Blockchain technology is multifaceted and allows you to implement the most daring and unexpected projects, which are significantly superior in all respects to the very first cryptocurrency – Bitcoin. One such project was Ripple, which was originally created as a faster, safer and cheaper alternative to interbank transfers. Thanks to the efforts of developers and moving away from the traditional structure of the distributed network, Ripple eventually became one of the few projects that combine the functionality of a payment system and a universal platform that allows participants to exchange liquidity for various assets, including but not limited to Fiat currencies.
Ripple cryptocurrency is often compared to Bitcoin, but not because they are similar. On the contrary, we are talking about such large-scale differences that part of the crypto community doubts whether Ripple is a cryptocurrency? Judge:
To ensure high performance and increase throughput, developers had to abandon the traditional distributed network system, where each participant has equal rights with the rest. In the ripple network, node computers have more privileges – they are in constant relationship, searching for consensus and forming a ledger-a distributed database that is similar to the Bitcoin blockchain, but still is not a chain of blocks in the "classical" sense.
The very idea of blockchain implies the creation of an unbroken and unchanging structure. It is impossible to cancel an already committed transaction that has passed through the block mining procedure. This statement is true for the Bitcoin network, but not for Ripple, which officially has a procedure for cancellation of payment, and therefore-and a single control center, which can affect the functioning of the entire system. The fact of violation of one of the fundamental provisions on the structure of decentralized anonymous networks, which directly points to the equality of powers and rights of each of the participants, is the main reason for the heated debate about the true nature of Ripple. Based on the analysis of official information from developers, it is really hard to decide whether Ripple is an ordinary payment system that successfully "masquerades" as a cryptocurrency or it is an innovative solution, one of the few that is able to link the world of the real economy and cryptocurrency .
If we continue the line of comparison with Ripple and Bitcoin, one of the most fundamental differences between them will be the complete absence of mining. Immediately after the launch of Ripla, 100 billion tokens of the internal cryptocurrency XRP were "PreMain". To date, only 55% of the total number of coins issued is in circulation, but since January 2018, developers have been putting 1 billion XRP into circulation through exchanges every month. The concentration, in fact, in one hand more than half of the entire money supply inevitably generates talk about the high risk of investing in this cryptocurrency. In addition, there is one unpleasant moment in the history of Ripple related to the attempt to sell a large number of XRP coins by one of the former members of the development team, which does not add to investors ' confidence in the overall reliability.
But the most important difference between Ripple is a fundamentally different purpose of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin was conceived as an anonymous payment system, but has turned into an investment tool for those who love risk, and the entire Bitcoin network is actually only engaged in servicing transfers between participants. The creators of Ripple do not try to use competition among token holders to increase the overall capitalization of the system. One of the confirmations of this point of view is the constant rise in price of the Bitcoin mining process, which serves as one of the factors pushing its rate up. But Ripple Labs chose a different strategy: they are trying (and not without success) to attract major players in the financial market, offering them to become members of the network and supply liquidity (live Fiat money). The role of the internal cryptocurrency is reduced to the function of a universal transmitting and connecting link between counterparties that can not carry out direct conversion operations between the used instruments from the world of the real economy.
In fact, Ripple is a combination of traditional and decentralized payment systems: the search for consensus and the implementation of transfers are entrusted to nodes that are large financial institutions with their own funds in Fiat currencies. And if other projects of the crypto world issue slogans about the imminent and imminent demise of the traditional banking sector under the influence of blockchain technology, Ripple, on the contrary, expands the horizon of possibilities of banks and financial institutions, offering them a more profitable and universal algorithm for domestic and international payments.
But, despite the fact that Ripple has existed for quite a long time, while it is a competition to the same SWIFT only formally: daily turnover is not comparable either in volume or in the number of operations. And although Ripple is consistently moving towards attracting more large participants (American Express and Money Gram have already become partners), it is still very far from the level of a global and universally recognized payment system.
For a private person, Ripple is not only a convenient payment system with guaranteed liquidity and instant transfers (but not anonymous-this is the requirement of member banks and legislation). Due to the presence on the largest crypto exchanges, private investors can successfully earn on fluctuations in the exchange rate of XRP to the dollar and other cryptocurrencies. The second way is to trade through a Forex broker company, you should choose a dealing center that offers a CFD (contract for difference) with Ripple-there are not very many of them yet.
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