It’s no longer news that Stellar (XLM) and Ripple (XRP) are industry archrivals. Though, what are these networks competing for? Your guess is as good as ours. Could it be adoption? While Ripple has lots of scandals rocking it, Stellar has stayed scandal-free.
However, they share a significant level of similarity, given that they were created by the same person – Jed McCaleb. This, no doubt, leads to the similarities. Despite the closeness, the two digital assets share some fundamental differences. Let’s have a look at the two networks.
Stellar
Starting off with Stellar, it is an open-source platform that enables users to integrate with its free network. Transactions on Stellar are fast, as it takes fractions of seconds to seal off transactions. With a consensus mechanism, Stellar targets individuals who are its prospective clients.
Ripple
On the other hand, Ripple targets financial institutions for its user base. The sole objective of Ripple is to target and engage regulators, central banks, and treasuries. Indeed, Ripple tends to be more centralized.
Striking Similarities Between the Networks
Predictably, their similarities start with their payment processing mechanism. Another striking similarity lies in the native assets involved. In spite of that, they still share some differences even in their similarities. With the objective of enhancing the services of the banking industry, there has been a stiff rivalry between the two networks. Today, Ripple works with cross-border financial solution providers such as Western Union and MoneyGram.
Owing to their background, many people believe that Stellar is a hard fork of Ripple. These people have gone ahead to argue that Stellar functions like Ripple in every way. Nonetheless, this is misleading. Indeed, both of them have distinct codes. Although it happens to come from the same developer, the two networks have lots of differences as we will learn shortly.
Operational Differences
Starting with Ripple, it is a for-profit platform with a native token denoted as “XRP.” The token is a store of value and can be used to facilitate transactions. Today, XRP is the third largest digital currency by market cap. Also, Ripple focuses on connecting businesses, exchanges, and banks. Ripple has the clear objective of generating profits for the shareholders through the wide array of products it has on offer.
On the other hand, Stellar is a nonprofit organization (Stellar Development Foundation). With a market cap of $4.2B USD, XLM is the sixth largest cryptocurrency. Simply put, Stellar is championing the cause of empowering people in underdeveloped countries.
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