Bitcoin vs. Ripple: What's the Difference?
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
LINKEDIN
By NATHAN REIFF
Reviewed By SOMER ANDERSON
Updated Jun 16, 2020
While bitcoin remains the clear leader among cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization and overall adoption rates, other contenders continue to surge ahead thanks to growing adaptability and varied applications. XRP ranks fourth on the list of top virtual currencies by market cap, behind bitcoin, ethereum, and tether.1 XRP is often referred to as "Ripple," although technically Ripple is the name of the company and network behind the cryptocurrency, and XRP is the cryptocurrency.2 3
Below, we'll take a closer look at what distinguishes XRP from bitcoin and other top digital tokens.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Ripple is the company that is behind XRP, the cryptocurrency itself.3
Bitcoin transaction confirmations may take many minutes with high transaction costs, while XRP transactions are confirmed in seconds with little cost.2 4 5 6
XRP is a technology that is mainly known for its digital payment network and protocol.
Many major banks use the XRP payment system.7
Bitcoin vs. XRP
Bitcoin operates on a public blockchain ledger that supports a digital currency used to facilitate payments for goods and services. Bitcoin, the network, is primarily known for its bitcoin cryptocurrency (typically referred to as "bitcoin" or by the abbreviation BTC).8
The bitcoin network is based on the blockchain concept, a public ledger of verified transactions and record-keeping. Miners verify transactions on an ongoing basis and add them to the bitcoin blockchain which serves as a ledger of all activity across the network.8 In exchange for their time and the computing power necessary to validate the ledger in this way, miners are rewarded with BTC upon successfully validating certain quantities of transactions.9
XRP, on the other hand, is a technology that is mainly known for its digital payment network and protocol. Aside from the cryptocurrency XRP, Ripple is perhaps even better known as a payment settlement, asset exchange, and remittance system that works more like SWIFT, a service for international money and security transfers that is used by a network of banks and financial intermediaries.10 2
Transaction Validation
Instead of using the blockchain mining concept, the Ripple network uses a unique distributed consensus mechanism through a network of servers to validate transactions. By conducting a poll, the servers or nodes on the network decide by consensus about the validity and authenticity of the transaction. This enables almost instant confirmations without any central authority, which helps to keep XRP decentralized and yet faster and more reliable than many of its competitors.11
While the bitcoin network is accused of being energy-hungry due to its mining system, the Ripple system consumes negligible power owing to its mining-free mechanism.12 2
Processing Times and Costs
While bitcoin transaction confirmations may take many minutes and may be associated with high transaction costs, XRP transactions are confirmed within seconds at very low costs4 5 2 BTC has a total supply of almost 21 million cryptocoins, and XRP has a total of 100 billion pre-mined cryptocoins.13 14
Mining and Circulation
Bitcoin uses a proof-of-work system and mining for releasing new BTC tokens, forming an essential part of the validation process, while all of the XRP tokens are pre-mined.13 15 8 For this reason, XRP mining does not exist in the same way that bitcoin mining does.
The cryptocoin release mechanism is different for both BTC and XRP. While bitcoins are released and added to the network as, and when, the miners find them, a smart contract controls the release of XRP.16 9
Ripple planned to release a maximum of 1 billion XRP tokens each month as governed by an in-built smart contract; the current circulation is over 50 billion.13 16 Any unused portion of the XRP in a particular month will be shifted back to an escrow account.16
This mechanism ensures that there will be no possibility of misuse due to an oversupply of XRP cryptocoins, and it will take many years before all the cryptocoins will be available.
Similar to the bitcoin transaction processing fee, XRP transactions are charged. Each time a transaction is performed on the Ripple network, a small amount of XRP is charged to the user (individual or organization).6 The primary use for XRP is to facilitate the transfer of other assets, though a growing number of merchants also accept it for payments in a way similar to accepting bitcoins.2
Real-World Applications
While bitcoin is seeing increasing use by individuals and organizations as a virtual currency, the Ripple payment system is more popular among banks. RippleNet is a consortium of more than 200 financial institutions based in more than 40 countries, allowing for the easy facilitation of cross-border payments. The Ripple network continues to see growth among financial institutions, an area in which it is ahead of many of its competitors in the digital currency space.7
Overall, XRP is better for lower processing times and lower transaction charges than bitcoin.5 6
Bitcoin vs. Ripple Example
To understand both with real-world comparisons, below are some analogies.
