Gone are the days when you had to do money transfers with Western Union or SWIFT. The methods were slow, could easily be hacked, and the fees were ridiculous. The advent of cryptocurrency has made it possible for other currency transfer platforms to be made. These are faster, more reliable, and cheaper. An example of such is Ripple.
Headquartered in San Francisco, USA, it is a network that enables the transfer of almost any currency to any part of the world. And it does this in mere seconds. Ripple is a platform that has been set up to work mainly with banks. It assists banks by making them better at sending payments to customers all over the world. It also provides banks with a cost-efficient way to do this.
How Ripple Works
For instance, if you wanted to send Singaporean dollars to someone in Nigeria, the bank may have to convert that money to US dollars, then convert to Nigerian naira, and transfer it to the recipient. At each currency exchange stage, there is a fee. The process might take at least three banking days. And you won’t be able to do transfers during the weekend.
On the Ripple platform, this process is shortened. You can change your Singaporean dollars to XRP – the currency Ripple uses – and send that XRP to the Nigerian. The Nigerian can receive it via their bank or in their wallet. Then they can convert that by trading the XRP for Naira.
Why Banks Should Use Ripple
Ripple is still new, still getting a foot in the world banking system. Nevertheless, its future looks promising. Payments made in real-time are a big part of the world’s future, and it has an important role to play in that. Ripple has a goal of making money transfers happen as swiftly as information moves in this internet age. You wouldn’t have to make a transfer and then wait five working days for it to arrive anymore.
Several banks have started using the Ripple platform with their systems. It allows banks to save as much as $4 per transaction, which is huge savings for the banks. Banks like to make money and save even more. With what Ripple offers, more banks are in line to use this platform. They can save and still make real-time payments to people in any part of the world.
How To Buy Ripple XRP
Purchasing Ripple XRP is quite simple.
- The first thing you have to do is get a wallet. The wallet is where you put your coins when you get them on the exchange. It is advisable that you always withdraw your coins to your wallet once you trade. The coins are only yours when they are in your wallet. On the exchange, anything can happen. Wallets for storing your Ripple XRP function the same way wallets for Bitcoin do, so you shouldn’t have any issues with it. XRP wallets that you can get include Rippex and Toast Wallet. There will be more information on Toast Wallet later on. Also, note that you need to have an initial minimum of 20 XRP in your wallet at all time. This is to secure your wallet against spam. You should also get a hardware wallet for extra back-ups, such as Ledger Nano S.
- The next step is to get an exchange where you can trade for XRP. You can buy Ripple XRP with fiat currency, or you can use Bitcoin to buy Ripple on certain exchange platforms.
- The last step is to withdraw the Ripple XRP to your wallet.
Invest In Ripple Without Owning Coins
You can also invest in Ripple without actually owning any coins.
- Investing in Ripple: there are platforms where you can invest in Ripple. Here, you just buy and sell the currency: you do not own it. This platform is accessible to you if you do not live in the United States of America.
- Buying with Fiat Currency: you can purchase Ripple XRP with fiat currency via credit card or wire transfer. You can do this using either Bitstamp or GateHub.
- On Bitstamp, you have to sign up and follow a procedure called ‘Know Your Customer’. After that, you can make a transfer through the bank or through SEPA. Once it goes through, you can trade fiat for XRP.
- GateHub follows the same process but charges $15 for transfers done with the bank.
- Buying with Bitcoin (BTC): You can buy Bitcoin from exchanges like Coinbase, and then send it to other exchanges for trading with XRP. To make the process easier, you can exchange the Bitcoin on Shapeshift or Changelly.
Other exchanges include:
- Kraken, Bittrex, and Poloniex
- Bitbank or Coincheck (if you are in Japan)
- Bitso (if you are in Mexico)
- Korebit or Coinone (if you live in South Korea)
- How to Use Toast Wallet
How To Use Toast Wallet
Relatively new on the scene, Toast Wallet is already popular with Ripple users. It is a self-hosted and secure wallet that you can store your XRP in. Toast Wallet is well-liked because it can be downloaded to your Android or Apple devices. You can check your wallet anytime, and you can even make currency transactions.
When you get the Private Key for your Toast Wallet, make sure to write it down and keep it somewhere safe. Leaving your Private Key on your device or in the cloud leaves it in danger of getting hacked.
You always need to have 20 XRP in reserve, and this cannot be used. If that is all you have in your wallet, you won’t be able to make any transactions. This isn’t a feature of Toast Wallet though; it is a feature of Ripple. Toast Wallet is open-source and completely free to use. The procedure for creating a Toast Wallet account isn’t very different from doing so with any other wallet. You can back-up your Toast Wallet, import addresses, exchange currencies, and transfer to others. However, you must send the 20 XRP to your wallet before you can activate it for use.
This is what you need to know about Ripple and using Toast Wallet. Still, if you are considering investing in or buying Ripple XRP, do your due diligence. It will be of more benefit to you when you know what you are getting into.
