Talk:XRP Ledger/Source analysis

Following is an analysis of some sources currently used in the article, and some not currently used but potentially usable.

Sources currently used in the article

In alphabetical order by author.

Andreou

• Andreou, Giannis (2024). The Ultimate Guide to Cryptocurrency. Austin Macauley Publishers. pp. 31–33. ASIN B0CV45S69H.
  • Quotes:
    • "The XRP Ledger (XRPL) was established in 2012 by David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto, with the native currency XRP. Their vision was to create a faster and more energy-efficient alternative to the Bitcoin blockchain".
    • "The XRPL, introduced in 2021, stands as an open-source, permissionless, and decentralized technology, offering a range of distinct advantages. Notably, it boasts low transaction costs, with fees as minimal as $0.0002, ensuring cost-effective transactions. Its efficiency shines through in the speed department, with the capability to settle transactions in just 3 to 5 seconds".
    • XRPL is also highly scalable, handling up to 1,500 transactions per second. Moreover, it prides itself on being environmentally conscious, touting a carbon-neutral and energy-efficient profile.".
    • "One standout feature of XRPL is its incorporation of a decentralized exchange (DEX) and built-in tokenization capabilities within its protocol. Since its launch in 2012, XRPL has consistently closed 70 million ledgers, showcasing its robust and reliable operation".
    • "XRPL is not confined to a single use case. It offers a wide range of applications, from micropayments and DeFi to upcoming support for NFTs. Developers have access to robust tools and resources, with support for Python, Java, and JavaScript. The XRPL website hosts tutorials to help developers get started with different coding languages, app development, account management, and more".
    • "Beyond the native XRP coin, XRPL serves as the foundation for solutions that address inefficiencies in fields like remittance and asset tokenization. The five main applications currently dominating XRPL are payments, tokenization, DeFi, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and stablecoins".
    • "80 billion XRP tokens were gifted to Ripple by the architects of XRPL. These tokens were intended to fuel the development of use cases, including the global payments network, RippleNet".
    • "XRPL takes a unique approach to transaction validation using a Federated Consensus mechanism. Transactions are confirmed through a consensus protocol, where independent servers, referred to as validators, reach an agreement on transaction order and outcomes. Every server processes transactions consistently, and as long as a transaction adheres to the protocol, it is confirmed instantly. Transparency is key, and anyone can operate a validator".
  • Substance:
    • Total 564 words.
  • Independence:
    • No indication of affiliation. XRPL is discussed in 3-4 pages of a 260-page book.
  • Reliability:
    • Published by Austin Macauley Publishers, a member of The Publishers Association (UK) and IBPA (US). The author, Giannis Andreou, is not the footballer Giannis Andreou. The publisher is also known for "hybrid" publishing, but there is no evidence that this source is not regularly published. This is usable, but I would not depend on this for notability or as a sole source.

Arslanian

• Arslanian, Henri (2022). The Book of Crypto: The Complete Guide to Understanding Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies and Digital Assets. Springer Nature. pp. 111–13. ISBN 978-3-030-97951-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  • Quotes:
    • "XRP is a digital asset built for payments and is the native digital asset on the XRP Ledger—an open-source, permissionless and decentralized blockchain technology that can settle transactions in 3–5 seconds".
    • "XRP can be sent directly without needing a central intermediary, making it a convenient instrument for bridging two different currencies quickly and efficiently".
    • "It's important to understand the difference between XRP, Ripple, and RippleNet".
    • "XRP Ledger is open source".
    • "Payments move across the XRP Ledger in three seconds (way faster than ETH or BTC) and the platform is scalable, able to handle over 1,500 transactions per second".
    • "Established in 2012, the technology is open source and consumes less energy than other cryptocurrencies".
    • "its unique consensus mechanism called the XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol, different from the more widely used proof-of-work or proof-of-stake mechanisms".
    • "The main job of the XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol is to agree on a set of transactions to apply to the previous ledger, apply them in a well-defined order, then confirm that everyone got the same results. When this happens successfully, a ledger version is considered validated, and final".
    • "[T]here are at the time of writing over 150 validators active on the XRP Ledger, operated by universities, exchanges, businesses, and individuals".
    • "[T]here is a maximum of 100 billion XRP (with about 47 billion in supply)".
    • "To protect the XRP Ledger from being disrupted by spam and denial-of-service attacks, each transaction must destroy a small amount of XRP".
  • Substance:
    • Total 5 paragraphs, 752 words, out of a book of 458 pages.
  • Independence:
    • No relationship is discernible. Publisher is Springer Nature, longstanding and reputable.
  • Reliability:
    • Published by a reliable source.

