Ripple is a
real-time gross settlement system (RTGS),
currency exchange and
remittance network by
Ripple Labs. Also called theRipple Transaction Protocol (RTXP) or Ripple protocol, it is built upon a
distributed open source Internet
protocol, consensus ledger and native currency called XRP (ripples). Released in 2012, Ripple purports to enable "secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions of any size with no chargebacks."
It supports tokens representing
fiat currency,
cryptocurrency,
commodity or any other unit of value such as frequent flier miles or mobile minutes. At its core, Ripple is based around a shared, public database or ledger, which uses a consensus process that allows for payments, exchanges and remittance in a distributed process.