XRP XRP Rank #5 $1.38 ▼ 4.62%

XRP is the native digital asset of the XRP Ledger, an open-source Layer 1 blockchain built to facilitate fast, low-cost cross-border payments. Operating as a neutral bridge currency between fiat systems, it enables near-instant settlement of international transactions in roughly three to five seconds, offering financial institutions a way to reduce liquidity costs and remove the need for pre-funded nostro accounts. Rather than relying on mining or staking, the network uses a federated consensus protocol in which trusted validators on a Unique Node List must reach an eighty percent agreement threshold to finalize transactions. This design allows the ledger to process around 1,500 transactions per second with deterministic finality, and it incorporates a built-in decentralized exchange for tokenized asset trading without intermediaries. A small amount of XRP is burned with each transaction to deter spam, while additional tokens serve as collateral supporting institutional market access. The project traces its conceptual roots to Ryan Fugger in 2004 and was later developed in its current form by Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen through the company now known as Ripple. The platform supports smart contract functionality and is backed by a range of institutional investors, with regulated spot exchange-traded products following regulatory approvals in late 2025.