Gorton

• Gorton, Gary (2024). The Digitalization of Money. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 94–96. ISBN 978-1-0364-0864-0.
  • Quotes:
    • "The XRP ledger (XRPL) is a decentralized public open-source blockchain. Ripple also has a native token called XRP that is blockchain-based".
    • "Ripple records transactions on a blockchain called the XRP ledger (XRPL)".
    • "After consensus is reached, the resulting block is recorded on the XRP ledger".
    • "Ripple and XRPL are not the same entity. Ripple is a for-profit company. The XRPL is run by the XRP Ledger Foundation which is an independent nonprofit entity which works to support development and usage of the XRP Ledger".
    • The XRP tokens are designed to facilitate transactions from the databases controlled by financial institutions via RippleNet to other institutions. XRP tokens are not stablecoins".
    • "XRP transactions are instant and cheap giving them a huge advantage for cross-border transactions".
    • "Ripple businesses utilize the XRP Ledger and the XRP crypto. Both are completely independent of the Ripple ecosystem".
    • "The XRP ledger uses a consensus protocol mechanism to decide on what is added to the ledger. As with any other consensus mechanism the goal is to prevent double spending problems. The consensus mechanism has more centralization than other consensus mechanisms because multiple confirmations are not required so this makes XRP faster. If a majority of the specified nodes on a UNL agree on a certain state (set of transactions), then this state is added to the XRP ledger history. An XRP ledger transaction is confirmed within 5-7 seconds with a very small fee (a minimum fee of 0.00001 XRP about $0.0013927)".
  • Substance:
    • 8 paragraphs, total 785 words
  • Independence:
    • Nothing suggests any relationship with the platform. One of several analyzed.
  • Reliability:
    • Author is Gary Gorton, a highly reputable expert in the field.

Huddleston (CNBC)

• Huddleston Jr., Tom (May 24, 2018). "Ashton Kutcher gave Ellen DeGeneres $4 million in cryptocurrency for her charity — here's what you need to know about Ripple's XRP". CNBC.
  • Quotes:
    • "XRP is a digital currency that users on the company’s network use to perform global transactions. Ripple bills itself as a platform where banks and other global financial institutions can make fast and secure financial payments using XRP".
    • "Of course, like other cryptocurrencies, XRP has proven to be extremely volatile, having lost more than 80 percent of its value since hitting a high price of $3.84 per digital token in January 2018".
    • "Unlike Bitcoin, Ripple’s XRP tokens do not need to be mined. And Ripple’s platform is also popular for the speed of its transactions, with Ripple being able to perform 1,500 transactions per second, compared to three per second for Bitcoin".
    • "XRP transactions go through in about four seconds, on average, versus more than an hour for Bitcoin, and several days for most traditional financial institutions".
    • "The drawbacks for Ripple and XRP for some people include the criticism that the digital currency is not full decentralized, because Ripple controls the bulk of it".
  • Substance:
    • Total 600 words.
  • Independence:
    • CNBC is generally understood to be independent of the businesses it covers.
  • Reliability:
    • CNBC is a green-light reliable source.

Ikeda

• Ikeda, Yuichi (2024). Data Science of Renewable Energy Integration: The Nexus of Energy, Environment, and Economic Growth. Springer Nature. p. 259. ISBN 9819987784.
  • Quotes:
    • "The XRPL is a public, permissionless blockchain that has been operating since 2012 and is one of the largest blockchain networks in the world".
    • "A key difference between XRPL and other major blockchain networks such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is that XRPL uses the Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA) as its consensus mechanism, which makes its settlement extremely fast (3–4 seconds per settlement), low cost (≤$0.001 per transaction), and scalable (1,500 transactions per second)".
    • "Because of these properties, XRPL is ideal for payments and settlement use cases. XRPL also enables a wide range of other use cases, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and became the first major blockchain to go carbon neutral in 2020".
    • "Many transactions occur on EDISON-X in a short period. Therefore, the XRPL, which has a superior processing time, is adopted to solve the problem of fast transaction time. Usually, transactions are processed within seconds".
  • Substance:
    • One full page of a 342 page book (note: there are passing mentions of XRPL a few other times in the book, but this is the most substance).
  • Independence:
    • Scholarly publication from Springer, a reputable academic publisher. Analysis of XRPL is in the context of renewable energy integration. Descriptive and analytical, rather than promotional. There is no apparent affiliation suggesting a conflict of interest.
  • Reliability:
    • Yuichi Ikeda is a full professor at Kyoto University, with dozens of articles and a decent citation count. Springer is a well-respected academic publisher. The reference is a small part of an overall larger work on energy, environment, and economic growth with a data science perspective.

