Ripple is the name of a payment network and the payment protocol which powers it. It was developed and released in 2012 by a company of the same name, in order to enable “secure, instant and nearly free global financial transactions”. It is built on principles similar to those of Bitcoin, so many people consider it a cryptocurrency. However, unlike Bitcoin, the source code of Ripple’s technology is owned privately by the company, which means that it cannot be verified by any outsider. Ripple is a very popular network: many banks across the world use it as the basis for their own settlement infrastructure, and its native currency XRP (ripples) has been consistently present in the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization for the past several years.
1.First we’ll purchase the popular cryptocurrency Ethereum on coinbase, so that we can exchange it for Ripple (if you already own Ethereum you can skip ahead).
2.Use this link to sign up to Coinbase we’ll both receive ten dollars of free coins when you spend over $100 (or the equivalent in your currency).
3.Press the ‘sign up’ button and fill out your name (make sure this is exactly how it’s written on your photo ID), email, password and location.
Just like a US bank, Coinbase is regulated by the US government, and has to follow strict financial rules. So they take verifying your identity very seriously. It’s a pain, but it does give Coinbase a reputation for being the most trusted way to convert fiat currency to cryptocurrency.
To verify your account you must supply a phone number, upload an image of your photo ID and verify a credit/debit card or bank account before you can buy.
4.Using a credit/debit card on Coinbase means higher fees but offers instant purchasing. Using a bank transfer is cheaper but slower (taking up to a week to get your coins).
Once your payment details are verified, click ‘buy/sell’ on the top menu.
Select ‘Ethereum’, and at the bottom of the page choose how much to spend in your local currency / how many coins you want to buy.
Once you’re happy with the amount, click the big ‘Buy’ button.
You’ll be asked to confirm your purchase.
Press the ‘Confirm Buy’ button.
Congratulations! You now own some Ethereum. But don’t close Coinbase yet, we’re going to need it again in a few minutes.
5.We’ll use the site Binance to exchange your Ethereum for Ripple.
Click here to go to Binance, and click ‘Register’ on the top right menu.
Enter your email and a strong password (that you won’t forget!).
Click ‘Register’.
6.You will be sent an email to confirm your email address.
Click the link in the email.
You will be taken back to Binance as your email is confirmed.
Press ‘Login’.
On the login form, enter the email and password you just used to sign up, then press ‘Login’.
A pop-up will advise you to set up 2FA (two factor authentication) on your account.
We strongly advise you to do this- in the event a hacker manages to get hold of your password, this second level of security makes it very unlikely they will be able to get into your Binance account.
We recommend using the Authy app on your mobile phone or web browser.
7.Hover your mouse over ‘FUNDS’ on the top menu and click on ‘Deposits Withdrawals’.
This screen displays any coins you have stored on Binance- obviously none at the moment.
Type ‘Ethereum’ in the search box.
This will narrow the wallets displayed to just a few- in those, find Ethereum.
Press ‘Deposit’
You will be given a Ethereum deposit address (a long string of numbers and letters).
Copy this address and keep it somewhere safe as we’re going to need it soon.
Now we’ve got to wait a few minutes for the coins to move across the network.
Unless there’s an unusually large network backlog, the coins will take between 20 and 60 minutes to appear in your Binance wallet.
Binance will update automatically so there’s no need to refresh the page.
Once the Ethereum shows in your ‘available balance’ we’re ready to trade for Ripple.
8.Click here to jump straight to the XRP/ETH exchange market on Binance.
The exchange page can look overwhelming at first, but don’t worry, we’re only going to use a small part of it.
There are two ways of buying coins:
A ‘Limit’ order, which lets you manually set the price at which you want to buy XRP.
A ‘Market’ buy, which fills your order automatically at the best price available.
As market buy is the simpler of the two options we’ll go with that.
Look for the big green ‘Buy XRP’ button.
Above it, click the ‘Market’ option.
In the input box marked ‘Amount’ you now need to fill in how many XRP you’d like to buy. It may be easier to use the percentage buttons below the input box- for example, press 50% if you’d like to exchange 50% of your Ethereum for XRP.
When you’re happy with the amount, press the buy button.
Your order will be filled immediately.
Press ‘Funds’ along the top menu, then ‘Deposits Withdrawals’.
In the search box, type XRP. You will now see your new XRP in your XRP wallet.
If you’re comfortable with it, you could just leave your coins on Binance and they would probably be safe.