Ripple was steadily on its way to becoming the “Bitcoin killer.” However, unexpectedly, it became difficult for people, especially in the United States, to purchase it. If you typically purchase your cryptocurrencies via Robinhood, you may be curious to know why you can’t buy Ripple.
In this article, we will explore the underlying factors causing the inability to purchase Ripple (XRP) and explore alternative methods to obtain it. Moreover, we will also evaluate whether investing in XRP is worthwhile.
Perhaps you want to diversify your crypto investments by including Ripple in your portfolio but are facing issues due to its unavailability; we can help you discover the reasons behind it.
So, without any further ado, let’s discover them!
Why Can’t You Buy XRP on Robinhood?
You can’t buy Ripple on Robinhood because it is not supported on the platform. However, the reason behind this is somewhat complex. Ripple is inaccessible, especially to US citizens, due to their legal issues with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). SEC filed a complaint against Ripple on December 22, 2020. They claimed Ripple had gathered a revenue of $1.3 billion by selling XRP digital assets since 2013 without registration.
It is important to learn that Ripple and XRP are used interchangeably but are different terms. XRP is a crypto coin, whereas Ripple is a platform that supports the XRP blockchain and its ledger. So, SEC doesn’t file a case against the token but against the company that supports it.
The complaint was originally against two executives; the company’s co-founder and former CEO, Christian Larsen, and the current CEO, Bradley Garlinghouse. It states that the two executives generated profit without registering or proving they were not liable to register.
Although the lawsuit is still open, many crypto trading markets have withdrawn their hands from offering XRP on their platform. That’s why it is unavailable on Robinhood, like many other exchange websites.
Which Cryptocurrencies does Robinhood Support?
So, if Robinhood doesn’t support XRP, which cryptocurrencies it supports? Currently, 18 crypto coins are available on the platform, listed below:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Ethereum Classic (ETC)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Solana (SOL)
- Tezos (XRZ)
- USD Coin (USDC)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Shiba Inu (SHIB)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- Avalanche (AVAX)
- Uniswap (UNI)
- Chainlink (LINK)
- Aave (AAVE)
- Stellar Lumens (XLM)
- Compound (COMP)
Where can you Buy Ripple?
The lawsuit may put Ripple in a backseat, but the case is not closed yet. Experts say the XRP price may shoot out if Ripple wins the case. So, investing in this altcoin seems reasonable. But where should you buy it? Here are the top 5 platforms that allow you to invest in XRP:
- Binance
Binance, one of the biggest crypto trading platforms, allows you to invest in Ripple from anywhere. Since the platform operates globally, you can easily purchase XRP outside the US. The platform daily processes almost 2 billion volumes on average. Besides XRP, Binance also supports more than 360 crypto coins.
- Kraken
Interestingly, Kraken is a US-based company that allows you to buy or invest in Ripple. You can buy XRP in multiple formats, like spot, futures, external, over-the-counter, and leverage trading. It also has a user-friendly interface for maximum usability and easy navigation.
- Atomic Wallet
Atomic Wallet is a secure option to buy XRP as it provides you private keys and key phrases to recover your accounts. It has industry-standard AES symmetric encryption to secure the user’s data. Moreover, you can trade 500+ cryptocurrencies via different payment methods. However, remember you must have to deposit a minimum of $10.
- eToro
eToro is a fantastic platform for beginners to buy XRP due to copy trading (replicating trading strategies of experts). It also allows users different opportunities like stock or forex trading, funds exchanging, and more than 3,000 tradable symbols. Consider it like social media for crypto trading and finance. However, you can make the first deposit of at least $200.
- Bitstamp
Bitstamp is probably the best exchange to buy XRP, as Ripple is the third most traded crypto coin on this platform. By January 2022, people traded almost $444 million XRP due to Bitstamp’s crypto-to-crypto and crypto-to-fiat transactions feature. The platform also offers a dedicated wallet to hold your digital assets.
Is Investing in Ripple Worth it?
Even though Ripple is suffering a lawsuit, investing in Ripple can be worth it. The most prominent factor is its low price with advanced technology behind the token, which can potentially lead to higher prices in the future (turning profitable for you). On the other hand, the crypto coin also has many other perks, like the following:
- Fast Transactions: Transactions at Ripple take only three to five seconds, faster than many other crypto coins by many folds. For instance, a transaction on Bitcoin takes about an hour.
- More TPS: Faster transactions mean more transactions per second (TPS). It has 1500 TPS on average, reaching even above 50,000 per second at one point.
- Extremely Low Fee: This fast speed is also too affordable as a transaction costs only 0.00001 XRP, which is even less than a cent.
- Used by Reputable Institutions: Many reputable and trustable financial institutes are using Ripple, including Bank of America and Santander. It indicates the security and authenticity of the cryptocurrency and hints towards a secure future.
- Versatile: Many crypto coins can only be transferred in their blockchain, but you can exchange XRP with other cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies.
How to Buy Cryptocurrencies on Robinhood?
But what if you want to keep your crypto purchases within the Robinhood platform? You may want to buy other cryptocurrencies if it’s not XRP. Here’s how you can buy them on the platform from a desktop.
- Open your browser, and log in to your Robinhood account.
- Go to the Detail Page of your desired cryptocurrency.
- Click on the Order window and enter the amount you want to buy.
- Click Review and Confirm to place your order.
However, if you are operating from a mobile application, follow the steps below. They are applicable on both Android and iOS devices.
- Open the application and go to the Detail Page of the desired crypto coin.
- Tap on Trade > Buy > Order Types.
- Confirm your order after selecting the order type you prefer. Swipe up for the submission.
Final Thoughts
Currently, you cannot buy Ripple on Robinhood because it is not supported on the platform. The main reason behind this is a lawsuit filed by SEC against Ripple. However, right now, purchasing XRP is quite favorable due to its low prices. You can buy it from many other platforms like Binance, Kraken, MEXC, eToro, and Bitstamp.
