Ripple Labs Unveils Developer Support Portal for Ripple Payments Protocol

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 5, 2014) - Ripple Labs today launched the Ripple Developer Portal to make it easier and more efficient for third party developers to build on the Ripple protocol. Ripple Labs also announced that Mathijs Koenraadt claimed the first Ripple developer bounty for his Magento extension and its ability to read the Ripple public ledger to create an invoice.

Ripple Labs created Ripple, an open-source, distributed payment protocol that powers a new global value web. The Ripple Developer Portal initially features the new REST API, and will expand over time to include a number of tools and resources designed to empower developers building on the Ripple open source code. These will include:

• A developer blog to lend insight into updates to the protocol as Ripple Labs works on them and to spotlight examples of successful applications;
• A new REST-based API and implementation guides for deeper language compatibility and quicker deployment;
• Open-source repositories and documentation for concept applications released by Ripple Labs for key use cases on the network;
• Clear brand and marketing guidelines for Ripple implementations;
• A list of live Ripple development bounties.

The portal also builds on the announcement of a new Ripple accelerator operated by CrossCoin Ventures that supports Ripple developers and applications. Co-located with Ripple Labs in San Francisco, the new venture will provide funding, mentoring, training and access to investors for participants.

"Ripple will transform the financial industry as we know it, and the developer community is the key to helping consumers, merchants and financial institutions unlock its full potential," said Ripple Labs CEO Chris Larsen. "We are committed to providing more transparency for developers, making it easier for them to build on Ripple, and empowering them with the tools they need to be successful."

The Ripple plug-in for Magento is an early example of what will be many different applications custom built for the Ripple protocol, ranging from new products and services to highly specialized extensions. Created by Mathijs Koenraadt, the plug-in reads the Ripple public ledger to create an invoice for a merchant transaction. This facilitates transactions and helps avoid double payment on a purchase order. In addition to earning the first Ripple developer bounty, the plug-in has already been implemented by Rita Zachari, a luxury jewelry merchant in Europe. Rita Zachari is one of the first merchants to offer a Ripple Wallet payment option at checkout.

"Ripple eliminates the fraud, chargebacks, and account withholding issues that we face with traditional payment providers while allowing us to transact in any currency," explained Rita Zachari founder Alexis Sirkia. "We hope that more customers will pay with Ripple because of these advantages and will soon offer a 5 percent discount to encourage Ripple adoption."

The Ripple payment protocol and math-based currency enables free and virtually instant payments with no chargebacks in any currency or unit of value -- including fiat or math-based currencies, mobile phone minutes, or even loyalty reward points. Ripple can be used for a wide range of applications, including merchant payments, money transfers, or remittances. Ripple has the potential to transform payments to work like communications -- global, instant and nearly free.

For more information about Ripple, please visit http://www.ripple.com.

About Ripple Labs

Ripple Labs developed the Ripple protocol, which makes transacting as easy as emailing. The San Francisco-based startup is funded by Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, IDG Capital Partners, FF Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, The Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and Vast Ventures.

The software company's team of 40 is comprised of deeply experienced cryptographers, security experts, distributed network developers, Silicon Valley and Wall Street veterans. They contribute code to and promote the Ripple protocol, create SDKs and build free consumer apps. The team shepherds a movement to evolve finance so that payment systems are open, secure, constructive and globally inclusive.

Ripple Labs was named one of the 50 Smartest Companies for 2014 by MIT Technology Review.

About Ripple

Ripple is an open-source, distributed payment protocol. It enables nearly free and instant payments to merchants, consumers and developers with no chargebacks and in any currency -- including dollars, yen, euros, and even Bitcoin. Ripple has the potential to transform payments to work like communications -- global, distributed, instant and free. Ripple is currently in beta. For more information about Ripple, please visit http://www.ripple.com.