How Can I Buy Ripple XRP?…

The cryptocurrency market is all set to leap into its biggest year. And one player is being closely watched by investors and industry experts alike. For cryptocurrency enthusiasts, ripple is one the most disruptive digital currency. It polarizes opinions and is either loved or despised with equal passion. It’s also highly misunderstood because even though it is a cryptocurrency, it is radically different from the current leader of the pack – bitcoin.

Even as you read this, Ripple has displaced Ethereum and now has the second largest market cap, after bitcoin.  The recent upswing in Ripple’s fortunes combined with the low ripple price has triggered people to search for phrases like what is XRP Token, and How to buy Ripple XRP.

What is XRP Token

Ripple is an internet protocol network called Ripple Transaction Protocol (RTXP). The three pillars around which RTXP is built are a distributed open source internet protocol, a shared, public database or ledger, and a native cryptocurrency called XRP token (ripples). RTXP supports transactions from cryptocurrency, fiat currency, and even other units of value like mobile minutes or frequent flier miles.

One of the biggest concerns around cryptocurrency is their supply. Given that bitcoin has a supply limit of 21 billion bitcoins and it has already exhausted 78% of its supply, a likely question on investors’ minds is: What is the Ripple Supply Limit?

What is the Ripple Supply Limit?

Ripple has a supply limit of 100 billion XRPS This number is hard-coded into the Ripple ledger and cannot be changed. To allay concerns about the XRP supply, Ripple has made a decision to place 55 billion XRP into a secure escrow account by the end of 2017. One thing noteworthy of mention here is that a small amount of XRPs are destroyed every time there is a transaction on the network. This means the total supply of XPR is slowly decreasing.  As of September 17, 2017 the ripples supply breakdown is as follows.

Total XRP held by Ripple:  6,462,128,816*
Total XRP Distributed:  38,531,538,922* (including business development agreements that are still pending)
Total XRP to be Placed in Escrow:  55,000,000,000

*As of this writing
(Source: XRP Supply, Ripple.com, September 17, 2017)

Of the 55 billion held by the escrow, 1 billion will be released every month for investors to buy. So it’s very important to know how to by ripple XRP.

How To Buy Ripple XRP

While large scale investors can invest in Ripple directly, most other investors and speculators can only invest in Ripple’s native currency -XRPs following 3 simple steps that show you how to buy XRP on Ripple exchanges.

Step #1 – Get a XRP wallet

At present, the only reliable hardware wallets for storing XRP is Ledger Nano S.  However, Rippex offers a desktop wallet for Mac, Windows, and Linux.  The important thing to note when using an XRP wallet is to write down the secret key and store it in a secure location. This secret key will be your only access to your wallet.

Step #2 – Select a Ripple Exchange

There are several exchanges that help you buy Ripple today. You can use these exchanges to buy XRP with regular currency like dollars, euros, yen etc. and you can also trade Bitcoins for Ripple on specific exchanges. If you don’t already own bitcoin, the best way to buy XRPS is with a credit card or with a wire transfer through an exchange called Bitstamp. Other ripple exchanges are GateHub, Changelly, Bittrex, Poloniex, ShapeShift, and Kraken.

Step #3 – Transfer (withdraw) Your XRP to your Wallet

Wherever you get your coins from, it is very important to immediately withdraw them into your own wallet for safety. Once this is done, and the transfer is confirmed, you become the proud owner of XRPs. (Source: How to buy XRP in 3 simple steps: 99Bitcoins, August 31, 2017)

How To Buy XRP on Ripple Exchanges

Of the Ripple exchanges mentioned in step#2, Kraken seems to be the most popular, so let’s take a detailed look at how to buy ripple on Kraken.

Currently, Kraken has a simple 5 step process that will help you buy XRPs without too much hassle. But this could change in the future to make it even simpler.

Step 1: Go to https://www.kraken.com/signup and create your account by entering your information and clicking on the Sign Up button. Once you click Sign Up, Kraken will send you an email to verify your account.

Step 2: The e-mail from Kraken will have an activation key. And a link. You can activate your Kraken account by either clicking on the link or copying the activation key and pasting it in Krakens account activation page. Both work equally well.

Step 3: Verification. Depending on the nature of transactions, Kraken has different levels of verification. For example, to usually make bank deposits required to buy XRP, Kraken requires tier 2 customer verification –  name, phone number, and address. However, in some jurisdictions, bank deposits require tier 3 verification which involves uploading a valid government-issued photo ID and proof of residence documentation.

Step 4: After you verify your account, deposit funds to your Kraken account by going to Account > Funding > Deposit and selecting the type of deposit.

Step 5: To buy XRP with your USD, select the XRP/USD from the currency pair drop-down menu, in the New Order tab, select the simple interface and place an order for XRP. Finally, enter the amount of XRP you want to buy and submit your order. That’s it. (Source: How to buy XRP on Kraken: Ripple.com)

Every exchange has a similar process with a few variations. For example if you want to buy XRP on GateHub, when you sign up you are first asked to store your recovery key. After which you activate your account by clicking the activate account button in the email you receive, sign in with your email and password, Identity Verification, Connect a Gateway, Deposit your currency and buy XRP.

How to buy XRP with Credit or Debit Cards

A few years ago Ripple coin investors faced a huge double-transaction problem while trying to buy XRPs with debit card and credit card. The double transaction meant they lost out on XRPs as well as time. But in 2013 Changelly came along and showed how to buy XRP with credit or debit cards.

Changelly is a cryptocurrency exchange website founded in 2013 especially for the digital currency transactions. Soon after its launch it introduced an option which allows people to buy Ripple XRP coin or any other cryptocurrency by paying through Credit or Debit cards using a simple process that takes no more than a few seconds. In fact, it takes longer to explain the process than actually doing it, but here goes…

The two requisites to be able to use Changelly are (a) be a registered user on the Changelly website (it’s free) and (b) have a ripple wallet to receive the ripple coin.

Once you’re on the website all you need to do is select the currency, (ripple XRP) enter the amount you want to spend in USD click on the exchange button. This will take you to the payment page where you confirm your order by checking the amount in USD and XRP. You will also get the estimated time of arrival of XRP in your Ripple wallet.

Once everything looks good, enter your ripple wallet address and click on Next button and follow the prompts to pay with your credit card.  It’s always good to confirm the transaction. Enter your phone number in the space provided.  You will receive a 4 digit code on your phone. Enter this code and your transaction will be processed, and you will receive your ripple XRPs in your XRP wallet.
(Source: How To Buy Ripple XRP Coin With Credit/Debit Card: RippleCoinNews, October 27, 2017)

The Safest Way to Buy XRPs

Many people have asked me whether it is safe to buy XRP with debit and credit cards. My take on this is simple. Buying XRPs, or any other cryptocurrency for that matter, with your debit or credit cards holds the same risk as buying anything else online with your credit/debit cards.

As far as I’m concerned, the safest way to buy XRPs is to exchange real currency on the various XRP exchanges. But the real safety issue comes in storing your XRPS and retrieving them. And for that your key code is paramount. Guard it with your life.