Ripple (XRP) Cryptsheet - 27 Jan

Ripple (XRP) - Cryptsheet 27 Jan 2018
$1.21 (2.05%) 10,867 Satoshis

Description
Utility Coin aimed at being an Interbank Payments Platform. XRP is the native token on the ripple platform but not required for using the platform.

Decentralisation
It has a low level of decentralisation with <60 nodes that have substantial power granted to them and some barriers to entry. Ripple the company currently provides a default and recommend list of validators for participants to trust. The company also has the power to freeze XRP transactions that go through a gateway like an exchange. It is open source with 11590 commits on github.

Monetary Policy
It is not mineable. It has a fixed supply with a current supply of 38bn and a total supply of 100bn. A major criticism of XRP is the way in which tokens are distributed; currently ~60bn of all tokens are controlled by Ripple Labs.

Scalability
It has a medium level of scalability with no offchain scaling roadmap. The current transaction speed is fast. One of the main benefits of using Ripple is its fast and cheap transactions.

Liquidity
It has a high level of liquidity. It is listed on major exchanges and has 24hr trading volume of 1639m USD and a market cap of 46.9bn USD

Thoughts
Ripple (XRP) has built strong partnerships with established financial institutions for which it can deliver cost savings and efficiency. In the long run there may be a market for a coin like this but on a fundamental level it does not benefit from the truly disruptive nature of decentralisation. The overhanging supply risk will put downward pressure on the valuation in the medium term. At current satoshi levels we are below the all time high however the current BPE suggests limited upside. Cryptsheets balanced cryptocurrency portfolio will remain underweight Ripple (XRP) at these levels.

source: bitgur.com, bpeindex.com, coinmarketcap.com

Links
Ripples value proposition
Ripple technical FAQ
Ripple gateways can freeze user funds
Bloomberg video on Ripple

Cryptsheets are a cheatsheet for cryptocurrency, intended to provide only a brief high level overview. Readers should conduct their own research before making an investment decision and are reminded that the opinion expressed above is that of the author and does not constitute financial advice.

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