What is The XRP Ledger? 

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) is a scalable and decentralized public blockchain leveraged by a highly-skilled community of software engineers, server operators, businesses, and developers. The platform provides developers with a strong open-source foundation to execute the most demanding projects in a sustainable manner. Because the network is open-source, anyone can build on or with it, and access real-time information on the state of its contents to its users. XPR Ledger is carbon-neutral and one of the “greenest” blockchains on the market, offering a sustainable and energy-free transaction process. 

How Does it Work? 

The Ledger uses a Federated consensus protocol to verify transactions and ensure the network’s security, scalability, and stability. XRPL’s consensus protocols have designated servers known as validators that come to an agreement on the order of transactions, and process transactions according to the same rules/protocols. The idea behind it is that the blockchain will become increasingly decentralized over time as the number of validators increases. A diverse set of validators also protects the network/chain from being controlled by any one or few individuals. 

Why XRPL? 

There are numerous reasons why XRPL is considered an incredibly useful blockchain network. To begin with, it is a public and decentralized exchange—meaning no single organisation or individual can control it. Its ability to settle and perform thousands of transactions per second makes XRPL quicker than most other blockchain networks. Besides this, XRPL uses negligible amounts of energy when validating transactions as there is no need for mining. This makes it far more eco-friendly compared to other consensus mechanisms, as well as one of the first, major carbon-neutral blockchains. Furthermore, the transactions are incredibly affordable, (a fraction of a cent) which helps remove the obstacles sometimes experienced by users in the un- and under-banked populations. By reducing transaction settlement times from several days to a few seconds, XRPL transactions are considered to be exponentially faster when compared to other blockchains. 

Future/summary 

The XRP Ledger is one of many decentralized blockchains available and it is considered one of the most advanced and reliable blockchains in all of crypto. Today, it is leveraged by reputable organisations and a growing developer community with more than 63 million closed ledgers to date. Additionally, XPRL’s sustainable, fast and affordable transactions position it ahead of others.