Getting Started with Ripple

Money has undergone evolution since its existence: from a barter system to physical objects to gold coins. Paper currency replaced gold coins, which was again replaced, to an extent, by digital money. Even before digital money replaces paper currencies, we can start seeing money taking a new form through cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin was the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Later, many cryptocurrencies such as LiteCoin, Ethereum, and Ripple were introduced to the market.

In this chapter, we will be exploring the following topics to understand the basics of Ripple and why it is necessary:

• Introduction to the blockchain, the underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies
• Introduction to Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency
• Inefficiencies with traditional payment systems
• Introduction to Ripple, the currency agnostic cryptocurrency
• The functionality of the Ripple Protocol
• Key features of Ripple
• Potential risks of Ripple