XRP

The XRP Ledger was launched in 2012, conceived as a faster, cheaper alternative to both traditional payment networks and existing blockchains such as Bitcoin and Litecoin. The network was developed by engineers David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb and Arthur Britto. XRP has since grown into one of the world's largest cryptocurrencies, ranking fifth by market capitalization as of November 2026.

The developers subsequently helped establish the company now known as Ripple, alongside its first CEO Chris Larsen. Ripple is a private technology company that develops blockchain-based financial infrastructure and payment solutions using the XRP Ledger. Although Ripple holds significant amounts of XRP and uses the cryptocurrency in some of its products, it does not own the blockchain itself, which is an open-source network.

XRP has several key benefits such as fast settlement times of under five seconds and transaction fees of a fraction of a cent. It also functions as the native gas token of the network.

One of XRP’s main stated use cases is cross-border payments, allowing financial institutions and payment providers to transfer value internationally. However, its utility in this regard has arguably been overtaken by dollar-pegged stablecoins such as USDC and USDT. Unlike stablecoins, XRP’s price remains volatile, complicating its use in payments.

In recent years, the XRP Ledger has expanded its scope to include RWA tokenization, providing a venue for institutions to bring traditional assets onchain. As of November 2026, the network ranks ninth by total RWA value with almost $650 million in tokenized assets onchain.