diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index e35cd8eec..19d9e4322 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -1,3 +1,77 @@ +![Ripple](/images/ripple.png) + +#The World’s Fastest and Most Secure Payment System + +**What is Ripple?** + +Ripple is the open-source, distributed payment protocol that enables instant +payments with low fees, no chargebacks, and currency flexibility (for example +dollars, yen, euros, bitcoins, or even loyalty points). Businesses of any size +can easily build payment solutions such as banking or remittance apps, and +accelerate the movement of money. Ripple enables the world to move value the +way it moves information on the Internet. + +![Ripple Network](images/network.png) + +**What is a Gateway?** + +Ripple works with gateways: independent businesses which hold customer +deposits in various currencies such as U.S. dollars (USD) or Euros (EUR), +in exchange for providing cryptographically-signed issuances that users can +send and trade with one another in seconds on the Ripple network. Within the +protocol, exchanges between multiple currencies can occur atomically without +any central authority to monitor them. Later, customers can withdraw their +Ripple balances from the gateways that created those issuances. + +**How do Ripple payments work?** + +A sender specifies the amount and currency the recipient should receive and +Ripple automatically converts the sender’s available currencies using the +distributed order books integrated into the Ripple protocol. Independent third +parties acting as market makers provide liquidity in these order books. + +Ripple uses a pathfinding algorithm that considers currency pairs when +converting from the source to the destination currency. This algorithm searches +for a series of currency swaps that gives the user the lowest cost. Since +anyone can participate as a market maker, market forces drive fees to the +lowest practical level. + +**What can you do with Ripple?** + +The protocol is entirely open-source and the network’s shared ledger is public +information, so no central authority prevents anyone from participating.Anyone +can become a market maker, create a wallet or a gateway, or monitor network +behavior. Competition drives down spreads and fees, making the network useful +to everyone. + + +###Key Protocol Features +1. XRP is Ripple’s native [cryptocurrency] +(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency) with a fixed supply that +decreases slowly over time, with no mining. XRP acts as a bridge currency, and +pays for transaction fees that protect the network against spam +![XRP as a bridge currency](/images/vehicle_currency.png) + +2. Pathfinding discovers cheap and efficient payment paths through multiple +[order books](https://www.ripplecharts.com) allowing anyone to [trade](https://www.rippletrade.com) anything. When two accounts aren’t linked by relationships of trust, the Ripple pathfinding engine considers intermediate links and order books to produce a set of possible paths the transaction can take. When the payment is processed, the liquidity along these paths is iteratively consumed in best-first order. +![Pathfinding from Euro to Japanese Yen](/images/pathfinding.png) + +3. [Consensus](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj1QVb1vlC0) confirms +transactions in an atomic fashion, without mining, ensuring efficient use of +resources. + +[transact]: https://ripple.com/files/ripple-FIs.pdf +[build]: https://ripple.com/build/ + +[transact.png]: /images/transact.png +[build.png]: /images/build.png +[contribute.png]: /images/contribute.png + +###Join The Ripple Community +|![Transact][transact.png]|![Build][build.png]|![Contribute][contribute.png]| +|:-----------------------:|:-----------------:|:---------------------------:| +|[Transact on the fastest payment infrastructure][transact]|[Build Imaginative Apps][build]|Contribute to the Ripple Protocol Implementation| + #rippled - Ripple P2P server ##[![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/ripple/rippled.png?branch=develop)](https://travis-ci.org/ripple/rippled) @@ -37,5 +111,9 @@ Ripple is open source and permissively licensed under the ISC license. See the LICENSE file for more details. ###For more information: -* https://ripple.com -* https://ripple.com/wiki +* Ripple Wiki - https://ripple.com/wiki/ +* Ripple Primer - https://ripple.com/ripple_primer.pdf +* Ripple Primer (Market Making) - https://ripple.com/ripple-mm.pdf +* Ripple Gateway Primer - https://ripple.com/ripple-gateways.pdf +* Consensus - https://wiki.ripple.com/Consensus + diff --git a/images/build.png b/images/build.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f1e579075 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/build.png differ diff --git a/images/contribute.png b/images/contribute.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..e88fc26cf Binary files /dev/null and b/images/contribute.png differ diff --git a/images/network.png b/images/network.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..5c79deecd Binary files /dev/null and b/images/network.png differ diff --git a/images/pathfinding.png b/images/pathfinding.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c16aff95f Binary files /dev/null and b/images/pathfinding.png differ diff --git a/images/ripple.png b/images/ripple.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f496fd833 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/ripple.png differ diff --git a/images/transact.png b/images/transact.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b3b0a23f4 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/transact.png differ diff --git a/images/vehicle_currency.png b/images/vehicle_currency.png new file mode 100644 index 000000000..2a2dd0f22 Binary files /dev/null and b/images/vehicle_currency.png differ