Kauflin (NBC News)

• Kauflin, Jeff (October 13, 2014). "Is This the Next Bitcoin? There's a new digital monetary system in town". NBC News.
  • Quotes:
    • "Like Bitcoin, Ripple is a shared public database and global ledger. A process called consensus allows computers on the Ripple network to automatically agree on changes to the ledger within seconds, without needing to go through a central clearinghouse. This settlement speed was its major engineering breakthrough. That means Ripple transactions typically settle in three to five seconds, unlike Bitcoin transfers that can take up to 40 minutes to process".
    • "Ripple is open-source and is more intended as a public good; Ripple Labs doesn't own or control the protocol. However, it did create its own crypto-currency to facilitate transactions, called XRP. Wall Street can trade XRP with other currencies and provide liquidity across currencies. This helps the market determine the exchange rates for Ripple transactions".
    • "One hundred billion XRPs were created at Ripple's inception, and no more can ever be created, which is similar to how Bitcoin was created. But there's a radical difference: Ripple's XRP can't be mined like Bitcoin".
    • "One of Ripple's founders came from the Bitcoin community and took issue with the energy-intensive [computer] mining process necessary to create each Bitcoin, so he designed Ripple without it".
  • Substance:
    • Total 564 words.
  • Independence:
    • NBC News is generally understood to be independent of the businesses it covers.
  • Reliability:
    • NBC News is a green-light reliable source.

Lacity & Lupien

• Lacity, Mary C.; Lupien, Steven C. (2022). Blockchain Fundamentals for Web 3.0. Epic Books/University of Arkansas Press. p. 231–35. ISBN 9781682262252.
  • Quotes:
    • "Ripple does not structure transactions as a chain of blocks. It structures the ledger as a long list of sequenced transactions and account settings/balances that gets closed every few seconds".
    • "The ledger, which is called XRPL, stores all transactions such as offers, payments, and cancel orders. The ledger also stores authorized trust lines, which allows wallet holders to specify which types of cryptocurrencies they will accept and up to what amount. This prevents people from airdropping unwanted assets into the wallet".
    • "Every version of the ledger has a unique ID and time stamp. Like Bitcoin, Ripple transactions are permanently stored on Ripple’s distributed ledger and are irreversible".
    • "On February 23, 2022, Ripple was on the 69,885,079th version of the ledger (Figure 5.6)".
    • "Ripple uses a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus protocol. In this consensus system, transactions for which the majority of nodes on the network agree upon get recorded in the ledger. (See Chapter 3 for a longer explanation). A Ripple transaction is considered ‘safe’ after it has been validated by 80 percent of the nodes".
    • "The costs of performing the validator role are near zero dollars. It only takes a few seconds for transactions to settle and it uses much less electricity than Bitcoin—about as much electricity as it costs to run an email server".
    • "Xrp.org manages proposed changes to the XRP Ledger using an 'amendment' process. Any proposed changes require 80 percent of the registered nodes to indicate support for a period of two weeks".
  • Substance:
    • About 5 pages.
  • Independence:
    • No relationship is apparent. Subject is one of numerous systems examined.
  • Reliability:
    • Reputable academic publisher. Lead author Mary Lacity is a recognized expert in the field.

