Steem Vs. Ripple: A Comparative Guide
Steem and Ripple are now two of the biggest players in the digital currency world. They both have different features that not only differentiate them from each other but also from bitcoin.
In this article, we take a look at key areas for comparison between Steem and Ripple (XRP).
How Steem And Ripple Differ
Steem differs from other currencies as it uses a social media network (Steemit) that pay its users for contributing to the platform. This has made Steem one of the most popular digital currencies in the market.
The main attraction of Ripple is that you can instantly convert it to a number of currencies. Its connection to a number of banks helps it stand out among other digital currencies.
|
|
Steem | Ripple |
| Utility | Reward for Contributing to Steemit Platform
|
Interbank Payments
|
| Number of Holders | 500,000+
|
Over $1 million |
| Community | Large
|
Small
|
| Market Capitalization | $900 million
|
$50 billion
|
| Daily Trading Volume | $100 million
|
Over $500 |
| One-Year Performance | 2175%
|
36,000%
|
| Public Awareness | Low
|
Low
|
Utility
Steem uses a decentralized peer-to-peer payment option. However, it does not solely exist as a digital spending currency. The concept behind Steem is to encourage users to contribute to Steemit by rewarding them with their currency.
Ripple provides a fast and cheap payment option for worldwide financial institutions. The Ripple Interbank Payment Network uses it as its digital currency. There are over 50 banks worldwide using the Ripple payment system and over 100 more using it on a trial basis.
Number of Holders
According to Steemd, the Steem currently boasts over 500,000 holders. In comparison, Ripple currently has over $1 million active accounts.
Community
Steem has an ever growing large community of users. This is mainly due to the popularity of Steemit, which is expanding globally.
According to CoinMarketCap, Ripple is currently the third largest digital currency on the market. Financial institutes are continuing to adopt Ripple, and the bank market is a big market to be in. Therefore, its possible this community will grow significantly.
Market Capitalization
Steem currently has a market capitalization of $900 million. By market capitalization, this places Steem as one of largest digital currencies, with a rank of 26.
In contrast, Ripple has a market capitalization of $50 billion and is now the fourth largest digital currency on the market.
Daily Trading Volumes
Trading volumes tend to have a large range. According to CoinMarketCap, Steem currently has a trading volume operating around the $100 million mark. At this time of writing, CoinMarketCap lists Ripple's daily trading volume at over $400 million.
One-Year Performance
Steem currently has a one-year performance of 2,175 percent. However, Ripple was the best performing digital currency of 2017, rising an impressive 36,000 percent.
Public Awareness
Steem is a big player in the digital currency world; however, Steemit's public awareness is still quite low. Likewise, Ripple's public awareness is also low. However, the potential for Ripple's Global Payments Network and interbank payments may change this in the future.
Conclusion
It is difficult to overlook Steem and Ripple, as they are both big players performing well in the digital currency market. Steem's social media concept, as well as Ripple's ability to easily send money globally, are two fascinating developments in the world of New Finance.
The competition behind bitcoin is definitely tightening, and it might not be a bad idea to expose your holdings to both of these digital currencies.
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Ripple has very little use case right now - best use case is as a liquidity vehicle where many different currencies can trade into but no banks are willing to be involved in this yet. Steem arguably has the most utility of all blockchains today.
Why compare Steem and Ripple? Ripple is a centrally run crypto aimed at corporations(see what the company running Ripple is doing) while Steem is a decentralized crypto focused on social media but potentially moving into the ico space.
Agreed, worlds apart. Starting with Steem doing everything it can benefit our movement and Ripple's main goal and purpose is to screw our movement. Not of the same world.
I wouldn’t say Ripple is trying to screw people it’s just more of a corporate structured entity than traditional cryptocurrencies. Although slowly even crypto is getting a bit too centralized for me...
Help me understand what you mean by saying Steam has a daily trading volume of $100 million, I bought in a couple hundred dollars and converted to steam power as I thought I was suppose to/ able to do and then when I tried to trade it the system with no explanation just wiped up my accumulated earnings (about $35 dollars) and then I read somewhere on the site something like it takes 36 months to divest (power down)....hardly a trading platform, rather a capture and hold my cash platform...? I then went in to reverse the power down and all of the accumulated value and my ability to up vote others went away?? I now get a message that says I have insufficient funds to promote (which is what I tried to do here before posting this comment!?! I'm guessing (know!) that I still don't clearly understand how this all works, it's clear as mud to me...last comment, I posted several times early on and all I saw was a couple cents of promotion or steam contributed my way, again I just don't understand how some posts have hundreds of dollars in upvoting value, and most have one or two cents...it feels from the outside like if you don't understand the system, or if you are not an insider then you are simply a target or chump? I'd guess many feel or have experienced similar things trying to figure this out?!? Would really appreciate any comments or insights from anyone...thanks in advance!
Hi, I won't try for a full explanation (there are ppl far more qualified than me). I'm still quite new and there's a BIG learning curve assoc with Steem/Steemit, which I think is & will hold the platform back. First...once you convert to Steem Power, you're not locked in for 36 months. If you want out, it takes 13 weeks to "power down"...where you receive 13 weekly payments to completely get all your $$ back.
I'd start by reading the FAQs and any posts you can find on the subject of how money/transactions work. And try to stop thinking in USD when you see monetary amounts on here. Also, look at your own posts/comments to compare what you think you're earning as to what you actually do (after 7 days) - then try doing this with other people's posts too. That might help.
To promote, best option I've come across is MinnowBooster, but I think you have to pay in SBD, not SP - they at least give you a chance to break even, or make slight profit on your investment. And I wouldn't touch the other upvote bots - the winners are those running them. If you want to promote, make sure it's a quality post and think of it as advertising, where you're going for exposure, rather than trying to make money on the post.
Lastly, you have to be patient (just as I do). It's hard sometimes when you see others getting big payouts, but that will come once you've attracted an audience (of people actually interested in what you have to say - not just numbers for the sake of it). Anyway, good luck :)
good night, I really like the posting application that you post, actually I want to know more about the application you have published in post steem.boleh you explain to me ....?
i am new in steemit and i learned from your post something new.... i think it is your great thinking post....
great your steem post
STEEM-decentralized
Ripple-centralized
That is the biggest difference I see.
In my opinion XRP vs XLM would be more interesting and informative post.
Can someone from west africa have access to this ripple coin?
Thanks @bitcoin-journal
Nice comparative analysis.
Steem has a lot of growth prospect and would soon spread like wide-fire because of social affiliation. Steem is based on reward for good content from the steemit community
Ripples on the other hand, is widely accepted because of its ability to be used for interbanking transactions.
Both Steem and Ripples are tantalizing to hold onto.