XRP is a cryptocurrency developed by the company rippleLabs a for profit company that serves the banking system.  RippleLabs aims for banks and payment providers to be able to send money across the globe quickly and with low service fees.  XRP is a cryptocurrency powered by a blockchain with fast transactions speeds that can verify transactions in less than 5 seconds and transaction costs at less than a penny and is able to handle 1500 transactions a second.  XRP doesn't use PoW or PoS instead it uses a unique node list with trusted nodes that decide which transactions are verified by majority rule.  Unlike most other cryptocurrencies which are decentralized by design XRP is a centralized cryptocurrency which is more of a service that banks can use to transfer large amounts of money globally quickly and cheaply.