The auto-bridging documentation explains how the ledger evaluates offers for a token pair.
The XRPL documentation describes offer matching across a direct token pair and markets that connect each side of a swap to XRP. For example, in an exchange of token A for token B, the ledger may use an A/B offer, connect A to XRP and XRP to B, or combine offers from those paths.
The XRPL documentation identifies XRP as the network's native asset. Its decentralized-exchange guide dates the exchange to the XRP Ledger's 2012 launch.
A separate use appears in cross-currency payments. The ledger's payment documentation says a payment can use XRP as an intermediary when that route lowers costs. EconoTimes has previously examined what ledger growth alone says about XRP demand.