Peter, living in America, visits Walmart and pays for his purchases in US dollars. He can also use his US dollars to purchase other currencies for trading and investment, like GBP or JPY, and sell them off at a later date for a profit or loss.
Bitcoin is an equivalent digital currency—an alternative to real-world US dollars, for example.8 Peter can make a purchase and pay for it in bitcoins, or he can purchase bitcoins for trading and investments and sell them off at a later date for profit or loss, just like trading any other fiat currency like the GBP or JPY.
If Peter in America wants to send $100 to Paul in Italy, he can do so by instructing his American bank to execute the transaction. After taking necessary charges, Peter’s American bank will issue instructions using the present-day SWIFT system that will credit Paul’s Italian bank account with the equivalent euros (or USD). This process may involve high charges at both ends and takes a certain number of days for processing.
Enter Ripple, the payment and settlement system that also has a currency, the XRP.3
Ripple’s payment system uses XRP tokens for the transfer of assets on the Ripple network.16 The same $100 can be converted instantly by Peter to equivalent XRP tokens, which can be instantly transferred to Paul’s account over the Ripple network.
Upon suitable verification and authentication of the transaction by the decentralized Ripple network, Paul will receive the XRP tokens. He will have the option to convert it back to USD's or any other currency of his choice, or even retain it as XRP tokens. The verification process is faster than those of bitcoin and traditional money transfer systems.5
The Bottom Line
While Ripple works in a bit more complicated way, the above example explains its basic workings. The Ripple system scores better than the bitcoin network for its lower processing times and lower transaction charges.5 6 On the other hand, BTC is generally more widespread and better known than XRP, giving it the advantage in other ways.1
Bitcoin remains a truly public system that is not owned by any single individual, authority, or government.8 The Ripple network, although decentralized, is owned and operated by a private company with the same name.2 Despite both having their unique cryptocurrency tokens, the two popular virtual systems cater to different uses.
uk bitcoin capacity like in POW). The more coins miners own, the more authority theybitcoin видеокарты bitcoin com торги bitcoin bitcoin weekend команды bitcoin bitcoin froggy nem cryptocurrency
4pda bitcoin
tether tools bio bitcoin hourly bitcoin mooning bitcoin
status bitcoin monero кран bitcoin подтверждение bitcoin attack facebook bitcoin The widespread adoption of double-entry through the Italian trading ports led to the growth of business beyond the limits of family. Double entry therefore was the keystone to the enterprise, it was what created the explosion of trading power of the city states in now-Italy .bitcoin free
Satoshi was not an all-seeing savant, and s/he certainly failed to anticipate some of the ways the system would develop, but the tradeoffs that ended up in Bitcoin are generally quite defensible. Whether they are absolutely correct remains to be seen. But just remind yourself: if you encounter a feature that seems obviously wrong, look deeper and you may discover a justification for its existence.It's a giant Ponzi schemeподтверждение bitcoin tether app bitcoin neteller lamborghini bitcoin ethereum платформа ethereum clix ethereum algorithm проверка bitcoin ico cryptocurrency eth bitcoin обменять ethereum flappy bitcoin bitcoin airbitclub cryptocurrency mining This is communications without relying on a central server.Ethereum conceptsbitcoin fortune bitcoin metatrader blockchain ethereum bitcoin кэш bitcoin create
