Ripple (monetary system)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ripple
Ripple-logo.svg
symbol XRP
Publishing year 2012
developer Ryan Fugger, Chris Larsen, Jed McCaleb
Blockchain No
Mining No
Website ripple.com

Ripple is an open-source - protocol for a payment network, based on an idea of the web developer Ryan Fugger, the businessman Chris Larsen and the programmer Jed McCaleb. It is being developed further by Ripple Labs. In its final stage ripple to a distributed peer-to-peer - payment methods as well as a foreign exchange market to be. The Ripple network supports any currency (dollars, euros, yen, bitcoin etc.).

construction

At its core, Ripple is based on a shared public database. This contains a register with account balances. Anyone can view the register and see a record of everything that is going on in the Ripple network. In addition to the account balances, the register can also contain information about offers to buy or sell foreign exchange and goods, making it the first distributed trading venue. Participants in the network agree on changes in the register following a consensus procedure. This consensus is found approximately every 2 to 5 seconds by the network, so that goods can be traded without a central clearing house.

In addition to the payment network and the distributed trading center, Ripple also contains its own internal cryptocurrency XRP , also called Ripple , which is essential for the payment network . This can optionally be used as a store of value or as a trading medium, but is essential for carrying out payment transactions in order to prevent network spam. In addition, Ripple Labs is financed exclusively by increasing the value of XRP.

The current version of the original Ripple client is version 0.2.39.

functionality

Most modern monetary systems based on trust, cash and government bonds as government bonds . This is especially true for digital accounts of fiat currencies . A balance of 100 euros in a bank account requires the certainty that the bank will pay out the money on request. Ripple is attempting to translate this mechanism into online currency by recording liabilities between individuals and institutions in a worldwide public register. The registry is stored on the worldwide peer-to-peer network of computers running the Ripple server software. The distributed copies of the register are kept consistent by Ripple using a consensus algorithm.

The register is by IOUs called IOUs stored, how much a person of another of which currency indebted and vice versa. An unbalanced IOU balance therefore always consists of private liabilities between individuals. Ripple gateways are an important special case . They accept established means of payment and issue IOUs for them, which they can redeem again at any time. The role of a ripple gateway is therefore similar to that of a bank. However, all of the gateway's liabilities are stored in the distributed Ripple register instead of in its own books. Redeeming gateway IOUs always means that a payment will take place outside of the Ripple network, for example by cash or a transfer.

Although the term gateway is typically only used for commercial vendors who issue and redeem IOUs, anyone with a Ripple account can take on the role of an informal gateway.

When payments take place within the Ripple system, the liabilities between the individuals involved are adjusted accordingly. The Ripple system can only store liabilities, but not enforce them. It is therefore necessary for Ripple users to indicate which other user they trust in which currency and up to what amount to redeem the stored IOUs on request. If there is no direct trust relationship between sender and recipient, the network tries to find a path from users on which each trusts the next enough to pass the payment through. In this way, payments seep (to ripple) through the social graph of trust relationships. The registry offsets all of these payments, and individuals may from time to time settle their mutual debts outside of the Ripple system.

In addition to this payment mechanism, the Ripple system offers a distributed virtual currency exchange where IOUs can be exchanged for IOUs of another currency and / or from another issuing gateway. This functionality is automatically integrated into the search for a trust path by the Ripple system, if otherwise no other connection could be established between the sender and the recipient of a payment.

The concept of a central bank is seen by the initiators of Ripple as a single point of failure and as a singular point from which the entire currency could be controlled. To avoid problems in this context, Ripple is designed as a decentralized system.

Ripple Labs

Ripple Labs (originally Opencoin ) is the company that develops the Ripple protocol. It is supported by several investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, IDG Technology Venture Investment Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Camp One Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, Venture 51, Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and various individuals.

In contrast to many other companies in the IT industry, the income from Ripple Labs is generated neither from fees nor from advertising, but consists solely of the hoped-for increase in value of the retained 25 billion XRP. The primary business goal is therefore the widespread dissemination and maximization of the benefits of XRP for the users, so that the demand for XRP and thus the value due to the limited supply increases.

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has been a consultant at Ripple Labs since July 2014.

Ripple products

Ripple Labs currently offers its customers three products: xCurrent, xRapid and xVia.

xCurrent is Ripple's enterprise software solution that enables banks to process cross-border payments instantly with end-to-end tracking. With xCurrent, banks will contact each other in real time to confirm payment details before the transaction begins and to confirm delivery once it is complete. It contains a rulebook that was developed in collaboration with the RippleNet Advisory Board and ensures operational consistency and legal clarity for every transaction.

xRapid is intended for payment providers and other financial institutions who want to minimize their liquidity costs while improving their customer experience. Since payments to emerging markets often require pre-funded local currency accounts around the world, the cost of liquidity is high. xRapid dramatically reduces the capital requirement for liquidity. xRapid uniquely leverages a digital asset, XRP, to offer on-demand liquidity that dramatically lowers costs and enables real-time payments in emerging markets. XRP is designed for corporate use and offers banks and payment providers a highly efficient, scalable and reliable liquidity option for cross-border payments.

xVia is aimed at companies, payment providers and banks who want to send payments over various networks using a standard interface. The simple API of xVia does not require any software installation and enables users to send payments worldwide seamlessly with transparency in the payment status and with extensive information such as invoices attached.