Tumas, Rivera, Magoni, and State

• Tumas, Vytautas; Rivera, Sean; Magoni, Damien; State, Radu (June 7, 2023). "Topology Analysis of the XRP Ledger". Proceedings of the 38th ACM/SIGAPP Symposium on Applied Computing: 1277–1284. arXiv:2205.00869. doi:10.1145/3555776.3577611.
  • Quotes:
    • "XRP Ledger is one of the oldest, well-established cryptocurrencies. In 2022 it ranked seventh by market capitalization".
    • "The XRP Ledger aims to provide high transaction throughput whilst maintaining security against Byzantine failures. The XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol is a Federated Byzantine Agreement protocol, in which each participant selects a Unique Node List (UNL) of validators".
    • "Unlike other blockchains that focus on hiding their topology, XRP Ledger natively supports network crawling".
    • "In a different line of research, Roma et al. studied the energy efficiency of an XRP validator. They found that the annual validator running cost is significantly lower than that of a miner".
    • "The XRP Ledger consists of nodes running the rippled software. The interconnected rippled servers form the decentralized peer-to-peer overlay network".
    • "A network is consistently connected when, at any point in time, there is a path between two nodes in the network. XRP Ledger is consistently connected, as indicated by the single connected component and zero-value standard deviation".
    • "The XRP Ledger network has a density of 0.03. In comparison, the density of Bitcoin and Ethereum are 0.002 and 0.0006, respectively".
    • "The low average shortest path and high clustering coefficient of XRP Ledger Network suggest that it may exhibit the small-world property".
    • "The degree correlation coefficient for XRP Ledger is −0.48. In comparison, the degree correlation of an equivalent ER network is zero. We conclude that the XRP Ledger network is disassortative. It has a hub-and-spoke network structure and may be vulnerable to targeted attacks".
    • "XRP Ledger uses broadcasting to propagate messages in the network. The shortest path distribution suggests that the network's topology assists in timely message delivery".
    • "These systems, owned by the largest cloud service providers (Amazon, Google, Microsoft), hold nearly 62% of the XRP Ledger nodes. Routing failures in one or more of the dominant Autonomous Systems may disrupt XRP Ledger operations. Therefore, a concentration of nodes may represent a weakness for the ledger".
    • "A decentralized peer-to-peer overlay network forms the backbone of the XRP Ledger".
    • "Our results raise further questions about the security and vulnerability of the XRP Ledger".
  • Substance:
    • Total 5,284 words.
  • Independence:
    • The article includes criticisms of the platform.
  • Reliability:
    • Published conference papers in this field are generally considered reliable.

U.S. District Court for the S.D.N.Y.

• District court summary judgement, pdf, Securities and Exchange Commission v. Ripple Labs, Inc., 1:20-cv-10832-AT-SN (S.D.N.Y., July 13, 2023), Analisa Torres, J.
  • Quotes:
    • "In 2011 and early 2012, Arthur Britto, Jed McCaleb, and David Schwartz developed the source code for a cryptographically secured ledger, or a "blockchain," which is now known as the XRP Ledger".
    • "They aimed to create a faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient alternative to the bitcoin blockchain, the first blockchain ledger which was introduced in 2009".
    • "When the XRP Ledger launched in 2012, its source code generated a fixed supply of 100 billion XRP. ... XRP is the native digital token of the XRP Ledger, and the XRP Ledger requires XRP to operate".
    • "Like ODL [on demand liquidity], some, but not all, of Ripple's products and services rely on the XRP Ledger and XRP".
    • "The XRP Ledger is based on open-source software; anyone can use the ledger, submit transactions, host a node to contribute to the validation of transactions, propose changes to the source code, or develop applications that run on the ledger".
    • "Other developers have built software products that use the XRP Ledger, such as payment-processing applications".
    • "Ripple has also funded companies as part of its "Xpring" initiative to incentivize the development of other use "cases" on the XRP Ledger".
    • "Ripple also distributed XRP in conjunction with its Xpring initiative to fund third parties that would develop new applications for XRP and the XRP Ledger".
    • "Since at least 2013, Ripple has prepared and distributed documents that describe the company's operations, the XRP trading market, and the XRP Ledger".
    • "In February 2012, before the XRP Ledger was publicly launched, Ripple's founders, including Larsen, received from the Perkins Coie LLP law firm a memorandum, which sought to "review the proposed product and business structure, analyze the legal risks associated with [Ripple], and recommend steps to mitigate these risks." ... The memorandum analyzes, among other things, the legal risks associated with selling XRP".
    • "From Ripple's communications, marketing campaign, and the nature of the Institutional Sales, reasonable investors would understand that Ripple would use the capital received from its Institutional Sales to improve the market for XRP and develop uses for the XRP Ledger, thereby increasing the value of XRP".
    • "Other Distributions include distributions to employees as compensation and to third parties as part of Ripple's Xpring initiative to develop new applications for XRP and the XRP Ledger".
    • "Defendants have adduced evidence that Larsen and Garlinghouse did not know that Ripple's Institutional Sales of XRP satisfied the Howey "common enterprise" element because they did not believe that the proceeds from the sales were pooled and understood that Ripple did not manage, operate, or control the XRP Ledger or the broader "XRP ecosystem."
  • Substance:
    • The entire substantive portion of the document is about 11,250 words. The substance addressing the factual nature of the XRP Ledger is about 2,000 words of that.
  • Independence:
    • United States district courts are generally understood to be independent of the subjects they cover (as they are required to be, by law).
  • Reliability:
    • United States district courts opinions are primary sources for the determination of the opinion, but can be considered reliable for the facts found through presentation of evidence by adversarial parties.

