$XRP is the native digital asset of the Ripple payment network. Think of Ripple as a technology company that has developed a system to revolutionize global financial transfers. XRP is the cryptocurrency that operates within this system.

What is XRP used for?

The main purpose of XRP is to facilitate international financial transactions quickly, securely, and at low cost. It acts as a "bridge currency" to convert different fiat currencies (such as reais, dollars, euros, etc.).

Imagine that a bank in Brazil needs to send money to a bank in Italy. Using traditional systems (like SWIFT), this transaction can be time-consuming (taking days), expensive, and only works on business days and during business hours. With XRP, the process would be:

* The Brazilian bank buys XRP with reais.

* The XRP is sent to the Italian bank.

* The Italian bank converts the XRP into euros.

This entire process happens in seconds, with costs much lower than traditional methods.

Key features of XRP:

* Speed and low cost: Transactions can be confirmed in 3 to 5 seconds, with fees of a fraction of a cent.

* Not mineable: Unlike Bitcoin, XRP is not mined. All 100 billion units of XRP were created at the beginning of the network (pre-mined).

* Focus on financial institutions: Ripple Labs, the company behind XRP, aims to optimize global payments for large financial institutions and banks.

* XRP Ledger: XRP operates on its own distributed ledger, the XRP Ledger, which is designed to be efficient and secure.

* Decentralization: Although the XRP Ledger is distributed and open-source, the centralization of a portion of XRP in the hands of Ripple Labs generates debates about its level of decentralization compared to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.