Why Dogecoin and XRP Are Perfect for Transactions

While the possible applications of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology are infinite, its use as a quick and cheap payment system is the most real-world-ready use case.

However, with so many coins and tokens to choose from and new ones being released weekly, which digital currencies are best suited for online transactions?

In our view, Dogecoin and Ripple deserve a spot at the top of the list, and throughout the following sections, we’ll dive into the reason why this is true, how they compare against other popular payment systems, and which other cryptocurrencies also deserve some consideration.

Ready? Let’s get started.

Why are Dogecoin and XRP Perfect for Transactions?

High Network Speeds

With transaction speeds of 1 minute (DOGE) and 3 seconds (XRP), both coins outperform several other popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero.

Additionally, both coins have been shown to scale well, and transaction speeds stay relatively stable even when their network is under heavy use. 

The same cannot be said for all cryptocurrencies, like Ethereum, for example – whose transaction speeds can soar to over 30 minutes when the network is under heavy congestion.

Low Transaction Fees

DOGE and XRP transactions are cheap and typically cost around $0.034 (DOGE) and $0.0002 (XRP), respectively. While DOGE may not be the most affordable option available, the XRP token certainly is up there and it strongly outperforms both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

High Liquidity

Both DOGE and XRP experience well over half a billion dollars in daily trading volume, making them highly liquid. Similarly, both are listed on some of the most widely used exchanges, including Binance, FTX, Kraken, and others.

However, because the SEC has classified the XRP cryptocurrency as an ‘Unregistered Securities Offering,’ Coinbase has elected to halt all XRP trading until the matter is resolved.

Why does high liquidity make DOGE and XRP good for transactions? Liquidity refers to how easily an asset can be converted to cash or other assets without affecting its price. 

If a digital asset has low liquidity, and the simple act of converting it to fiat or another cryptocurrency causes large price swings, it can be deemed unsuitable for transactional use.

Quality Exchange and Wallet Support

As mentioned above, both XRP and DOGE are listed on most major crypto exchanges, making it easy for users from all over the world to buy, sell, and convert the coins to other cryptocurrencies.

The two are also supported by most popular crypto wallets, including Trust, Atomic, Coinbase, and even MetaMask. If you prefer the safety of cold wallet storage, know that both are compatible with Trezor and Ledger hardware wallets.

The Ripple network supports several native wallet services – like Xumm – that allow users to interact with the XRP Ledger and send/receive XRP.

The XRP network also supports ‘tokenization’ of Stable Coins, NFTs, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) – which is somewhat unique among other transaction-friendly cryptocurrencies. In the future, Ripple Labs plans to offer tokenized securities and real-estate assets.

If you’re unfamiliar with what tokenization is, no worries – it’s far from crucial to understanding why XRP makes a good transitional cryptocurrency.

Environmentally Friendly

Due to their Proof of Stake (POS) design, the networks don’t rely on energy-expensive mining rigs to create blocks and validate transactions. In fact, Ripple Labs claims the XRP Ledger is 61,000x more efficient than popular Proof of Work blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The high energy costs of Bitcoin mining is one of the main arguments against its use as a form of digital cash. Due to their low energy requirements, the same cannot be said about DOGE or XRP.

What Is Dogecoin?

Created as a fun joke by two software engineers in 2013, DOGE was one of the original cryptocurrencies in circulation and enjoys the distinction of being the first meme coin.

Despite its lighthearted beginnings, DOGE has become one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and is one of the few to be accepted by popular retailers, including Tesla, Newegg, and AMC.

Interestingly, DOGE doesn’t have a maximum supply, and instead, 5.256 billion DOGE is added to its supply each year.

While some people – like Ripple’s own Chris Larsen – have expressed concern about DOGE’s inflationary nature, others claim it’s necessary for the coin to function as ‘fun and friendly internet money.’

What Is XRP?

Designed as an alternative to the SWIFT system, Ripple functions as a decentralized cross-border payment system for financial institutions.

In addition to being faster and less expensive than the SWIFT system, it also removes the need for a middle man, and XRP can be sent directly from one institution to another via the Ripple Ledger.

Unlike DOGE, XRP has a fixed supply of 100 million XRP, meaning it’s neither deflationary or inflationary. In December of 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, claiming the firm traded over $1.3 billion XRP as an ‘Unregistered Security.’

While this lawsuit was met with surprise and concern by the cryptocurrency market, it doesn’t affect XRP’s ability to process cross-border transactions.

How Does Dogecoin Stack Up Against Other Payment Options?

Dogecoin vs. Bitcoin for Transactions

Although Bitcoin enjoys a much higher degree of institutional support than Dogecoin, the latter does offer faster network speeds and lower transaction fees.

Bitcoin transactions take roughly 10 minutes to complete and cost between $1.80 and $5, depending on network congestion. While this isn’t terrible, Dogecoin is much more efficient and most DOGE transactions are completed within a minute and cost just $0.034 on average.

