XRP Guides
Reference material behind the calculators and checkers on this site — cost basis and taxes, spotting scams, wallet and reserve basics, and how the XRP rich list works.
XRP Price History: A Year-by-Year Look BackA high-level walk through XRP's price history from its early years through recent cycles — general historical color, not a substitute for live data.
How to Calculate What Your XRP Investment Is Worth TodayThe actual math behind valuing an XRP holding, common mistakes people make, and how to get an exact number instead of a rough guess.
XRP Price Predictions: Why We Don't Publish ThemWhy price-prediction content is generally unreliable, what this site offers instead, and how to evaluate prediction content you find elsewhere.
XRP vs. Bitcoin: Comparing Price PerformanceA descriptive comparison of how XRP and Bitcoin's price behavior, volatility, and market structure differ — not a claim that one is the better investment.
What If You Bought $100 of XRP in 2020?A worked illustration of how to think through a historical 'what if I bought XRP' question — and how to get your own exact number instead of a stale one.
Dollar-Cost Averaging Into XRP: How It WorksWhat dollar-cost averaging is, its real tradeoffs, and how to approximate a DCA pattern using historical XRP price checks.
XRP Circulating Supply vs. Total Supply, ExplainedWhy XRP has separate circulating and total supply figures, how Ripple's escrow mechanism works, and why the distinction matters for market cap.
How to Calculate XRP Capital Gains Tax (An Overview)The general math behind a crypto capital gain or loss, how it applies to XRP, and why the specifics depend heavily on your jurisdiction.
XRP Cost Basis Methods: FIFO vs. Specific Identification, ExplainedWhat FIFO and specific identification mean for tracking XRP cost basis across multiple purchases, and why the method you use can change your reported gain or loss.
Do I Owe Taxes If I Haven't Sold My XRP?Why unrealized gains typically aren't taxed until a disposal event happens, what usually counts as a disposal, and where the common exceptions come from.
Is Swapping XRP for Another Crypto a Taxable Event?Why trading XRP directly for another cryptocurrency can be a taxable disposal in many frameworks, even without ever touching fiat currency.
Record-Keeping Tips for XRP Traders Ahead of Tax SeasonPractical habits for tracking XRP acquisitions and disposals as you go, so tax season doesn't turn into a scramble to reconstruct months of transaction history.
How to Spot a Fake XRP/Ripple Giveaway ScamThe classic 'send XRP, get double back' scam still works on people every day. Here's exactly how to recognize one and what to do instead.
Common XRP Phishing Scams and How to Avoid ThemFake wallet logins, malicious browser extensions, impersonating support accounts, and drainer approvals — the phishing patterns that target XRP holders.
Romance Scams Involving Crypto: What XRP Holders Should KnowA pattern that specifically targets people who already hold crypto — how it works, the red flags, and what to do if you're in it.
How to Verify an XRP Wallet Address Before Sending FundsA practical checklist for confirming an XRP address is correct before you send — because on the XRP Ledger, there's no undo button.
Is My XRP Address Public? Understanding On-Chain PrivacyThe XRP Ledger is fully transparent — here's what that actually means for your privacy, and the difference between pseudonymous and anonymous.
Sent XRP to the Wrong Address? Here's What to KnowAn honest look at what's actually possible after sending XRP to the wrong place — and why prevention matters far more than recovery.
Understanding XRP Ledger Reserves (Why Activating a Wallet Costs XRP)Why every XRP Ledger account needs a minimum reserve to exist, how the owner reserve works, and where to check the current figures.
What Is an XRPL Account Sequence Number?What the Sequence field on an XRP Ledger account means, why it exists, and what it tells you when you look up a wallet.
Who Are the Biggest XRP Holders? Understanding the XRP Rich ListWhy most of the largest XRP Ledger accounts are exchanges and escrow wallets, not individual whales, and how the rich list is publicly checkable.
What Is Ripple (the Company) and How Is It Different From XRP (the Token)?Clearing up one of the most common points of confusion: Ripple Labs the private company versus XRP the digital asset and the XRP Ledger it runs on.
The Ripple v. SEC Lawsuit, Explained SimplyA plain-language background explainer on the SEC's case against Ripple Labs over XRP sales — historical context, not legal advice.
XRP Airdrops: A History of Major XRP-Holder SnapshotsWhy projects have airdropped tokens to XRP holders before, and how the Flare and Songbird distributions worked.
How Does XRP Differ From Bitcoin and Ethereum? A Beginner's ComparisonA balanced, descriptive comparison of XRP, Bitcoin, and Ethereum — consensus mechanisms, design intent, and practical differences, without investment advice.
What Is Ripple's On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) and How Does It Use XRP?A conceptual explainer of Ripple's cross-border payments product and how it can use XRP as a bridge asset between currencies.
XRP Ledger Validators: How XRPL Consensus Actually WorksHow the XRP Ledger reaches agreement on transactions every few seconds without mining, and who actually runs the validators that make it work.
What Is a Trust Line on the XRP Ledger?Why holding any non-XRP asset on the XRP Ledger requires a trust line, and why that's different from holding XRP itself.
Can You Trade Directly on the XRP Ledger? The Built-In XRPL DEX, ExplainedThe XRP Ledger has a decentralized exchange built into the protocol itself. Here's how it works, conceptually, and how it's different from a typical exchange.
XRP Escrow Explained: How Ripple's Locked XRP WorksWhat the XRP Ledger's native escrow feature does, and how Ripple has used it to lock and gradually release billions of XRP on a public, predictable schedule.
How to Read an XRP Transaction on a Block ExplorerA practical guide to the fields you'll see when looking up an XRP transaction — hash, sender, destination, amount, fee, and destination tag.
What Is a Destination Tag (and Memo Field) in an XRP Transaction?Destination tags and memo fields look similar but do very different jobs. Here's what each one actually is, and why mixing them up can cost you.
XRP Testnets and Faucets: Why You Can't Get Free Mainnet XRPThe XRPL has real, official test networks with free test XRP for developers. Here's how that's completely different from any offer of free real XRP.
XRP and XRPL Terminology: A Glossary for BeginnersPlain-language definitions of the XRP and XRP Ledger terms you'll run into most often — reserves, trust lines, destination tags, and more.
XRP Whale Watching: What Large Transactions Can (and Can't) Tell YouWhy large XRP transfers get so much attention, and the real limits of using raw transaction size as a trading signal.
How Ripple's Quarterly XRP Markets Report WorksWhat Ripple's recurring XRP Markets Report is for, and why it exists as a transparency measure around the company's own XRP activity.
XRP, XRPL, and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) PilotsA general explainer of why central banks have explored blockchain-based settlement and how Ripple has been involved in CBDC pilot programs.
The History of the XRP Ledger: From 2012 to TodayA broad-strokes timeline of the XRP Ledger, from its 2012 launch through the major eras that followed.
How XRP Transaction Fees Work (and Why They're Burned)Why every XRP Ledger transaction destroys a small fee instead of paying it to a miner or validator, and what that means for total supply.
What Is RLUSD? Ripple's USD-Backed Stablecoin, ExplainedWhat RLUSD is, how it's positioned as a regulated, fully-reserved dollar stablecoin, and how it differs from XRP itself.