For years, Bitcoin was king of the crypto world, but now there’s a new challenger on the scene with the potential to replace Bitcoin as the most valuable cryptocurrency out there.
XRP has risen from relative obscurity in recent months to become one of the world’s top five cryptocurrencies.
Its value continues to grow rapidly, with some predicting that it could soon dethrone Bitcoin as the leading digital currency available.
To find out more about why XRP might be able to supplant Bitcoin as the top dog in cryptocurrency, read on-
What is XRP?
XRP, a blockchain-based payment platform, allows users to transfer any currency to anyone in the world at little to no cost.
Because Ripple is not a pure cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other cryptocurrencies.
There are currently 50 billion XRP tokens in circulation, and Ripple Labs owns a good percentage of them.
The remaining are slowly being released into circulation by its creators-but, so far, only at an average rate of around 1 million per month.
This means that, for now, there will always be more tokens available on secondary markets than Ripple themselves have created.
Why should you use it?
XRP is different from any other cryptocurrency in that it was designed specifically for banks to make money transfers easy and efficient.
It’s a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS), currency exchange, and remittance network all wrapped into one.
Ripple can process up to 1,500 transactions per second with a transaction time of just 4 seconds – compared to bitcoin’s seven transactions per second and an average transaction time.
It also uses less energy in its transactions than bitcoin does – approximately four times less energy consumption per unit when processing a transaction.
And unlike other cryptocurrencies, XRP doesn’t use mining or staking, which means it isn’t subject to inflationary pressure over time because those processes create no new supply.
How to get started?
The first step to getting started with any cryptocurrency-and XRP is no different-is to know where can I buy xrp and set up a digital wallet.
Once you have a wallet, you’ll be able to start purchasing XRP on an exchange and building your investment strategy.
If you want to learn more about how to buy cryptocurrency, read our complete guide for beginners.
It’s also worth noting that many exchanges offer their own mobile apps; depending on your preferences, these may be useful for keeping track of your investments on the go.
What’s Next?
After buying some XRP, it’s time to decide what to do with it. Please read our guide for new investors to learn about long vs short-term investing strategies as well as trading vs holding (or holding).
You’ll also want to make sure you’re familiar with the tax implications of holding cryptocurrency in your portfolio. To get familiar with all things crypto, check out CoinMarketCap and Coinbase.
These sites will help keep you informed on everything from current market trends to upcoming ICOs (initial coin offerings).
They can even help give you a sense of where cryptocurrencies are headed in general-which could influence which coins are worth buying now or in the future.
The future of digital currencies
There has been a rise in digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, in recent years. However, some people don’t realize that digital currencies are simply a subset of electronic money.
E-money refers to any electronic means used for making payments and storing value (similar to how we use bank accounts today).
Because they are intangible and only exist on computers, e-money allows us to instantly trade value from one location without using physical currency or banks. XRP is an example of a new kind of e-money – called cryptocurrency.
Digital currencies allow for easier money transfers across borders without having to go through banks and other intermediaries that may charge high fees for such transactions.
