XRP, introduced in 2012, is the native currency of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which is a public, open-source, permissionless, and decentralized blockchain that anyone can contribute to or use for transactions.

XRP serves as a medium on the XRPL, functioning as a payment settlement, asset exchange, and remittance network for global payments utilized by private financial institutions and entities. It operates similarly to the SWIFT banking network, which facilitates international payments and transfers for banks and financial organizations.

The cryptocurrency was founded by Jed McCaleb, David Schwartz, and Arthur Britto, who initially envisioned it as a straightforward method for transferring payments between two parties.

Later, they collaborated with Chris Larsen, who was developing a payment protocol called Ripple through his company, OpenCoin. In 2013, the four combined their efforts, rebranding OpenCoin to Ripple Labs.

As the creators of the cryptocurrency, blockchain, and company, the four founders designed XRP to launch with a pre-mined tokenomics model. The XRPL was established with 100 billion tokens already created, with the majority allocated to Ripple and the remainder to the founders.

This model distinguishes XRP from other cryptocurrencies, as new tokens are not mined like Bitcoin (BTC). The founders contributed 80% (80 billion tokens) of the pre-mined XRP to the company while retaining 20% (20 billion tokens) for themselves.

This donation to Ripple Labs aimed to ensure a predictable supply of XRP and support the community by selling XRP at strategic times to enhance market liquidity and overall health.

This distribution model sparked debate within the cryptocurrency sector, as many participants were concerned that Ripple could potentially dilute XRP's value by flooding the market with tokens all at once.

To address this uncertainty, Ripple implemented an escrow plan in 2017, locking 55 million XRP on the XRPL in a series of escrows that would release 1 billion XRP each month to Ripple. Some of this amount would be released to the market, while the remainder would return to escrow for future release.

The intention behind this plan was to provide transparency to XRP holders and potential buyers who might be anxious about the risk of value dilution.

Ripple Labs is a private entity that plays a significant role in the development of the XRPL blockchain and controls the majority of XRP's supply. The XRP Ledger operates through a global network of over 150 validators, who reach consensus on transactions every 3-5 seconds.

While XRP and Ripple are frequently used interchangeably, they refer to different concepts. XRP denotes the actual native cryptocurrency, whereas Ripple, or Ripple Labs, refers to the company behind XRP.

As of August 2022, a little over 45 billion XRP tokens, nearly 50% of the total supply, are in circulation. XRP is traded across 100 markets and exchanges globally. However, due to an ongoing lawsuit by the SEC, many cryptocurrency exchanges and financial service providers in the U.S. have paused the buying and selling of XRP until further notice.