Dogecoin vs. Credit Cards for Transactions

For the longest time, Visa’s 24,000 transactions per second (TPS) were considered the Holy Grail of the crypto world. Compare this to Bitcoin’s seven and Ethereum’s 20 TPS, and it’s easy to see why there was plenty of room for improvement.

Dogecoin does roughly 30 TPS, which is much slower than Visa’s 24,000. However, for the average consumer using DOGE to pay for things online or to send money to a friend, the 1 minute settlement time is more than sufficient.

Dogecoin vs. PayPal for Transactions

The PayPal network is capable of 193 transactions per second, which has proven more than enough for the popular online payment processor. While convenient, PayPal’s fees and commissions can add up, especially when foreign exchange is involved.

Moreover, most transfers come with a 2.9% charge, which can make PayPal expensive if you need to send a few thousand dollars.

By comparison, DOGE transfers aren’t subject to foreign currency exchange rates, and once the recipient receives their DOGE, they can convert it to fiat or another cryptocurrency at the current spot price. Moreover, DOGE transactions have a flat fee of around $0.034, regardless of how much DOGE is being sent.

Dogecoin vs. CashApp for Transactions

While CashApp has much lower fees than PayPal and allows users to send money to friends/family instantly at almost no cost, it does have several drawbacks.

For starters, the service is only available in the US and UK, which severely limits its usability. Moreover, users can send just $250 each week and receive just $1,000 per month.

Of course, Dogecoin has no such limitations. Not only can DOGE be sent and received anywhere in the world, but there’s no limit to how much you can send or receive (some exchanges do impose a limit, however).

How Does XRP Stack Up Against Other Payment Options?

XRP vs. Bitcoin for Transactions

When it comes to network speed and transaction cost, XRP beats Bitcoin on both fronts by a wide margin. While Bitcoin transactions can take up to 10 minutes to complete and cost between $1.70 and $5, XRP transactions take only 3 seconds to finalize at the cost of $0.0002.

XRP vs. Credit Cards for Transactions

At 50,000 transactions per second (TPS), Ripple has officially outdone Visa’s 24,000 (TPS). Of course, this means little to the consumer as both networks have near-instant process times.

Moreover, Visa and other credit cards are much more widely accepted than XRP.

On the retailer side, however, XRP is superior. For starters, XRP payments won’t come with a processing fee of 1.3% to 3.5%, and while XRP transactions are settled instantly, credit card payments can take up to 5 business days to clear.

Finally – and this is important for both consumers and retailers – XRP payments aren’t subject to a foreign exchange commission on cross-border transactions.

XRP vs. PayPal for Transactions

All PayPal transactions are subject to a 2.9% fee, which increases slightly when money is sent outside the US. PayPal is also known for having bad exchange rates on all major and minor fiat currency pairs, making it a poor choice for cross-border payments.

XRP, on the other hand, was designed for cross-border payments – and as stated several times – has a flat transaction fee of just $0.0002.

XRP vs. CashApp for Transactions

With fast and free transactions, CashApp is certainly convenient. However, the service is only available in the US/UK, and users are limited in the amount of money they can send/receive per week.

The XRP ledger places no such restrictions on transactions, and users can send/receive as much XRP as they wish.

Which Cryptocurrencies Are Most Useful for Payments?

DOGE and XRP aren’t the only cryptocurrencies that are well suited for transactions, and several other options exist, including:

Bitcoin

Transaction Speed: 10 minutes

Transaction Fees: $1.70 – $5 depending on network congestions

The OG of the crypto world, Bitcoin, was developed as a Peer-2-peer digital cash system and is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Although its transaction speeds are nowhere near as impressive as DOGE or XRP, BTC is supported by several popular financial applications, including PayPal, Revolut, and CashApp.

This high-level adoption makes Bitcoin a great digital payment system, even if it’s slower and more expensive than other options.

Bitcoin SV (BSV)

Transaction Speed: 2 seconds

Transaction Fees: $0.0006

A fork of Bitcoin Cash (which itself was a fork of Bitcoin), Bitcoin SV is a faster, cheaper, and more scalable version of the original Bitcoin. Despite its superior performance, Bitcoin is still considerably more popular and widely accepted.

That said, Bitcoin SV has experienced heavy adoption in the online gambling industry, and many online casinos accept BSV as a payment option.

Litecoin (LTC)

Transaction Speed: 2.5 minutes

Transaction Fees: $0.0002

Created by Charlie Lee, a former Google employee, Litecoin is an open-sourced P2P digital currency that’s enjoyed some significant adoption as a digital payment option. Although not as popular as DOGE or XRP, it’s still a top 20 coin by market cap.

Tether (USDT)

Transaction Speed: Varies (1 – 15+ minutes)

Transaction Fees: Varies ($1 – $50+)

Tether is a USD-pegged stablecoin, meaning 1 USDT is always worth 1 USD. This makes Tether a great choice for those looking to enjoy the benefits of crypto transactions while insulating themselves from the high volatility of the crypto market.

