Cryptocurrencies

The differences between Ripple and Stellar

In 2014 Jed McCaleb left Ripple (XRP) and forked the XRP network to create Stellar (XLM). Both cryptocurrencies aim to improve the international payment system by making transactions faster and cheaper. This begs the question: if they are both attempting the same goal what do they do differently?

For starters whilst both have the same goals, they are attempting to achieve them by targeting different audiences. Ripple is going directly to the financial institutions to form partnerships whereas Stellar is targeting individual users. The clearest example of such is the announcement broken by Coin Rivet where Blockchain.com were giving away $125 million of free Stellar to Blockchain.com’s customers.

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The ideologies of the fervent supporters of each coin appear different because of such things. For those in the ‘XRP Army’ each rumoured partnership with a bank is greeted with fervent enthusiasm. Stellar fans though preach their enthusiasm for fighting poverty and improving the lives of those less fortunate.

Both Ripple and Stellar have managed to form partnerships with some of the largest FinTech companies. Santander released a Ripple payment app back in April. Stellar has a strategic partnership with IBM. Neither partnership is to be sniffed at in the world of cryptocurrencies. However, whether these partnerships will help each coin’s mainstream adoption truly is still to be seen.

While Stellar did fork from Ripple, the code of each has changed since meaning they are now quite different. Unsurprisingly, fans of each coin will claim their own is superior, such is the tribalism in the crypto world. They do both share the same disdain from Bitcoin fans who criticise both as being centralised amongst other things.

The relationship between Ripple and Stellar is unlikely to ever be harmonious. Rather they appear like a married couple who had a painful divorce. With Ripple currently winning the battle of market cap and price it would surprising if Stellar can catch up.

Let us know what you think of both in the comments below.

Ross Chalmers

Ross first discovered Bitcoin as an undergraduate at the University of Sussex in 2013. Since then, the self-confessed Game of Thrones superfan has travelled extensively before returning to academic studies with Leiden University in the Netherlands to complete his MA. His focus was on the philosophies and groups underpinning the Bitcoin movement, Crypto Anarchy and the CypherPunks. As a child, Ross set his heart on one day becoming an F1 driver but nowadays focuses his passion on the high-speed nature of crypto.