Cryptocurrency's got talent : XRP

Do you really know about all the cryptocurrencies in the market ? How much do you honestly know about the currencies in your portfolio? Well, let me show you really quickly what all the underlying projects are about and what they are trying to achieve. After reading the article, you will have a solid overview of the project and more confidence in managing your crypto-investments.

Overview :

XRP is a token created by RippleLabs. It may be a little confusing for some people, including myself at first, but XRP and Ripple are two different things. Ripple is the company that backs XRP token and XRP is the actual cryptocurrency used on the ripple network to facilitate transfers of money between different financial institutions (banks, insurance companies etc.) and countries.

Currently when you are trying to send money abroad, your bank is using the SWIFT protocol.It usually takes 3 to 5 business days and cost around 0.5% to 3.9% for the amount you want to send to be transferred.

Let’s say you want to send $10 000 to your friend in some exotic destination on Tuesday, if you are lucky enough he will receive it on Wednesday and if you are not, on the next Monday or Tuesday. Oh wait, did you send $10 000 and expect him to actually get the 10k ?

This is where you are wrong. It costs you $50 to $390 just for the transfer. Oh, and don’t forget the exchange rate if your friend wants to receive your $ in local currency. The typical rate is around 5% so $500 in your case. The local bank where you send the money (from or to) may also charge to receive foreign payments, around $20.

Do I really need to convince you that it is still a pain in the a$$ for people and companies to send money abroad in 2018?

What problem XRP is solving ?

XRP is not about tearing down governments , replacing banks or replacing fiat money, but trying to partner with the current players.

The Ripple company launched earlier this year xRapid the only product using XRP token. xRapid is a service that uses the XRP cryptocurrency to speed up cross-border money transfers.

It could be as big as “building highways between cities” versus “using small roads with traffic lights and roundabouts”.

With XRP, It takes about 4 seconds to settle a payment (24/7) instead of 3–5 business days. The average fee is around $0.001 for a transaction instead of bank’s fees and additional fees and more fees … Did I mention fees ?

Here’s some comparison between XRP, Bitcoin, Ethereum and traditional systems :

Current situation for XRP

With the launch of xRapid, banks are starting to show interest because they don’t have time to test new products. They just want to pay for a working service. A better, faster and cheaper one.

There are currently 4 companies that are using XRP for real payments: MercuryFX, Viamerica, Cuallix and Catalyst Corporate Credit Union. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said that “dozens of banks” will be using xRapid by the end of 2019.

I hope you have now a better understanding of XRP and if you want to get more information and official updates from XRP team, download Totem app in the play store !