How to Buy Ripple (If You Live in the UK)
Ripple is one of the hottest touted digital currencies to emerge from the 2017 crypto boom. But what is Ripple, and how can you buy it if you live in the UK?
Crypto currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum were big talking points in 2017 as Bitcoin edged towards $20,000 and other currencies increased their value by thousands of percentage points.
This popularity led to a range of other currencies coming to the fore, including Litecoin, Dash (or Digital Cash) and Ripple.
Ripple (or XRP) has the potential to be used in a whole range of digital transactions
What is Ripple Digital Currency?
Ripple was started in 2012 and is designed to be a way in which financial payments can be made in real time.
Ripple uses blockchain technology to create a near instantaneous way of sending money, commodities, airmiles and more.
Which is pretty neat. Why? Because when you send money using traditional methods, the card provider or bank can take days to send or receive your payments. With Ripple, it takes nanoseconds.
The idea is that Ripple can be (and will be) used in the future for a whole range of financial exchanges with minimal charges.
This gives Ripple the advantage over the likes of Visa and American Express or even PayPal that leverage transaction charges.
How Can You Buy Ripple if you Live in the UK?
Buying Ripple (XRP or Ripples) in the UK is pretty straightforward. But you do need to get a few things in place before you hit that ‘buy’ button. The best place to buy Ripple is via an exchange.
An ‘exchange’ is a digital place where crypto curriencies are bought and sold. And there are dozens of these around.
The one I use is called hitbtc.com. It is a very busy exchange but is straight forward to use once you get the hang of it.
Buying Ripple in the UK – The HitBTC exchange may look complicated but there are plenty of tutorials to help you. I figured it out in a few minutes.
Before you can buy Ripple, you need something to trade with — you can either trade another crytocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
The easiest way to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum with cash or credit card is from Coinbase which has a UK site and will take payments from UK banks and card providers.
(If you sign up using this link you get a £7 bonus in Bitcoin when you invest £75.)
You can then transfer your Bitcoin or Ethereum to the HitBtc.com exchange to buy your Ripple.
The other alternative is using Tether. This is a digital currency which tracks the value of the US Dollar and is growing in popularity due to it’s easy of use for a range of online financial transactions.
The slight disadvantage is that you’ll have to convert values from GB pounds to dollars and back.
If doing this regularly, I recommend installing an extension on your browser to allow you to convert currency values.
(Sign up for Tether here)
While most exchanges allow you some digital storage for your crypto currencies, if you want real security, I advise investing in a secure wallet like the Ledger Nano:
This gives you secure, offline storage and is a good idea if you own or plan on owning a lot of digital currency.
Buy here (Amazon)
Summary: Buying Ripple in the UK Doesn’t Have to Be Difficult
Here’s the thing: if all of this sounds too risky or a lot like hard work, don’t invest. Crypto isn’t for everyone and a lot of inexperienced or unprepared investors got burned at the end of 2017 when most crypto prices corrected themselves.
That said, buying Ripple in the UK isn’t difficult — all you need is somewhere to trade (an exchange) and something to trade with (another cryptocurrency or Tether).
Here are the links again for your reference. Happy trading!
HitBTC.com Digital Currency Exchange
Coinbase (best UK exchange to buy Bitcoin/Ethereum with cash)
Tether (digital currency tied to US Dollar)
Ledger Nano Cryto Wallet (Amazon)
Neil
