For years, Bitcoin has been regarded as the genesis of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is widely credited with laying the foundation for the modern digital asset industry since its creation in 2009 by the anonymous figure Satoshi Nakamoto.
Interestingly, some investors have occasionally challenged the origin story of cryptocurrencies. A resurfaced claim is catching attention across the crypto community, particularly among XRP supporters, due to new evidence that Ripple’s XRP may have been created before Bitcoin.
XRP’s Origins In 2004
The discussion kicked off on the social media platform X after a user and crypto commentator known as SMQKE on the platform posted an interesting comment: “2014 E-mails confirm: ‘Ripple is older than Bitcoin.’” The post was accompanied by a screenshot from a 2014 email exchange that sheds some light on Ripple’s lesser-known history.
The email thread, dated February 2014, includes contributions from journalist Bailey Reutzel and developer Jeffrey Cliff. In it, Reutzel confirms that “The first iteration of Ripple was conceived by Ryan Fugger in 2004.” At this time, Satoshi Nakamoto had not yet introduced the concept of blockchain-decentralized digital payments.
Fugger’s original vision of XRP was RipplePay, which is a peer-to-peer trust network designed to allow communities to issue and exchange credits long before any mention of a blockchain or mining.
However, the platform struggled with issues related to uncommitted participants. As Reutzel explains in the message, Fugger sought ways to address these issues and eventually handed over the reins to Chris Larsen, who later co-founded Ripple Labs and XRP in 2012. Under Larsen’s leadership, Ripple began pivoting toward what we now understand as a blockchain-based cryptocurrency platform. But according to Reutzel, the shift was more about capitalizing on Bitcoin’s growing mainstream popularity at the time rather than copying its fundamentals.
Cliff, in the same email exchange, pushed back on the idea that Ripple was a reaction to Bitcoin hype. He stated: “Not true. Ripple predates Bitcoin, and the hype that followed.”
XRP’s Early Structure: Not Really A Crypto?
The emails make a clear distinction between Ripple as a network and XRP as a currency. It is well-known that Ripple wasn’t initially designed to be a crypto in the way Bitcoin was. In fact, Reutzel’s remarks clarify that Larsen positioned XRP as a cryptocurrency mainly to draw attention, not because the Ripple platform itself was about cryptocurrencies at the time.
XRP did not rely on proof-of-work or blockchain in its earliest form, but its purpose aligned with decentralizing financial exchange and cross-border payments. This concept would later be popularized through Bitcoin’s architecture. That alone makes the argument that the altcoin is technically older than Bitcoin difficult to dismiss outright, even if it wasn’t fully crypto in structure during its creation.
Nonetheless, many crypto investors would argue that Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency. It continues to maintain that title till now as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, with a current 64.8% share of the total industry.
Featured image from Adobe Stock, chart from Tradingview.com
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