<s>
Ripple	B-Protocol
is	O
a	O
real-time	O
gross	O
settlement	O
system	O
,	O
currency	O
exchange	O
and	O
remittance	O
network	O
that	O
is	O
open	O
to	O
financial	O
institutions	O
worldwide	O
and	O
was	O
created	O
by	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
Labs	O
Inc.	O
,	O
a	O
US-based	O
technology	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
in	O
2012	O
,	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
is	O
built	O
upon	O
a	O
distributed	B-Architecture
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
protocol	O
,	O
and	O
supports	O
tokens	O
representing	O
fiat	O
currency	O
,	O
cryptocurrency	O
,	O
commodities	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
units	O
of	O
value	O
such	O
as	O
frequent	O
flier	O
miles	O
or	O
mobile	O
minutes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ripple	B-Protocol
purports	O
to	O
enable	O
"	O
secure	O
,	O
instantly	O
and	O
nearly	O
free	O
global	O
financial	O
transactions	O
of	O
any	O
size	O
with	O
no	O
chargebacks	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ledger	O
employs	O
the	O
native	O
cryptocurrency	O
known	O
as	O
XRP	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2020	O
,	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
Labs	O
and	O
two	O
of	O
its	O
executives	O
were	O
sued	O
by	O
the	O
U.S.	O
Securities	O
and	O
Exchange	O
Commission	O
(	O
SEC	O
)	O
for	O
selling	O
XRP	B-Protocol
tokens	O
,	O
which	O
the	O
SEC	O
classified	O
as	O
unregistered	O
securities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ripple	B-Protocol
was	O
conceived	O
by	O
Jed	O
McCaleb	O
and	O
built	O
by	O
Arthur	O
Britto	O
and	O
David	O
Schwartz	O
who	O
then	O
approached	O
Ryan	O
Fugger	O
who	O
had	O
debuted	O
in	O
2005	O
as	O
a	O
financial	O
service	O
to	O
provide	O
secure	O
payment	O
options	O
to	O
members	O
of	O
an	O
online	O
community	O
via	O
a	O
global	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fugger	O
had	O
developed	O
a	O
system	O
called	O
OpenCoin	O
which	O
would	O
transform	O
into	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
also	O
created	O
its	O
own	O
form	O
of	O
digital	O
currency	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
XRP	B-Protocol
to	O
allow	O
financial	O
institutions	O
to	O
transfer	O
money	O
with	O
negligible	O
fees	O
and	O
wait-time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2018	O
,	O
over	O
100	O
banks	O
had	O
signed	O
up	O
,	O
but	O
most	O
of	O
them	O
were	O
only	O
using	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
's	O
XCurrent	O
messaging	O
technology	O
,	O
while	O
avoiding	O
the	O
XRP	B-Protocol
cryptocurrency	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
volatility	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Representatives	O
of	O
the	O
Society	B-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Worldwide	I-Protocol
Interbank	I-Protocol
Financial	I-Protocol
Telecommunication	I-Protocol
(	O
SWIFT	B-Protocol
)	O
,	O
whose	O
market	O
dominance	O
is	O
being	O
challenged	O
by	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
,	O
have	O
argued	O
that	O
the	O
scalability	O
issues	O
of	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
and	O
other	O
blockchain	O
solutions	O
remain	O
unsolved	O
,	O
confining	O
them	O
to	O
bilateral	O
and	O
intra-bank	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
executive	O
acknowledged	O
in	O
2018	O
that	O
"	O
We	O
started	O
out	O
with	O
your	O
classic	O
blockchain	O
,	O
which	O
we	O
love	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ripple	B-Protocol
relies	O
on	O
a	O
common	O
shared	O
ledger	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
distributed	B-Architecture
database	O
storing	O
information	O
about	O
all	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
accounts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ripple	B-Protocol
validates	O
accounts	O
and	O
balances	O
instantly	O
for	O
payment	O
transmission	O
and	O
delivers	O
payment	O
notification	O
within	O
a	O
few	O
seconds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ripple	B-Protocol
Labs	O
continued	O
as	O
the	O
primary	O
contributors	O
of	O
code	O
to	O
the	O
consensus	O
verification	O
system	O
behind	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
class	O
action	O
was	O
filed	O
against	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
in	O
May	O
2018	O
"	O
alleging	O
that	O
it	O
led	O
a	O
scheme	O
to	O
raise	O
hundreds	O
of	O
millions	O
of	O
dollars	O
through	O
unregistered	O
sales	O
of	O
its	O
XRP	B-Protocol
tokens	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
U.S.	O
Securities	O
and	O
Exchange	O
Commission	O
(	O
SEC	O
)	O
initiated	O
legal	O
proceedings	O
against	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
Labs	O
,	O
CEO	O
Brad	O
Garlinghouse	O
,	O
and	O
co-founder	O
Chris	O
Larsen	O
on	O
December	O
21	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
for	O
allegedly	O
selling	O
unregistered	O
securities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
lawsuit	O
,	O
the	O
SEC	O
claimed	O
that	O
XRP	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
security	O
instead	O
of	O
a	O
commodity	O
,	O
because	O
it	O
was	O
generated	O
and	O
distributed	B-Architecture
by	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
Labs	O
in	O
a	O
centralized	O
fashion	O
and	O
was	O
not	O
being	O
adopted	O
by	O
financial	O
institutions	O
for	O
its	O
advertised	O
use	O
cases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SEC	O
stated	O
that	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
executives	O
sold	O
14.6	O
billion	O
units	O
of	O
XRP	B-Protocol
for	O
more	O
than	O
$1.38	O
billion	O
to	O
fund	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
operations	O
and	O
enrich	O
themselves	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
,	O
Garlinghouse	O
criticized	O
the	O
SEC	O
and	O
indicated	O
that	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
Labs	O
would	O
defend	O
itself	O
in	O
court	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Coinbase	O
delisted	O
XRP	B-Protocol
on	O
December	O
28	O
;	O
an	O
investor	O
filed	O
a	O
class	O
action	O
on	O
December	O
30	O
alleging	O
that	O
Coinbase	O
sold	O
XRP	B-Protocol
tokens	O
with	O
the	O
understanding	O
that	O
they	O
were	O
unregistered	O
securities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
its	O
creation	O
and	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
protocol	I-Protocol
(	O
RTXP	B-Protocol
)	O
and	O
the	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
payment/exchange	O
network	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
Labs	O
was	O
named	O
as	O
one	O
of	O
2014	O
's	O
50	O
Smartest	O
Companies	O
in	O
the	O
February	O
2014	O
edition	O
of	O
MIT	O
Technology	O
Review	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
scientific	O
study	O
made	O
by	O
two	O
researchers	O
from	O
Stanford	O
and	O
Stockholm	O
universities	O
that	O
studied	O
the	O
money	O
production	O
from	O
an	O
energy	O
consumption	O
point	O
of	O
view	O
and	O
a	O
macroeconomic	O
level	O
stated	O
that	O
running	O
a	O
server	O
on	O
Ripple	B-Protocol
was	O
comparable	O
to	O
the	O
energy	O
needs	O
of	O
running	O
an	O
email	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
