What is the difference between XRP and XLM?

XRP and XLM are two cryptocurrencies built for moving money quickly and cheaply, and they share a co-founder. The main difference is who stands behind each network and how it is run. XRP is closely linked to Ripple, a for-profit technology company, while XLM powers Stellar, which is supported by a nonprofit foundation. The two coins are not interchangeable and live on separate blockchains.

What is Jed McCaleb's link to XRP and Stellar?

According to the XRP Ledger's own history page, Jed McCaleb, David Schwartz and Arthur Britto started building the ledger in 2011, and it launched in June 2012. McCaleb became co-founder and chief technology officer of the company OpenCoin, later renamed Ripple. Wikipedia's profile says he left his active role there in July 2013.

In 2014 he co-founded the Stellar Development Foundation with Joyce Kim, and Stellar debuted on July 31 that year. For each network on its own, see what is XRP and what is Stellar.

Ripple vs Stellar, who runs each network?

Ripple is a company. When the XRP Ledger went live, its founders gave the company 80 billion of the 100 billion XRP, and Ripple later locked 55 billion in escrows that release on a schedule, xrpl.org says. Ripple sells payment products, but the ledger itself is run by independent servers.

Stellar's backer is the Stellar Development Foundation, which its FAQ describes as a nonprofit focused on widening access to the financial system. It is not a company with shareholders.

How are XRP and XLM different technically?

Neither uses mining. They do use different methods to agree on the ledger, part of what is called a consensus mechanism.

• XRP Ledger: each server picks a list of trusted validators, known as a Unique Node List. Xrpl.org says the network keeps working while fewer than 20% of those validators are faulty. XRP transactions settle in about 3 to 5 seconds.
• Stellar: the Stellar Consensus Protocol is a form of agreement among nodes with no on-chain financial rewards. Its FAQ says it prefers to halt rather than confirm conflicting data, and ledgers close about every five seconds.

Stellar also supports smart contracts through Soroban, written in Rust. Stellar accounts can also hold other assets, such as a stablecoin, by opening a trustline, which adds to the account's required XLM balance.

What is the difference between XRP and XLM supply?

All 100 billion XRP were created at launch, and no more can be made. Stellar also began with 100 billion XLM, but a 1% yearly inflation added about 5.4 billion until validators voted it off in October 2019. In November 2019 the foundation sent over 55 billion XLM to a locked account, leaving roughly 50 billion in existence.

The coins also play similar roles. Stellar charges a small XLM fee on every operation and requires each account to keep a minimum balance of 1 XLM. Xrpl.org describes XRP as a bridge currency for cross-border payments and fast collateral.