XRP, the cryptocurrency created by Ripple, has become one of the top digital assets in terms of market capitalization. With its fast transaction speeds and low fees, XRP is designed to be used for cross-border payments and transactions. But what else can you do with XRP tokens?
Use XRP for Cross-Border Payments
One of the main use cases for XRP is for cross-border payments and transactions. Sending money across borders with traditional financial institutions can take several days and have high fees. XRP transactions take just 3-5 seconds on average and have negligible fees.
Banks and payment providers like MoneyGram are starting to utilize XRP through Ripple’s payment network RippleNet for quick and affordable cross-border transfers. Individuals can also use XRP this way by purchasing XRP on an exchange, transferring it to a digital wallet, and sending it anywhere in the world.
Trade XRP on Exchanges
Like other cryptocurrencies, XRP can be traded on various crypto exchanges for profit. You can buy low and sell high as the price fluctuates, or use more advanced trading methods like margin trading. Here are some popular exchanges that allow XRP trading:
| Exchange | Supported XRP Trading Pairs |
|---|---|
| Binance | XRP/BTC, XRP/BUSD, XRP/USDT |
| Coinbase | XRP/USD, XRP/BTC, XRP/EUR |
| Kraken | XRP/USD, XRP/BTC, XRP/EUR |
| Bittrex | XRP/BTC |
Factors like news, supply changes, and market sentiment can impact XRP’s volatile price. Do your research before trading XRP on exchanges.
Lend or Stake XRP
Some crypto platforms allow you to lend your XRP holdings to earn interest, or stake them to help secure the XRP Ledger while earning rewards. These are passive ways to earn additional XRP income on your holdings over time.
On sites like Nexo and Celsius Network, you can lend out XRP to borrowers and receive up to 5% APY interest. To stake XRP, you can use services like GateHub and receive around 5% annual yield for helping validate transactions.
Spend XRP Online
While XRP adoption is still limited, there are some merchants that accept XRP as payment online. Typically, you’ll need to use a payment processor like BitPay that can facilitate the transaction between XRP and local currency for the merchant.
Some major companies like Travala.com for travel services and the Dallas Mavericks NBA team already take XRP for certain purchases. As more payment processors and merchants support XRP, real-world usage for payments should increase.
Use XRP with Decentralized Exchanges
Decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and 0x allow you to trade XRP and other tokens directly with other users without a centralized intermediary. This opens up more trading opportunities for XRP holders who want to swap between different assets.
You can trade XRP for wrapped or tokenized versions of assets like stocks, commodities, fiat currencies, and more on these exchanges. Transactions are handled on-chain using smart contracts for an open and transparent trading experience.
Develop on the XRP Ledger
The XRP Ledger is open for developers to build on top of. With XRP, you can create applications for payments, decentralized finance, tokenized assets, NFTs, and much more. The XRP Ledger handles the core transactions so you can focus on the higher-level logic.
Ripple provides powerful tools like the XRP Ledger and XRP Toolkit for developing with XRP and integrating with RippleNet. You can also use XRP for basic token issuance and smart contracts with tools like XLS-20d and Mojaloop.
Donate to Causes
The low fees and fast transaction time make XRP a useful cryptocurrency for donating to charities or causes. Some nonprofits directly accept XRP donations or use payment processors like The Giving Block to facilitate donations.
You can also tip content creators online with XRP using platforms like Coil. The ease of sending small XRP amounts opens up new opportunities forusing the asset for micropayments.
Hold as an Investment
Many purchase XRP primarily as a speculative investment. They buy XRP and hold with the expectation that the token’s value will increase substantially in the future.
You can hold XRP in any compatible digital wallet and wait for the price to reach your target. XRP’s supply is capped at 100 billion, and all units are already premined, which proponents argue gives it scarcity value.
However, investing in any cryptocurrency carries significant risk. Only allocate what you can afford to lose, and be prepared for major volatility in XRP’s price.
Conclusion
XRP has many potential applications beyond just cross-border payments. From trading, lending, spending, development, donating, and speculating, XRP’s fast and inexpensive transactions open up opportunities across finance, technology, charities and more. However, XRP is still maturing, so not all these use cases have fully developed yet.
As developers build more applications on the XRP Ledger and businesses adopt Ripple’s technologies, expect to see the XRP ecosystem grow. While risks remain, XRP holders have many promising options to derive value from the asset beyond just buying and selling on exchanges.
