$XRP is used for various applications, including facilitating payments between financial institutions, businesses, and organizations, as well as for store of value and speculation.

Ripple's Role:

While the XRP Ledger is a decentralized platform, the blockchain services company Ripple plays a role in its development and adoption, using XRP in its payment network.

Decentralization and Centralization:

The XRP Ledger is decentralized, but it also relies on a list of validated nodes (the Unique Node List) for consensus, which has led to discussions about the degree of decentralization.

Relationship to Bitcoin:

XRP differs from Bitcoin in that it was not designed as a replacement for fiat currencies and instead focuses on facilitating global payments.