XRP

XRP is the native digital asset of the XRP Ledger, a Layer 1 blockchain purpose-built for fast, low-cost global payments. Ranked sixth overall, XRP is designed to act as a neutral bridge currency between different fiat currencies, letting institutions settle cross-border transfers in seconds rather than days. Its focus is payments infrastructure rather than general-purpose computing.

What is XRP?

XRP's core purpose is to make moving money across borders cheap and near-instant. By serving as an intermediary asset between currency pairs, it can reduce the need for pre-funded accounts and lower the liquidity costs banks face. The XRP Ledger also includes a built-in decentralized exchange for trading tokenized assets directly on-chain. The project traces its roots to 2004 and was co-founded in its modern form by Jed McCaleb and Chris Larsen, with the company now known as Ripple.

How does XRP work?

Instead of energy-intensive mining or staking, the XRP Ledger uses a federated consensus protocol. Validators on a Unique Node List must reach roughly 80% agreement to finalize transactions, achieving deterministic settlement in about three to five seconds and sustaining around 1,500 transactions per second. A tiny amount of XRP is burned as a fee on every transaction to deter spam.

XRP tokenomics and supply

XRP has a maximum supply of 100 billion tokens, all created at inception rather than mined over time. Around 62.2 billion are in circulation, out of a total near 100 billion, with portions held in reserve and released gradually. Because the fee burn permanently removes small amounts of XRP, the supply slowly decreases over the very long term.

• Circulating supply: about 62.2 billion XRP
• Maximum supply: 100 billion XRP, pre-created
• Small XRP burn on every transaction
• All-time high near $3.65; all-time low around $0.0027

What is XRP used for?

XRP is used as a bridge asset for cross-border settlement, as collateral by some institutions, and as the gas that powers activity on the XRP Ledger, including its native DEX. Institutional interest grew notably in November 2025, when the SEC approved the first wave of spot XRP ETFs from issuers such as Bitwise, Grayscale, 21Shares, Canary Capital and Franklin Templeton.

Where to buy XRP

XRP is widely listed; our best crypto exchanges ranking compares platforms on fees and liquidity. For storage, our best crypto wallets guide covers wallets that support the XRP Ledger, and note that XRP accounts require a small reserve balance to remain active.

Is XRP a good investment?

XRP offers fast, cheap settlement and growing institutional access, but it has faced years of regulatory uncertainty in the US, and a large share of supply is held by the issuer. It is volatile and news-sensitive. This is not financial advice; understand the legal and supply dynamics before considering any position.