What is XRP Ledger?

Overview

The XRP Ledger supports payments, issued assets, and built-in exchange features. XRP is its native asset.

Compare the XRP Ledger with other payment and asset networks. Check validator-list overlap, rule-change governance, issued-asset trust, and available exchange paths.

What is XRP Ledger used for?

The XRP Ledger supports payments and asset issuance and transfer, with XRP as its native asset.

Use cases

Sending XRP or issued assets between XRP Ledger accounts.
Making cross-currency payments through built-in exchange paths.
Issuing or trading assets using trust lines and the ledger's decentralized exchange.

Who founded and maintains XRP Ledger?

The XRP Ledger was created by David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto before the company now known as Ripple formed around it. Ripple remains a major contributor, but it does not run the ledger by itself.

Maintainer community
XRP Ledger community
Maintains public documentation, standards, and community resources for the XRP Ledger ecosystem.
Protocol contributor and company
Ripple
A payments company and significant contributor to XRP Ledger software and ecosystem projects.

What is XRP Ledger's native token?

XRP is the XRP Ledger's native asset. It pays a fee that is destroyed, and accounts must keep an XRP reserve.

Fees: XRP pays the small transaction fee that the XRP Ledger destroys rather than paying to validators.
Reserve: Accounts must keep an XRP reserve, which discourages ledger spam.
Supply: All XRP was created at launch; XRP Ledger does not issue mining or staking rewards.

Source: XRP Ledger fees documentation.

12-month XRP price history

The chart shows the market price of XRP over the last 12 months. It does not show network usage, project revenue, or a future return.

How does XRP Ledger work?

XRPL uses validator agreement rather than proof-of-work mining or Ethereum-style EVM execution.

XRP Ledger is a Layer 1 whose own network validates and records its transactions.

Three XRP Ledger mechanisms that change a comparison

The XRP Ledger combines validator trust choices, amendment voting, and built-in payment and exchange paths rather than a general Solidity runtime.

Three XRP Ledger mechanisms that change a comparison
Mechanism	What it changes	What to check
Trusted validator lists	Each server chooses validators it trusts for consensus	List overlap and operator diversity
Amendments	Protocol changes activate after sustained validator support	The amendment's vote and activation status
Built-in exchange and paths	Payments can convert through order-book or path liquidity	Issued assets, trust lines, route quality, and liquidity

Sources: XRPL consensus; XRPL amendments; XRPL decentralized exchange.

Apps, tools, and built-in features on XRP Ledger

The XRP Ledger provides built-in payment and asset features rather than a broad environment for arbitrary smart-contract apps on the main ledger.

Tools: wallets and XRPL APIs work with payments, issued tokens, escrow, payment channels, and the built-in exchange.
Trade-off: it is closest to Stellar for payments and issued assets; unlike Ethereum-style networks, it does not make arbitrary Solidity apps a base-ledger feature.

Source: XRPL payment and asset documentation.

What are XRP Ledger's trade-offs?

The XRP Ledger prioritizes built-in payments, issued assets, and exchange features rather than a broad Solidity-style app platform.

Payments and assets: Its built-in exchange, issued assets, escrow, and payment features suit value transfer without requiring a separate smart contract for each basic workflow.
Compatibility: It is closer to Stellar for payments and issued assets than to Ethereum for arbitrary app contracts; Solidity apps are not a base-ledger feature.
Security and control: Validators use configured trust lists and the network changes through amendments, so validator overlap and amendment governance are key comparison points.

Common questions about XRP Ledger

Is XRP a good investment?

XRP is the XRP Ledger's native asset. It pays a fee that is destroyed, and accounts must keep an XRP reserve. This profile does not contain current comparable price, liquidity, supply, exchange-access, governance-concentration, or regulatory evidence, so it cannot determine whether XRP is a good investment.

What should I verify before comparing XRP Ledger?

Verify which validators rely on the same trusted peers and who can approve changes to the XRP Ledger's rules. Use the same transaction type, asset route, confirmation target, and observation window when comparing XRP Ledger with another network.

Compare XRP Ledger with related networks

These comparisons share a payment, asset, application, or network-design trait. The important-difference column names the boundary that can change the choice.

Comparison	Shared focus	Important difference
XRP Ledger vs Stellar	payments, payments and issued assets, Layer 1 networks	Stellar is built around payments and issued assets; XRP Ledger is built around payments, issued assets, and built-in exchange features.
XRP Ledger vs TON	payments, payments and issued assets, Layer 1 networks	The main split is Telegram-linked payments and apps for TON and payments, issued assets, and built-in exchange features for XRP Ledger.
XRP Ledger vs Bitcoin	payments, Layer 1 networks	Bitcoin emphasizes BTC payments; XRP Ledger emphasizes payments, issued assets, and built-in exchange features.
XRP Ledger vs Dogecoin	payments, Layer 1 networks	Dogecoin is built around DOGE payments; XRP Ledger is built around payments, issued assets, and built-in exchange features.
XRP Ledger vs Monero	payments, Layer 1 networks	The main split is private XMR payments for Monero and payments, issued assets, and built-in exchange features for XRP Ledger.

Official XRP Ledger technical sources

Start with the primary documentation, then check live data separately when the decision depends on it.