Bitrue exchange recently announced its newest trading pair, FLR/XRP, and the Flare token, known as Spark, is off to a hot start. Initially jumping from 0.1 FLR per XRP up to 1, a 1,000% price increase, FLR seems to have settled momentarily at the 0.6 XRP price range. As a new network seeking to innovate on the XRP Ledger, this may just be the beginning for Flare and its native token.
What Is FLR?
FLR is the ticker of the native cryptocurrency for the Flare Network, known as a Spark. The Flare Network is an innovative distributed network created to act as a bridge between the Ethereum network and Ripple’s XRP Ledger, allowing for cross-chain applications. This will allow the Ripple network to introduce smart contracts and decentralized applications, a major upgrade to its original transactional based network.
A network focusing on the growth and advancement of the XRP ecosystem, Flare airdropped a portion of the total supply of FLR tokens to XRP holders. This airdrop was supported by exchanges such as Binance and Bitrue, and led to the distribution of 46 billion FLR tokens to XRP holders. By integrating the capabilities of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Flare Network hopes to make using and building on the XRP Ledger easy for enterprises and developers.
The Evolution of XRP
XRP is the native currency of the XRP Ledger, created by Ripple Labs. The XRP Ledger and cryptocurrency was originated in 2012 to increase speed and decrease the cost of international remittance and money transferring for enterprises and retail users. With platforms like SWIFT taking multiple days or more to complete an international transaction, XRP could complete the same transaction in a fraction of the time. Since the launch of the cryptocurrency, XRP has been widely discussed in the blockchain world, having undergone periodic bull runs that have occurred on an almost annual basis.
The cryptocurrency is particularly favored by retail investors who are new to crypto, perhaps due to XRP’s strong branding and marketing, coupled with the lure of buying a "cheap" coin that has the potential to undergo significant price discovery. Away from the market action, there are other reasons why XRP could still have room to grow as a payment network. With innovations like the Flare Network being built on top of Ripple, there may be broader adoption yet to come. If so, Bitrue is well positioned to capture a slice of the action thanks to its ongoing support for Flare and its XRP-paired FLR token.