XRP is a cryptoasset, founded by Ripple Labs in 2012. XRP is sold and traded in the form of XRP tokens. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, XRP has a global, decentralised network of over 150 validators, and its primary function is to aid the exchange of different currencies, especially those that are hard to match. They do this by acting as a ‘bridge’, allowing someone to sell currency ‘A’ for XRP tokens, and then sell those for currency ‘B’. While many transactions involving currency exchange can experience delays of multiple days, XRP claims to be able to complete a transaction in an average of 3-5 seconds, thanks to their decentralised blockchain technology.

This digital asset is considered an ‘eco-friendly’ option for investors as the founding company pre-mined 100 billion XRP tokens prior to the launch, and instead of continuing to mine new coins, the XRP tokens are sold from the pre-mined collection on the secondary market, avoiding the huge energy outgoing associated with many well-known cryptoassets such as Bitcoin.

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