XRP is a digital asset that's native to the XRP Ledger — an open-source, permisionless and decentralized blockchain technology. Created in 2012 specifically for payments, XRP can settle transactions on the ledger in three to five seconds. It was built to be a better Bitcoin — faster, cheaper, and greener than any other digital asset.
XRPL, like most blockchains, employs a consensus algorithm to keep the network decentralized. XRPL employs the Federated Consensus algorithm, which is more environmentally friendly, faster, and less expensive than Bitcoin's Proof of Work mechanism.
Because there are no predefined selection processes involving mining and staking, anyone can become a validator, which is one of the peculiarities of XRPL's consensus mechanism. Even though the XRPL validator community is open to all, XRPL maintains a list of trusted validators known as the Unique Node List (UNL). XRPL is in charge of some of the validator nodes on the UNL.
Ripple is a technology company that aims to make it easier to build a high-performance, global payments business.
XRP is a digital asset that's native to the XRP Ledger — an open-source, permisionless and decentralized blockchain technology. Created in 2012 specifically for payments, XRP can settle transactions on the ledger in three to five seconds. It was built to be a better Bitcoin — faster, cheaper, and greener than any other digital asset.
No, XRP Ledger is a decentralized public blockchain. Ripple is a contributor to the XRP Ledger; it does not own the blockchain network.
The all-time high (ATH) price of XRP is $3.40, recorded in January 2018.