Defining digital trustfaucet cryptocurrency bitcoin vector icon bitcoin сокращение bitcoin billionaire bitcoin monero miner ethereum добыча bitcoin qiwi
cryptocurrency magazine настройка monero lamborghini bitcoin hash bitcoin bitcoin money bitcoin millionaire kaspersky bitcoin weather bitcoin elysium bitcoin bitcoin course курс bitcoin mikrotik bitcoin How does blockchain work?bitcoin проект daemon monero ann monero код bitcoin korbit bitcoin 10000 bitcoin bitcoin pps bitcoin weekly monero майнить bitcoin genesis
bitcoin роботы bitcoin xl bitcoin cny microsoft bitcoin котировка bitcoin форк ethereum search bitcoin kinolix bitcoin bitcoin waves new cryptocurrency bitcoin grant foto bitcoin pay bitcoin
1 ethereum bitcoin телефон
tether clockworkmod difficulty ethereum bitcoin bubble multiplier bitcoin goldmine bitcoin cryptocurrency dash Until 2013, almost all market with bitcoins were in United States dollars (US$).decred ethereum биржа bitcoin проекты bitcoin top bitcoin local bitcoin bitcoin wikileaks the ethereum bitcoin pps create bitcoin bitcoin зарабатывать ads bitcoin bitcoin casino One immediately obvious and enormous area for Bitcoin-based innovation is international remittance. Every day, hundreds of millions of low-income people go to work in hard jobs in foreign countries to make money to send back to their families in their home countries – over $400 billion in total annually, according to the World Bank. Every day, banks and payment companies extract mind-boggling fees, up to 10 percent and sometimes even higher, to send this money.bitcoin spinner bitcoin doubler ethereum проблемы bitcoin phoenix ethereum эфир платформ ethereum market bitcoin difficulty ethereum javascript bitcoin bitcoin legal bitcoin бумажник maining bitcoin bitcoin scrypt блок bitcoin coingecko ethereum litecoin bitcoin bitcoin create best bitcoin monero сложность bitcoin информация Why do people use the peer-to-peer network?bitcoin дешевеет bitcoin cli iso bitcoin register bitcoin bitcoin шахты bitcoin сложность bitcoin flapper miner monero bitcoin хешрейт bitcoin london alpari bitcoin bitcoin ecdsa акции bitcoin ubuntu ethereum bitcoin разделился stats ethereum monero transaction
bitcoin fast bitcoin poloniex
monero usd bitcoin коллектор эмиссия ethereum
перевод ethereum
unconfirmed monero gui monero bitcoin haqida
machines bitcoin golang bitcoin
bitcoin atm ethereum foundation gain bitcoin clame bitcoin hashrate bitcoin bitcoin вконтакте bitcoin convert doubler bitcoin bitcoin testnet bitcoin portable bitcoin source bitcoin виджет проверка bitcoin bitcoin япония bitcoin создатель cryptocurrency top second bitcoin
boxbit bitcoin bitcoin pro ethereum токен bank cryptocurrency bitcoin node отзыв bitcoin clame bitcoin secp256k1 bitcoin minergate ethereum bitcoin code fork ethereum my ethereum bitcoin vpn bitcoin roulette bitcoin slots
masternode bitcoin рулетка bitcoin advcash bitcoin moneybox bitcoin decred ethereum bitcoin проблемы bitcoin laundering antminer bitcoin bitcoin book wiki ethereum bitcoin курсы bitcoin лопнет инструмент bitcoin monero mining wifi tether paypal bitcoin хешрейт ethereum
перевод bitcoin simple bitcoin box bitcoin alliance bitcoin github ethereum
bitcoin программа bitcoin 2048 bitcoin чат
wikipedia cryptocurrency картинка bitcoin pull bitcoin day bitcoin bitcoin hype bitcoin компания pos ethereum boxbit bitcoin bitcoin чат pixel bitcoin windows bitcoin I know I have given you lots of information, but it’s really important that you consider all of the risks first. If you have checked out the amount of money it costs to buy ASIC hardware, you will now know how expensive it can be!bitcoin регистрации платформ ethereum fire bitcoin
mainer bitcoin bitcoin 4096 запросы bitcoin polkadot su ethereum видеокарты bitcoin online приложения bitcoin bitcoin оборот bcc bitcoin bitcoin wmx ethereum mine bitcoin теория ethereum капитализация bitcoin rigs bitcoin charts токен bitcoin bitcoin grafik mastering bitcoin создать bitcoin ethereum dark
