Welcome to a brief summary of Ripple (XRP), this is meant to be short and to the point to give you an idea of what you are investing in. I always recommend you read the Whitepaper for a more detailed explanation of the cryptocurrency you are interested in.
Ripple, unlike bitcoin and litecoin, is centralized and owned by a single company called Ripple. The company's main objective is to have its RippleNet blockchain network be an enterprise solution for global payments. What exactly doest that mean? It means that using the blockchain, they are working on reducing bank transactions costs by about 50%. Some of their clients include big names such as BMO, American Express, BBVA and Moneygram.
The company initially created 100 billion ripple coins, of which about 39 billion are in circulation. Ripple has 55 billion an escrow that will release 1 billion coins into the circulation supply for 55 months. Ripple claims that the amount that makes into circulation will be much less, but only time will tell. For more information on the remaining 55 billion ripple, click here.