XRP and tokens

The XRP Ledger is a public record of accounts and what they hold. Anyone can run a server that keeps a copy. Validators agree on each new version of the record.

XRP is the ledger's own asset. It is built in. It has no issuer, and no one can make more of it.

Everything else on the ledger is a token. A token is created by an account called the issuer. Anyone can issue one. Tokens range from informal IOUs to fiat-backed stablecoins and digital items.

A token is known by two things: its currency code and its issuer. Two tokens named "USD" from two different issuers are two different tokens. Check the issuer, not the name.

XRP and tokens behave differently in daily use:

• Receiving. Any account can receive XRP by default. A token needs a yes first. You open a trust line to the issuer, or authorize the token.
• Control. No one can freeze XRP. Some token issuers can freeze their tokens or claw them back.
• Supply. The amount of XRP was fixed at the start and only shrinks. A token's supply is up to its issuer.

XRP and tokens use different amount formats in the ledger's JSON.

The currency code XRP in all capitals is reserved. No token can use it.

xrpl.org groups tokens into three kinds:

• Trust line tokens. The original fungible token standard. See Trust lines and issued tokens.
• Multi-Purpose Tokens (MPTs). A newer fungible standard. See Multi-Purpose Tokens.
• NFTs. Each one is unique and indivisible. See NFTs on the XRPL.

The freeze feature applies only to issued tokens. xrpl.org states that no one can freeze XRP. Clawback, where enabled in advance, also targets issued tokens. See Freeze, Deep Freeze and Clawback.

Read it live:

• account_info returns an account's AccountRoot. Balance is its XRP in drops, as a string.
• account_lines lists the trust line tokens an account holds, with each issuer.