The first thing to note is that the name Ripple belongs to the company behind the cryptocurrency. So, the cryptocurrency is XRP, although people often refer to the coin as RIPPLE.

Ripple’s XRP and Bitcoin are both cryptocurrencies, digital alternatives to currencies issued by governments, but there are variations between them. They differ in their objective, creation, cost, and time involved in carrying out a transaction using each one.

Although bitcoin remains at the top of the pile in terms of market cap and adoption rates, altcoins continue to surge ahead thanks to growing adaptability and varied applications.

Bitcoin vs. XRP

XRP The blockchain is a public database of verified transactions and record-keeping, and it forms the foundation of the bitcoin network.

Miners verify transactions on an ongoing basis and add them to the bitcoin blockchain, which serves as a ledger for all network activity. In exchange for their time and computing power, miners are rewarded with BTC upon successfully validating certain quantities of transactions.

In contrast, XRP is a technology known for its digital payment network and protocol.

In addition to its XRP cryptocurrency, Ripple is probably even more well-known for its SWIFT-like payment settlement, asset exchange, and remittance system.

Transaction Validation

Instead of using the blockchain mining concept, the Ripple network uses a unique distributed consensus mechanism through a network of servers to validate transactions. This enables almost instant confirmations without any central authority, which keeps XRP decentralized and faster and more reliable than many of its competitors.

While the bitcoin network is accused of being energy-hungry due to its mining system. The Ripple system consumes insignificant power owing to its mining-free mechanism.

Processing Times and Costs

It takes 10 minutes to confirm a transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain and may be associated with high transaction costs. XRP transactions are confirmed within seconds at low costs.

The overall amount of BTC is around 21 million crypto coins, while the total supply of XRP is 100 billion pre-mined tokens.

Mining and Circulation

The crypto coin release mechanism is different for both BTC and XRP. While bitcoins are released and added to the network through mining, a smart contract controls the release of XRP.

According to a built-in smart contract, Ripple initially planned to issue a maximum of 1 billion XRP tokens per month; nonetheless, there are already more than 50 billion in circulation.

The remaining XRP coins in a singular month will be moved to an escrow account.

XRP transactions have a processing fee, just like bitcoin transactions.

A tiny amount of XRP is charged to the user each time a transaction is carried out on the Ripple network.

The primary use of XRP is to facilitate the transfer of other assets. A growing number of merchants also accept it for payments in a way similar to accepting bitcoin.

Real-World Applications
While bitcoin is being used by more individuals and organizations as a virtual currency, the Ripple payment system is more popular among banks. The Ripple network comprises more than 200 financial institutions, based in more than 40 countries, allowing for easy cross-border payments.