A newly surfaced document, shared by an XRP community member, indicates that Ripple has its roots back in 2004, four years before Bitcoin's emergence.
Ripple's Early Days
According to tech journalist Reutzel Bailey, Ryan Fugger first conceived Ripple in 2004 by creating a platform called *RipplePay*. This platform allowed users to move value peer-to-peer without relying on banks. Later, Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple, took the project forward and reframed it as a cryptocurrency by tapping into the hype surrounding Bitcoin.
Debunking the Copycat Myth
The email exchange also dismantles claims that Ripple mimicked Bitcoin. Industry voice Jeffrey Cliff stated, 'Ripple predates Bitcoin,' countering concepts of Ripple as a 'copycat math-based currency.' The timeline shows that Ripple's concept emerged in 2004, while its cryptocurrency, XRP, launched in 2012, establishing Bitcoin as the first cryptocurrency.
From RipplePay to the XRP Ledger
In 2011, developers Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and David Schwartz began building the XRP Ledger (XRPL), aiming for a more efficient alternative to Bitcoin's energy-intensive proof-of-work system. McCaleb convinced Fugger to transform *RipplePay* into a crypto network, leading to the creation of *NewCoin* in 2012, which was soon renamed *OpenCoin* and later simply *Ripple*.
Thus, while Bitcoin holds the title of the first true cryptocurrency, Ripple's earlier roots illustrate that the idea of decentralized value transfer was already taking shape years in advance. This rediscovered history emphasizes Ripple's significance in the crypto world.