Wall Street Journal

• "Ripple Labs Banks $3.5M for Open-Source Payments System and Virtual Currency". The Wall Street Journal Pro. Dow Jones & Company. November 12, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  • Substance: Requires a subscription for access.
    • Total 426 words. Notes XRP and its distributed ledger, but not by the current name.
  • Independence:
    • The Wall Street Journal is generally understood to be independent of the subjects it covers.
  • Reliability:
    • The Wall Street Journal is a green-light reliable source.

Yuguo

• Yuguo Li (October 2024). Yulin Wang (ed.). "Exploring the Evolution, Trade-offs, and Applications of Blockchain Technology". Proceedings of the 2024 2nd International Conference on Image, Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (ICIAAI 2024). Atlantis Press: 316. doi:10.2991/978-94-6463-540-9_32.
  • Quotes:
    • "Next, this paper will analyze the XRP Ledger (XRPL) proposed by Ripple".
    • "XRPL is an open-source, distributed ledger technology developed by Ripple initially to support its cryptocurrency, XRP. It is a blockchain-based distributed ledger known for its speed, security, and low costs".
    • "Despite XRPL.org claiming it to be a decentralized, public blockchain, according to the definition provided earlier, it falls under the category of permissioned blockchains".
    • "Initially, the validation nodes in XRPL were directly designated by the XRPL organization. Subsequent validation nodes require permission from existing validation nodes to join. As more diverse nodes join, XRPL evolves from its initial centralization towards decentralization. In XRPL, users’ trust stems from their trust in the validation node cluster".
    • "As the trust foundation is provided by trust in the validation node cluster, XRPL does not use "Proof-of-X" series algorithms but employs the XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol (XRP LCP). Therefore, XRPL's transaction confirmation speed is faster, and it can handle higher throughput".
    • "Since XRPL does not use "Proof-of-X" series algorithms, it does not need to incentivize transaction validation through mining rewards. Its native currency, XRP, is pre-allocated. Validator rewards are provided by transaction fees".
    • "XRPL has provided many technological innovations, such as the transition from centralization to decentralization. However, there are also some criticisms, such as company control, scalability, security, and attack risks".
    • "The fault tolerance of PoW is 50%, while classical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) protocols can tolerate f < (n - 1)/3, where n is the number of nodes and f is the number of Byzantine (faulty) nodes. In contrast, XRPL can tolerate f < n/5".
    • "The controversial aspect of fault tolerance for performance improvement in XRPL stems from the fact that the selection of validation nodes in XRPL is based on its standards, making fault tolerance not merely a technical issue".
  • Substance:
    • Total 412 words.
  • Independence:
    • No connection is apparent; the article addresses various platforms, and is somewhat critical of this one.
  • Reliability:
    • Published conference papers in this field are generally considered reliable.

Sources not currently used in the article

In alphabetical order by author.