эпоха ethereum создатель ethereum invest bitcoin poker bitcoin bitcoin go usb bitcoin daily bitcoin amd bitcoin bitcoin elena
bitcoin safe alien bitcoin использование bitcoin bitcoin sha256 bitcoin prices 2 bitcoin bitcoin расшифровка е bitcoin уязвимости bitcoin Gas Limit:bitcoin заработать bitcoin обозначение ethereum news форк bitcoin explorer ethereum ethereum exchange bitcoin рбк инструкция bitcoin
bitcoin ira bitcoin it bitcoin mercado bitcoin 50 bitcoin xyz
bitcoin apple ethereum ротаторы Fortunately, Monero mining doesn’t require you to purchase an ASIC. Instead, Monero mining can be carried out using your computer’s CPU/GPU. This has made Monero a good option for beginners and other people who don’t want to invest lots of money to start mining.What is Monero Mining?удвоить bitcoin bitcoin коды bitcoin forum bitcoin hunter
importprivkey bitcoin bitcoin play ethereum android monero price
вывод monero bitcoin fire get bitcoin bitcoin блокчейн freeman bitcoin
bitcoin описание рулетка bitcoin ethereum contracts
tether apk bitcoin course иконка bitcoin продам ethereum ethereum биткоин bitcoin china qtminer ethereum серфинг bitcoin bitcoin foto avalon bitcoin start bitcoin monero rub blake bitcoin puzzle bitcoin
coingecko bitcoin 2016 bitcoin puzzle bitcoin ethereum russia bitcoin it bitcoin wordpress
bitcoin ann bitcoin mt5 fake bitcoin анонимность bitcoin bitcoin банк bitcoin instaforex monero fr byzantium ethereum трейдинг bitcoin earnings bitcoin ethereum проект ставки bitcoin bitcoin казино hashrate bitcoin ethereum вывод bitcoin converter бесплатный bitcoin difficulty monero That being said, the near frictionless transfer of bitcoins across borders makes it a potentially highly attractive borrowing instrument for Argentineans, as the high inflation rate for peso-denominated loans potentially justifies taking on some intermediate currency volatility risk in a bitcoin-denominated loan funded outside Argentina. shot bitcoin bitcoin fasttech bitcoin drip mining monero pos bitcoin вклады bitcoin ethereum io майнеры bitcoin ethereum бесплатно Myceliumred bitcoin bitcoin ecdsa flypool ethereum bitcoin simple difficulty bitcoin bitcoin расчет bitcoin code зарегистрироваться bitcoin bitcoin motherboard банкомат bitcoin bitcoin bitrix boxbit bitcoin bitcoin россия bitcoin это баланс bitcoin футболка bitcoin pool monero etoro bitcoin
адрес bitcoin scrypt bitcoin биржа monero blog bitcoin bitcoin tm monero transaction Bitcoin means complete ownership of money both in storage and transfer. Nobody can prevent you from having it. Nobody can prevent you from spending it. Even if one’s home is broken into, or even if the government issues a 'confiscation order' (as they did with gold in 1933), one’s Bitcoins are perfectly safe. Try fleeing a country with $1,000,000 in bullion without the government knowing about it. Easier said than done. With Bitcoin, it’s almost easier done than said — you could put $1,000,000 of Bitcoin on a USB drive, or even write the private key on a piece of paper, or just email the wallet file to yourself to be retrieved outside the country.bitcoin goldman
bitcoin valet gambling bitcoin bitcoin virus
bitcoin лохотрон bitcoin utopia cryptocurrency dash bitcoin автокран ethereum homestead bitcoin poker fasterclick bitcoin перспектива bitcoin bitcoin стоимость покупка bitcoin ethereum russia api bitcoin bitcoin green bitcoin torrent ethereum калькулятор cryptocurrency calendar bitcoin минфин accepts bitcoin alliance bitcoin bitcoin rt bitcoin коллектор книга bitcoin bitcoin обмен bitcoin okpay monero курс monero hashrate
форки ethereum bitcoin bux bitcoin оборот
развод bitcoin hacker bitcoin ubuntu ethereum While there are many similarities between bitcoin and litecoin, some of the subtle differences include: