In 2017, we first learned about cryptocurrency, starting with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP.  Here is what we learned about XRP…

01. XRP was one of the first cryptocurrencies on the scene

The early days of cryptocurrency featured a few key players. The ones we first learned about were Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. However, XRP stood out for a few key reasons: 1) XRP briefly overtook Ethereum in market cap, 2) XRP had some of the same team members as the original Bitcoin team, and 3) XRP was had the fastest transaction speed of all cryptocurrencies – by far.

With that in mind, we thought XRP had the potential to overtake Bitcoin, especially since XRP also has a limited supply of tokens and is ~technically~ deflationary. More on that below.

02. It has many similarities to Bitcoin, and some key advantages

Like Bitcoin, XRP is limited to a finite number of tokens – there will never be more XRP. In addition, after each transaction, a very small amount of XRP is burned, technically reducing the supply of XRP over time if enough people use it, which increases the value of XRP over time.

XRP is also roughly 10X faster than Bitcoin in terms of transaction speed (which we have tested ourselves and can confirm). The transactions are almost instant, making it attractive for money management and peer-to-peer transactions.

And finally, XRP has a known founder (whereas Bitcoin has the legend of ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’, the identity of whom is unknown). Ripple labs founded XRP and maintains a large amount of it in escrow (which draws criticism from crypto enthusiasts because of its perceived lack of ‘decentralization’). However, some argue this makes the asset more safe and secure than Bitcoin.

03. Long-term, we are Bullish on XRP, but need to monitor competitors

XRP is an attractive offer given its historical performance, low price, current popularity, transaction speeds, known origin, and deflationary nature, but a competitive cryptocurrency could come along and do all of this better (and in fact, some may already be doing so).

That said, we maintain a small position in XRP as we want to be ‘upside protected’, but aren’t risking our retirement on the upside potential of the token.

04. What do we think overall?

Good asset, good company behind it, lots of long-term potential, don’t get carried away.