Armstrong & Samuels

• Armstrong, Dean; Samuels, Marc (2022). Bloomsbury Professional Law Insight – Cryptocurrency in Matrimonial Finance. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-1-52652-140-8.
  • Quotes:
    • "The XRP Ledger is an open-source cryptographic ledger powered by a peer-to-peer network of nodes".
    • "XRP Ledger is Ripple's open-source blockchain with the XRP coin as its native asset. It runs independently of the Ripple company, although Ripple uses it for various purposes."
    • "While not as popular as other block chains, the XRP Ledger can also be used as a settlement layer".
    • "In contrast to Ethereum, the XRP Ledger does not use a proof-of-work consensus mechanism. It also does not work with a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism like many other crypto currencies. Instead, it uses the XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol, which professedly reduces transaction finality time and transaction costs".
    • "Instead of building their own DApps and blockchain solutions, projects can use RippleX and the XRP Ledger to provide mainstream compatibility".
  • Substance:
    • Total 367 words.
  • Independence:
    • No indication of any conflict of interest, particularly considering that the work covers a fair number of cryptocurrencies and dedicates just over one page in a 160-page book to XRP. Tone is explanatory and neutral.
  • Reliability:
    • Bloomsbury Publishing is well respected, and the text appears in what is clearly a well-edited professional law insight publication.

Chiang (CNBC)

• Chiang, Sheila (June 11, 2024). "Ripple launches new fund to drive blockchain innovation in Japan and South Korea". CNBC.
  • Quotes:
    • "Blockchain firm Ripple has launched a Japan and Korea fund, aimed at driving innovation on the XRP Ledger as it continues to expand its presence in Asia-Pacific".
    • "XRP is a cryptocurrency which is powered by the XRP Ledger, an open-source, public blockchain built for corporations. Ripple uses blockchain and XRP to facilitate real-time, cross-border payments".
    • "The XRPL Japan and Korea Fund is part of Ripple’s commitment to 1 billion XRP aimed at providing financial, technical, and business support for developers, which was announced in March 2022".
    • "Ripple said the XRP Ledger will be used for issuing official Expo NFTs for millions of attendees at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan".
  • Substance:
    • Total 378 words.
  • Independence:
    • CNBC is generally understood to be independent of the businesses it covers.
  • Reliability:
    • CNBC is a green-light reliable source.

Fong & Yahya

• Fong, Ian; Yahya, Moin A. (2022). "In Defense of the Free-Banking Stablecoins". Journal of Technology Law & Policy. 27 (1): 1–98. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  • Quotes:
    • (p. 12) "On the Ripple system, there is a ledger, known as the XRP Ledger, which is a software code that operates as a peer-to-peer database. It is spread across a network of computers and records data respecting transactions, among other things".
    • "The XRP Ledger allows the system to keep track of all the units of currency that are transferred back and forth between various parties".
    • "The currency is XRP, which is also software code, and is the digital asset or native token on the XRP Ledger".
    • (pp. 75–76) "The SEC anticipatorily rejects any claims that XRP is a currency. ... In response to the SE's complaint, Ripple has made the following submissions. Its main argument is that XRP transactions take place on the XRP Ledger ("XRPL"), a decentralized, cryptographic ledger powered by a network that is not controlled nor owned by any one party. The XRPL has successfully recorded hundreds of millions of transactions for over eight years without error or dispute".
  • Substance:
    • A few paragraphs of legal and conceptual analysis of Ripple, XRP, and the XRP Ledger within the broader discourse on cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.
  • Independence:
    • No indication of any conflict of interest. Article tone is analytical and legalistic, with discussion of XRP constituting a relatively small proportion of a 79-page article.
  • Reliability:
    • Journal of Technology Law & Policy is a recognized peer-reviewed academic publication. Author Moin A. Yahya has reasonably substantial citation count.

Irrera (Reuters)

• Irrera, Anna (2018-06-13). "Banks unlikely to process payments with distributed ledgers for now, says Ripple". Reuters. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
  • • "We started out with your classic blockchain, which we love. But the feedback from the banks is you can't put the whole world on a blockchain".
    • "Founded in 2012, Ripple also offers a system called xRapid that works with the distributed ledger behind XRP, the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap after bitcoin and ether. Ripple holds a large share of XRP".
    • "The price of XRP and other cryptocurrencies soared last year, in part on expectations that their technology will be applied to processes including transferring value between financial firms".
    • "xRapid and XRP are not being used by banks, but have been recently tested by money transfer companies Viamericas and MercuryFX, according to Ripple".
  • Substance:
    • 430 words; mentions XRP and the ledger, but not the phrase "XRP Ledger" (although it is always possible for a source to contain relevant discussion of a subject under a previous name)
  • Independence:
    • Reuters is generally understood to be independent of the subjects it covers.
  • Reliability:
    • Reuters is a green-light reliable source.

