Bitcoin vs Ripple is a battle between two cryptocurrencies which on the face of it you’d think would be similar, but which in fact aren’t. Here’s what they are and here’s how they differ.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin was first released in 2009. The identity of its creator is not known, but whoever it was used the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It’s a peer-to-peer electronic cash network and a platform for a decentralized digital currency.
Bitcoins are created by a process called mining, which involves running powerful computers to solve complex algorithms. Miners are rewarded for their work in bitcoin.

Ripple

The other party in the Ripple vs Bitcoin question is Ripple. It was created by Ripple Labs to make transferring money across borders quick and safe and it was built for commercial use. It’s ideal for making swift online payments and it doesn’t cost much to use. The Ripple coin is called XRP and confirmation for each transaction only takes around 3½ seconds.

Bitcoin vs Ripple—Differences

The question of which is better out of Bitcoin vs Ripple rests on a few differences. We know that Ripple offers quicker payments, but there’s also the question of supply and value. Well, it should come as no surprise that Bitcoin vs Ripple sees Bitcoin way ahead on value. One bitcoin is currently worth around $9700, while Ripple is only selling for 28 US cents.

There are about 43 Billion Ripple coins in existence right now, and the limit for XRP is set at 100 billion. Bitcoin will never exceed 21 million coins, so perhaps scarcity helps to explain its higher price.

The Bitcoin vs Ripple question also hinges on speed, and as we have seen, Ripple is ahead there with an amazing 1000 transactions a second and a three-second finalization time against Bitcoin’s relatively tardy 10 minutes.

Bitcoin vs Ripple is a competition between two digital currencies that rely on different principles. Ripple is pre-mined so there’s no need for anyone to create it. Bitcoin is mined enthusiastically by people all over the world, and one of the criticisms of it is the amount of sheer power this consumes and heat it produces. Transactions are validated using the proof-of-work principle, so there’s no escaping that overhead. Ripple gets by with far less environmental impact and is clearly popular amongst the financial community. Companies in over 40 countries created a consortium called Ripplenet to make payments across borders pain-free and secure.

All things considered, Ripple would appear to be triumphant in the Bitcoin vs Ripple debate, and perhaps in time, this will translate into a higher price.