What Is XRP?
XRP is the native cryptocurrency of the XRP Ledger. It launched in 2012 with a fixed supply of 100 billion and settles in 3–5 seconds at fees of fractions of a cent.
The One-Paragraph Answer
XRP is a digital asset that runs on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), a public blockchain first released in June 2012. It was designed specifically for fast, low-cost payments and asset transfers. The entire supply of 100 billion XRP was minted at genesis — no mining, no new coins ever issued. Every transaction on the XRPL pays its fee in XRP, and a portion of each fee is permanently burned, so the supply slowly shrinks over time.
Key Facts
| Launched | June 2012 |
| Created by | David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto |
| Max supply | 100,000,000,000 XRP (fixed at genesis) |
| Smallest unit | 1 drop = 0.000001 XRP (10-6) |
| Settlement time | 3–5 seconds per ledger |
| Typical fee | 10 drops (~0.00001 XRP), burned on use |
| Consensus | Federated (XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol) — no mining, no staking |
| Ticker | XRP |
XRP vs. the XRP Ledger
It’s a common mix-up: the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is the blockchain network; XRP is the native asset that lives on it. Think of it like Ethereum and ETH. The ledger can host thousands of other assets (stablecoins, meme tokens, tokenized real-world assets, NFTs), but all of them still pay their transaction fees in XRP. See XRPL vs XRP for the full distinction.
Supply Mechanics
All 100 billion XRP were created at genesis. In 2017, Ripple (the company, founded by the same team that built XRPL) placed 55 billion XRP into on-ledger escrows that unlock up to 1 billion XRP per month; unused portions are re-escrowed. This schedule is enforced by the ledger itself — anyone can audit it on-chain.
Supply slowly decreases over time because a small portion of every transaction fee is permanently burned. There is no inflation mechanism and no way to mint new XRP.
What XRP Is Used For
- Transaction fees. Every XRPL transaction pays a small XRP fee, which is burned.
- Account reserves. Holding trustlines, offers, or NFTs requires locking small amounts of XRP as reserves (refundable on removal).
- Bridge asset. XRP is the default intermediate currency for cross-asset swaps through path-finding (see the Payments engine spec).
- Store of value / speculation. Most retail volume is exchange-listed trading against fiat and stablecoins.
- Payments. Several payment rails and remittance services use XRP as a bridge for fast cross-border settlement.
XRP vs. Bitcoin vs. Ethereum
| XRP | Bitcoin | Ethereum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Settlement | 3–5 s | ~10 min | ~12 s / block, finality ~13 min |
| Avg fee | < $0.001 | $1–$30 | $0.50–$50 |
| Consensus | Federated | Proof-of-work | Proof-of-stake |
| Supply | 100 B fixed, deflationary | 21 M cap, asymptotic | No cap, near-zero net issuance |
| Smart contracts | Native primitives (DEX, AMM, NFTs); Hooks in development | Limited (Script) | Turing-complete (EVM) |
Frequently Asked Questions
When was XRP created?
XRP was created in 2012 by David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto. The full 100 billion XRP supply was minted at the genesis of the XRP Ledger — no mining, no ICO.
What is the total supply of XRP?
The fixed maximum supply is 100 billion XRP. A small amount (typically 10 drops, or 0.00001 XRP) is burned with every transaction, so the supply slowly decreases over time.
Is XRP the same as Ripple?
No. Ripple is the company (Ripple Labs). XRP is the cryptocurrency. Ripple uses XRP in its products and holds a large escrowed position, but XRP trades independently.
How is XRP different from Bitcoin?
XRP settles in 3–5 seconds vs. Bitcoin’s ~10 minutes, costs fractions of a cent vs. several dollars, and uses federated consensus instead of proof-of-work (no mining, no energy cost).
Can you mine or stake XRP?
Neither. The entire supply already exists. XRPL uses federated consensus, so there is no mining reward and no staking yield at the protocol level. Yield is earned by providing liquidity to AMM pools.
Why do I need XRP to use the XRP Ledger?
Every transaction burns a small XRP fee. Accounts also lock 1 XRP as a base reserve and 0.2 XRP for each trustline, offer, or object they own. Those reserves are refundable when the object is removed.
What is the Ripple escrow?
Ripple placed 55 billion XRP in on-ledger escrows in 2017. Up to 1 billion XRP unlocks monthly; unused portions are re-escrowed. This makes supply release predictable and auditable on-chain.
Where can I buy XRP?
XRP trades on most major exchanges and directly on the XRPL DEX for other on-ledger assets. No account is required to trade on the DEX itself — just a funded XRPL wallet.