What is XRP (XRP)?
XRP is the native digital asset of the XRP Ledger, an open-source blockchain that went live in 2012. Engineers David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb and Arthur Britto built the ledger, and the company later known as Ripple was formed around it and received a large share of the initial XRP.
- Type
- Layer-1 payments blockchain
- Launched
- 2012
- Consensus
- XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol
- Max supply
- 100 billion XRP
- Swap network
- XRP Ledger
- Sector (Messari)
- Payments
How XRP works
Instead of mining or staking, the XRP Ledger uses its own consensus protocol: validators, each trusting a list of other validators, agree on which transactions to include every few seconds. The ledger also has a built-in decentralized exchange and supports issued tokens directly at the protocol level.
What XRP is used for
XRP is used for fast, low-cost payments and as a bridge asset for moving value between currencies. It also pays transaction fees and covers the reserve that every account must hold on the ledger.
XRP supply
All 100 billion XRP were created when the ledger launched, and no more can ever be issued. A small amount is destroyed with every transaction fee, so total supply slowly declines over time.
Before you swap XRP
When withdrawing XRP to an exchange, include the destination tag it gives you, or the deposit may not reach your account. A brand-new XRP address must receive at least the ledger's base reserve before it is activated.