence making the system more reliable and secure for every user. Even more beneficial is the fact that since no one actually controls or manipulates the XRP systems, it cannot be duplicated, falsified or created. The currency can also be used without any third parties hence are direct. Moreover, the cryptocurrency allows transactions that are completely free globally.
The XRP is only available in the Ripple systems. The end result is Ripple making major improvements on the traditional banking systems since its worldwide and more secure. In conclusion, cryptocurrency is the new and improved version of banking systems. As a cryptocurrency speculator security, anonymity and the ability to do your transactions freely are some of the key features that will attract you to using Ripple system. Don’t just concentrate on one cryptocurrency, diversity is always the best option.
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