The ripple system

The ripple system currently offers the possibility of carrying out up to 1,500 transactions per second. This number is scalable up to 50,000 transactions per second, which corresponds to the same throughput of Visa. The scalability itself depends on the number of servers available and their computing power. The transaction speed is currently around 4 seconds.

The digital currency XRP

The currency XRP fulfills two essential network functions: It prevents network spam and can serve as a bridge currency in trading with other currencies. To prevent network spam, a minimum amount of XRP, currently at least 0.00001 XRP, is consumed and then destroyed with each transaction. The number of existing XRPs is therefore gradually decreasing. In addition, the XRP fulfills the function of the exclusive source of funding for Ripple Labs. Ripple repeatedly emphasizes that the native currency XRP is an independent open source project that would continue to exist if the Ripple company no longer exists at some point. To make this clear, the XRP community developed its own logo in June 2018, which was selected from many suggestions by the general public.

New XRP logo

XRP is the only currency in the ripple system that does not imply any counterparty risk: an XRP account does not depend on funding from an organization. However, unlike IOU accounts, it carries an exchange rate risk. In contrast to a SWIFT transfer, this should be significantly lower, since a transaction is processed within 5 seconds, while a SWIFT transfer takes several days.

The creators of Ripple created the network with 100 billion XRP and transferred 80 billion XRP to the for-profit company Ripple Labs. For its part, Ripple Labs intends to distribute 55 billion XRP to users of the Ripple network and keep the remaining 25 billion. In 2013, Ripple distributed 200 million Ripple to participants in the World Community Grid . A total of 7.2 billion XRP have been distributed to various projects so far. Further money creation through mining, as found in many other crypto currencies, is not planned.

XRP reached a maximum price of USD 2.85 at the end of December 2017 and, with a value of around USD 85 billion, became the crypto currency with the second highest market capitalization for the first time since May 2017.

XRP can primarily be managed with Ripple's online wallet, but there are unofficial, open source clients that also offer this functionality on their own computer.

According to the information published by Ripple itself under "XRP Supply", 38.74 billion (38,739,142,881) XRP were in free circulation and tradable on December 3, 2017, while Ripple Labs held 6.25 billion (6,253,951,232) XRP itself and 55 billion XRP were deposited in a trustee wallet and blocked (via escrow agreement on the company's own blockchain ). Of these blocked 55 billion XRPs, Ripple can sell 1 billion XRP every month, because 1 billion XRP are released every month. The part of this billion XRP not sold this month will then be blocked again in the account for 55 months. According to its own information in this article dated December 7, 2017, Ripple has sold 300 million XRP per month in the last 18 months (a total of 5.4 billion XRP).

Users of the ripple system

On January 31, 2018, the major Spanish bank Santander announced that it would use Ripple for transactions between Spain, Great Britain, Poland and Brazil. In mid-December 2018, it was announced that the UAE Exchange , based in the United Arab Emirates , plans to start cross-border transfers to Asia via blockchain by the first quarter of 2019.

advantages

  • The Ripple Protocol is an open standard that can connect existing payment networks, similar to how Simple Mail Transfer Protocol connected various messaging systems in the 1980s.
  • Ripple allows users to owe mutual debt via IOUs.
  • Ripple offers fast transactions (usually within a few seconds).
  • In its final expansion stage, Ripple can act as a universal translator between any currencies.
  • Ripple aims to decentralize the cryptocurrency XRP by offering 1 billion XRP for sale every month.

Criticisms

  • If a user trusts several other users with regard to the same currency, the network protocol can automatically move account balances from one trust center to the other without the user being involved. This is not made clear to the user and puts him at great risk.
  • Some feel that the concept of inter-user debt is a weakness as debts may not be paid, not have the value it represents, or require a relationship of trust with the person who is paying the IOUs. However, this point of criticism applies to practically all existing monetary systems (with the exception of crypto currencies). B. a cash deposit at a bank also leads to an “IOU” of the bank and requires trust in this institution.
  • While Ripple Labs claimed in 2013 that they would distribute 55 billion XRPs to users, only a fraction of that had been given out by spring 2014.

