Why Ripple isn’t a real cryptocurrency

There are thousands of cryptocurrencies available throughout the world, however, recently Ripple has come under fire for not being a ‘real’ cryptocurrency. Each of these cryptocurrencies that are available have taken plenty of inspiration from Bitcoin which was the first-ever cryptocurrency to be put out into the big wide world. While it was a game-changer, Bitcoin struggled to live up to everyone’s expectations which was slightly disappointing, and though it did disappoint many people, it then saw a rise far later on into the game when other forms of cryptocurrency entered the scene.

Bitcoins miners keep the whole of Bitcoin running smoothly (as smooth as it can) which is a lifesaver. It also has a finite supply of only 21 million coins and all of these characteristics combined make it easy to transact, store, and speculate. However, when Ripple entered the scene, people began to speculate as to what exactly makes a cryptocurrency a cryptocurrency. How similar does it have to be to Bitcoin to be considered a cryptocurrency and are there really any standards?

There are plenty of questions regarding this, however, many of them just haven’t been sked because people tend to fear the answers. Some people in the crypto world have even said that Ripple is not a cryptocurrency at all and refuse to include it as one. Let’s take a look and see if they are right.

Is Ripple a real cryptocurrency?

By a standard definition, Ripple was never made to be a normal currency or coin. Ripple focuses primarily on making the blockchain as strong as possible and completely does away with the idea of XRP as a form of investment asset. This works in favour of the institutional entities it serves such as American Express or Santander Bank.

The way Ripple designed everything was essentially just a tweaked version of all other cryptocurrencies. It took each individual component of already existing cryptocurrencies and then tweaked it to make it ever so slightly different. That then leaves us to wonder, does it still even count as a form of cryptocurrency if everything is tweaked.

Goodbye Miners

Here is the part that baffles everyone, Ripple actually doesn’t use miners at all, in fact, it never has! Everything is essentially powered through a centralized form of blockchain to make it far more reliable and very fast. Mining is at the core of every single other form of cryptocurrency, so it is very surprising that Ripple chose not to use miners at all.

In the cryptocurrency world, miners are very heavily relied on and this is perhaps one of the biggest things people consider when they are saying it isn’t a cryptocurrency at all.

So, what is it?

By definition, Ripple is not, at all, a true form of cryptocurrency. It is the dividing line as its own distinct product and even the most popular cryptocurrency investors won’t touch it because of how different it is from other cryptocurrencies. There are far better ways to invest your money, such as Bitcoin which can be aided by apps such as Bitcoin up which you can access through the Bitcoin Up login.