Khosravi & Säämäki

• Khosravi, Ali; Säämäki, Fanni (January 30, 2023). "Beyond Bitcoin: Evaluating Energy Consumption and Environmental Impact across Cryptocurrency Projects". Energies. 16 (18): 6610. doi:10.3390/en16186610 – via www.mdpi.com.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  • Quotes:
    • "Another project with a unique consensus process is XRP Ledger. Three former Bitcoin engineers, Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and David Schwartz, created XRP Ledger, or XRPL, in 2011".
    • "XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol, or simply XRP LCP, is the name of the consensus algorithm employed by XRP Ledger".
    • "Due to the Byzantine Fault Tolerant foundation of the XRP LCP, the XRP Ledger will continue to operate even in the event of a malicious actor or incomplete participant agreement".
    • "With no mining and no need for many confirmations to establish immutability, XRPL processes transactions quickly and effectively".
    • "Although there are certain special requirements and recommended CPU types for XRPL, it may be run on common hardware for testing or occasional use".
    • "XRPL discloses the approximate locations of its nodes, and it is seen as a more ‘green’ cryptocurrency because the majority of its users are in Europe and the USA, where power has a lower carbon footprint than in China".
    • "We covered the Solana, XRPL, and IOTA consensus algorithms in this subsection".
  • Substance:
    • Total 630 words (excluding references)/8550
  • Independence:
    • Nothing suggests any relationship with the product.
  • Reliability:
    • Publisher is Energies, a reliable peer-reviewed scientific journal. Primary author (Ali Khosravi) is well-published.

Leopold & Englesson

• Leopold, Sid John; Englesson, Niclas (November 27, 2017). "How Eco friendly is our money and is there an alternative?" (PDF). Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  • Quotes:
    • "As indicated in table 3, Bitcoin seems to be very costly in terms of how many households (2,4 million) could be powered, compared to Visa (41,000) and Ripple’s (XRP) with only 50 households worth of energy usage to uphold its entire system".
    • " Given this hypothetical scenario, if everybody switched from Bitcoin to Ripple’s XRP with the saved energy we would be able to go to the moon and back 240.000 times".
    • "This will create a somewhat unfair comparison for Ripple’s XRP and Visa since they have almost all nodes in the US and Europe, compared to Ether and Bitcoin which are mainly based in China".
    • "The value of Ripple’s XRP lies in its ability to handle transactions and payments at a lower electricity cost and therefore lower CO2 emissions combined with lower trade fees".
    • "XRP is specifically about the transfer of value and built for banks, financial institutions, payment services, providers and enterprises, making it one of the few digital assets with a real, clear use case behind it. XRP is also in a unique space where it’s not built to replace current currencies but to work as a bridge currency where the systems upholding the current currencies can utilize Ripple’s XRP for moving their native assets more efficiently and consequently costing less in terms of electricity, C02 emissions and cost less in any currency of your choice that you utilize with XRP".
  • Substance:
    • 4,200+ words
  • Independence:
    • No prior relationship is indicated, nor immediately discernible, although the language used is excessively fulsome.
  • Reliability:
    • Publisher is unclear. Both authors are entrepreneurs; one appears to have an M.S. in mathematics, and brief experience as a financial analyst. No conclusion at this time.

Roma & Hasan

• Roma, Crystal Andrea; Hasan, M. Anwar (2020). "Energy consumption analysis of XRP validator". 2020 IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC).
  • Quotes:
    • "The XRP Ledger is a decentralized cryptographic ledger powered by a network of peer-to-peer servers running the rippled software. The network uses the XRP Ledger Consensus Protocol (XRP LCP) which is fundamentally different from proof-of-work or proof-of-stake algorithms. This system is based on a Byzantine Fault Tolerant protocol through which the XRP Ledger is guaranteed to advance even with partial agreement by participants and the presence of malicious actors".
    • "The XRP LCP, on the other hand, has been shown to be very efficient in terms of transaction settling time and energy consumed".
    • "The basis of the XRP LCP is to create a set of nodes which will not conspire. By consequence, it is important to have diversity in the available validators to promote the stability and robustness of the decentralized network".
    • "Although the XRP Ledger network is quite energy efficient, it relies on the participation of validator nodes, akin to Bitcoin miners, in order to advance the ledger. Yet, unlike its Bitcoin counterparts, XRP validators are not rewarded newly minted XRP for their participation in the XRP LCP; in fact, all of the XRP available in the network have already been mined at its inception".
    • "The XRP Ledger is powered by the rippled software, an open-source codebase which is available for public download under the ISC open-source license".
    • "The amount of disk space required to store the XRP Ledger will continue to grow as time passes, accruing approximately 12GB per day. Fortunately, it is not necessary to store the full ledger's history to participate in the network".
    • "As the XRP Ledger network is dynamic, individual results may differ as the behaviour of the server changes".
  • Substance:
    • Total 2,885 words.
  • Independence:
    • The article includes criticisms of the platform.
  • Reliability:
    • Published conference papers in this field are generally considered reliable.