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ From English I owe you [ ˌaɪˌoʊˈjuː ], German 'I owe you' . Usually they are written "IOU $ 100 signature ".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ What is Ripple? bitcoinmagazine.com, accessed November 3, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Ripple is officially open-source! Retrieved December 13, 2013 .
  3. ↑ ripple (ripple)路GitHub. In: Github.com. Retrieved October 30, 2013 .
  4. ↑ RippleWiki | Main / HomePage. In: Archive.ripple-project.org. November 12, 2011, accessed October 30, 2013 .
  5. ↑ a b How Ripple Works. (No longer available online.) In: Ripple.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014 ; Retrieved December 21, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ripple.com
  6. ↑ Top 9 Frequently Asked Questions About Ripple and XRP . In: Ripple . January 18, 2018 ( ripple.com [accessed January 31, 2018]).
  7. ↑ Open Source Payments. In: Ripple.com. Retrieved December 3, 2013 .
  8. ↑ a b c d e Joshua Kopstein: Gold 2.0: can code and competition build a better Bitcoin? In: The Verge. April 23, 2013, accessed October 30, 2013 .
  9. ^ Investors • Ripple Labs. In: Ripplelabs.com. Retrieved April 18, 2014 .
  10. ↑ zeit.de
  11. ↑ a b c d Solutions To Send Money Globally, Using Blockchain Technology | Ripple . In: Ripple . ( ripple.com [accessed January 31, 2018]).
  12. ↑ a b XRP | Ripple . In: Ripple . ( ripple.com [accessed January 31, 2018]).
  13. ↑ rippled setup | Ripple . In: Ripple . ( ripple.com [accessed January 31, 2018]).
  14. ↑ Transaction Cost | Ripple . In: Ripple . ( ripple.com [accessed January 31, 2018]).
  15. ↑ Ripple Vs XRP - What is the Difference? - Crypto Currency News . In: Crypto Currency News . June 13, 2018 ( cryptocurrencynews.com [accessed June 19, 2018]).
  16. ↑ Ripple's XRP Community comes out with brand-new logo! - AMBCrypto. Retrieved June 19, 2018 (American English).
  17. ↑ Introduction to Ripple for Bitcoiners - Ripple Wiki. In: Ripple.com. October 17, 2013, accessed October 30, 2013 .
  18. ↑ Ripple Forum • View topic - [OFFICIAL] We're moving the giveaway out of beta. In: forum.ripple.com. Retrieved June 3, 2016 .
  19. ↑ Beyond Bitcoin: Top 5 cryptocurrencies by market cap. In: IT Business. Retrieved June 3, 2016 .
  20. ^ Historical data for Ripple. CoinMarketCap, accessed January 1, 2018 .
  21. ^ Percentage of Total Market Capitalization. CoinMarketCap, accessed January 1, 2018 .
  22. ^ XRP: The Digital Asset for Payments. (No longer available online.) Ripple, formerly the original ; accessed on January 14, 2018 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / ripple.com  
  23. ↑ Market Performance | Ripple . In: Ripple . ( ripple.com [accessed January 14, 2018]).
  24. ↑ a b Ripple Escrows 55 Billion XRP for Supply Predictability | Ripple . In: Ripple . December 7, 2017 ( ripple.com [accessed January 14, 2018]).
  25. ↑ Spanish financial sector: Santander wants to use blockchain. Accessed January 31, 2018 .
  26. ↑ Tom Arnold: Finablr's UAE Exchange, Ripple to begin blockchain payments by first quarter. In: reuters.com . December 13, 2018, accessed December 30, 2018 .
  27. ^ Payments Should Be More Like Email (Or, the Power of Federated Network Protocols). (No longer available online.) In: Ripple.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013 ; Retrieved October 30, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ripple.com
  28. ^ The Global Currency Conundrum and the "Babel Fish" of Money. (No longer available online.) In: Ripple.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013 ; Retrieved October 30, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ripple.com
  29. ↑ Decentralization Strategy Update | Ripple . In: Ripple . October 17, 2017 ( ripple.com [accessed May 28, 2018]).
  30. ↑ New trust lines should have the quality in / out set to zero Issue # 748. Github.com, May 21, 2013, accessed August 18, 2013 .
  31. ↑ 1+ free Ripple BTC giveaway - ended! See OP! (Over 455 BTC gaveaway). Bitcointalk.org, May 16, 2013, accessed August 18, 2013 .
  32. ^ Ripple Discussion • View topic - Warning: TradeFortress' Bitcointalk.org scam. Ripple.com, May 16, 2013, accessed August 18, 2013 .
  33. ↑ Ripple Discussion • View topic - [WARNING] Crypto-giveaways con / scam. In: Ripple.com. Retrieved August 18, 2013 .
  34. ^ XRP Distribution • Ripple Labs. In: Ripplelabs.com. Retrieved April 18, 2014 .
  35. ↑ Ripple Discussion • View topic - Looks like Opencoin is preparing for NO giveaway. In: Ripple.com. Retrieved August 18, 2013 .
  36. ↑ Ripple Discussion • View topic - Did anyone get some XRPs from the company? In: Ripple.com. May 31, 2013, accessed August 18, 2013 .