What is Ripple?
Ripple is a privately-held fintech company headquartered in San Francisco that builds enterprise software for cross-border payments and liquidity. It is the most prominent commercial entity associated with the XRP Ledger, but it is not the same thing as the ledger and does not own the XRP token. This guide explains what Ripple actually does, what it sells, and how to think about the relationship between the company, the ledger and the token.
The corporate history
Ripple was founded in 2012 by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb, building on earlier work by Ryan Fugger. The original product was a peer-to-peer trust network; the focus shifted to cross-border bank settlement after 2013. The company was originally called OpenCoin, then Ripple Labs, and now operates under the Ripple Network brand for its enterprise products. It has raised over $300m in venture funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, GV (Google Ventures) and a16z crypto.
What Ripple sells today
Ripple's core commercial product is RippleNet — software used by banks and payment companies to send cross-border payments more cheaply than via correspondent banking. Inside RippleNet, On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) uses XRP as a bridge currency to avoid the need for pre-funded nostro accounts in the destination currency. Ripple also sells custody software (acquired with Metaco in 2023), a stablecoin (RLUSD, launched late 2024) and various enterprise blockchain services. Most of these are sold to financial institutions, not retail.
Ripple's relationship with XRP
Ripple holds a large amount of XRP. At various points it has held more than 50% of total supply, though the proportion has fallen as XRP has been released from escrow and sold or distributed. Ripple uses XRP in ODL transactions and sometimes sells XRP to fund operations. The company has often been criticised for the size of its XRP holding and the influence that gives it on price action. Ripple does not, however, control the XRP Ledger itself — that runs on an independent validator network.
The SEC lawsuit and its outcome
In December 2020 the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple, alleging that ongoing XRP sales constituted unregistered securities offerings. The case became the most-watched piece of crypto litigation in the US. In July 2023, a partial summary judgment ruled that XRP sold on programmatic exchanges (i.e. anonymous orderbook sales) was not a security, while institutional XRP sales were. The court imposed a $125m penalty on Ripple in 2024. The SEC appealed; the case continues to shape US regulatory expectations for crypto.
Why this matters for XRP holders
Ripple's commercial success and XRP's price are loosely coupled. Successful enterprise adoption of ODL increases real-economy demand for XRP, which can support price over time. Conversely, large XRP sales by Ripple can suppress price in the short term. Regulatory wins or losses for Ripple have historically moved XRP price materially. Holders should track Ripple's quarterly XRP markets reports, which disclose sales and on-ledger flows.
Ripple is not the XRP Ledger
If Ripple were to disappear tomorrow, the XRP Ledger would keep running. Validators are run by exchanges, universities (including MIT) and independent operators. The code is open source. The XRP token would continue to exist with the supply already in circulation. This separation is structurally important — it is what allows XRP to be described as a decentralised asset despite the existence of a high-profile commercial sponsor.