Touloupou, Christodoulou, & Themistocleous

• Touloupou, Marios; Christodoulou, Klitos; Themistocleous, Marinos (2024). "Validating the Blockchain Benchmarking Framework Through Controlled Deployments of XRPL and Ethereum". IEEE Access. 12: 22264–22277. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3363833.
  • Quotes:
    • "The primary aim of this study is to rigorously evaluate the BBF in the context of two distinct blockchain protocols: Ethereum, operating under a Proof of Authority (PoA) CA, and the XRP Ledger (XRPL), which uses a Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)-like CA known as the Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA)".
    • "Our choice of XRPL and Ethereum was guided by their contrasting algorithmic and architectural design, which are indicative of the broad spectrum of existing blockchain platforms. While XRPL is optimized for high-speed, high-volume financial transactions, Ethereum is characterized by its versatile, Turing-complete smart contract capabilities".
    • "Despite the rapid adoption and development of blockchain technology, particularly the Ethereum and XRPL platforms, there exists a significant gap in literature regarding systematic performance analysis and comparison of these platforms".
    • "The XRPL, serves as the backbone for the digital payment protocol Ripple. XRPL differentiates itself by focusing on high-speed, low-cost international transactions, using a CA called the RPCA. While the XRPL's performance has been lauded, systematic empirical evaluations and comparisons with other blockchain platforms remain limited".
    • "The XRPL, like many other blockchain protocols, is designed to mitigate the risk of double spend attacks. It achieves this through the use of the RPCA. The RPCA is designed to reach consensus among nodes on the transactions to be included in the next ledger. As a result, in an effectively functioning XRPL, a double spend attack would be identified and rejected during the consensus process".
    • "XRPL, with its unique CA and focus on payment protocols, and Ethereum, known for its general-purpose functionality and various consensus methods, present contrasting yet significant instances within the blockchain domain".
    • "The XRPL is a blockchain-based digital payment protocol. The distinguishing feature of XRPL is its CA, which enables faster transactions compared to traditional proof-based algorithms".
    • "In constructing transactions for the XRPL, each transaction must include a sequence number which is derived from the sequence number of the last closed ledger, incremented by one. To simulate a double-spend attack, two transactions were crafted using the same sequence number and sent into the network. As the XRPL client was designed to reject transactions with duplicate sequence numbers, the second transaction was expectedly rejected by the consensus process".
  • Substance:
    • Total 8,376 words.
  • Independence:
    • There is a possible relationship with the platform through a grant. XRPL is one of two platforms analyzed.
  • Reliability:
    • IEEE Access appears to be a reputable peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Some additional sources not reviewed

These may have potential, but have either authorship or accessibility issues:

• Richard Skiba, Cryptocurrency: A Guide to Navigating the World of Digital Assets (author is described as having "an academic background in education and training, sociology, business and a range of vocational studies")
• Nikolas Beutin and Daniel Boran, The Great Web 3.0 Glossary (traditionally published, but not accessible)

The following appear to be self-published or otherwise not suitable for Wikipedia.

• Matt Kingsley, An Investors Guide to XRP 2030
• Matt Kingsley, XRP The Future of Finance 2030
• Matt Kingsley, XRP Investing for Nerds Guide Book
• StoryBuddiesPlay, The Ripple (XRP) Ecosystem
• StoryBuddiesPlay, XRP A Deep Dive into the Technology
• StoryBuddiesPlay, XRP for Everyday Transactions
• Penelope I., XRP: The Future of Crypto Currency
• Elias King, Cryptocurrencies Explained Easy