It’s worth noting that USDT can be sent over three networks – ERC20 (the Ethereum network), TRC20 (the TRON network), and OMNI (the Bitcoin network). Transaction times and fees will vary depending on which network you use.

The ERC20 network will be the most expensive, while the TRC20 network is the fastest.

Stellar Lumens (XLM)

Transaction Speed: 2 – 5 minutes

Transaction Fees: None

If the Ripple ecosystem is designed to support cross-border transactions between financial institutions, the Stellar network is designed to facilitate cross-border payments between individuals.

XLM transfers are fast and free, and the coin is supported by all major exchanges and crypto wallets. The primary exception to this is MetaMask, which doesn’t currently support the Stellar network.

Monero (XMR)

Transaction Speed: 10 – 20 minutes

Transaction Fees: $0.0008 – $1.53

Monero is a ‘privacy coin,’ meaning it offers anonymous, untraceable transactions. While this has led to MXR being used for several less-than-legal purposes, it’s still one of the most popular cryptocurrencies for transactions.

However, the added privacy comes at a price, and transactions can take up to 20 minutes to complete. Additionally, because of its privacy feature, MXR has been delisted by several popular exchanges – especially US-based outfits.

Cryptocurrency Transactions FAQs

Are Cryptocurrency Transactions Legal?

Yes, cryptocurrency transactions are legal in the US and most parts of the world. In the USA, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are regulated by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). All crypto exchanges operating within the US must register with FinCen.

What Makes A Good Digital Currency?

A good digital currency should have the following attributes:

Fast Transactions: For practicality’s sake, a good digital currency should have near-instant transaction speeds and settlement times. While this isn’t always necessary for cross-border payments, it’s critical for point-of-purchase transactions.

Low Transaction Fees: For a digital currency to experience widespread adoption, it must have low transaction fees.

Security: It doesn’t matter if a digital currency has fast transaction speeds and low fees. If the network isn’t secure and can be easily manipulated by nefarious actors, it won’t work as a form of digital cash.

Luckily, blockchain technology – especially proof of work blockchains – has proven to be both safe and secure.

Reliability: A digital currency network needs to be reliable with little downtime. Some cryptocurrency networks are more reliable than others.

For example, while Litecoin has never experienced any downtime since its launch in 2011, Solano – another popular coin – regularly experienced network issues.

Scalability: Scalability refers to how many transactions a network can handle in a given time frame. The most common measurement of scalability is transactions per second. The more transactions per second a network can process, the more traffic it can handle.

Good Tokenomics: A coin’s tokenomics – which includes factors like total supply, circulating supply, and inflationary/deflationary mechanisms – also play an important role in determining its viability as a digital currency.

For example, if a coin’s total supply is too low, large volume transactions can have a drastic effect on its price, making it unsuitable as a form of electronic cash.

How Is Crypto Better Than Fiat Currency?

Cryptocurrency has several advantages over fiat currency. For starters, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies aren’t subject to storage costs, and unlike banks, crypto wallets and most exchanges won’t charge you a fee for storing your crypto.

Furthermore, central banks are known to inflate the value of fiat currency greatly (just look at the decade plus of Quantitative Easing by the Federal Reserve!). The same cannot be said for cryptocurrency.

While it’s true that some cryptocurrencies are inflationary (like DOGE and ETH), these coins have a static rate of inflation that can’t be easily changed. This provides a level of stability not offered by fiat currency.

Can I Earn Interest On My Cryptocurrency?

Yes, there are several ways to earn interest in your cryptocurrency holdings. The easiest way is staking. While the technical details of staking and why it’s necessary are beyond the scope of this article, the process lets you earn a return on your crypto holdings.

In some ways, staking is analogous to a traditional, interest-bearing savings account. Moreover, several Defi platforms (like AAVE and Alchemix) and centralized exchanges (like KuCoin and Binance) let users lend out their cryptocurrency to other users for a fee.

For a more traditional way to put your digital assets to work, check out Crypto IRAs.

Do Banks Give Loans for Crypto?

No, cryptocurrencies aren’t regulated the same way fiat currencies are, and as a result, banks don’t deal with crypto loans.

If you’re interested in a crypto loan, Binance and KuCoin have several crypto loan products to look into. There are also several Defi lending platforms – like AAVE, Maker, and Compound – that process crypto loans.

What Is Ripple Labs?

Ripple Labs is the company that created the XRP Ledger and XRP – the ledger’s native asset. Ripple Labs is also responsible for maintaining a large portion of the Ripple Network.

Final Thoughts on Why Dogecoin and XRP are Good Payment Methods

Given their fast transaction speeds, low network costs, and popularity, both Dogecoin and XRP are great for transactions. Moreover, because they’re considered blue-chip cryptocurrencies, we can expect them to enjoy continued support for years to come.