how do ripple's "issuers" work for currency exchange?

[paulie_w]

i am looking at doing an exchange of xrp for btc using ripple. i have added bitstamp as an issuer, which begs the question:
what the hell is an issuer and how does this process actually work?

[cdog]

Oh whats this, you are trying to rid thyself of thy XRP? Say it aint so goodsir, because Ripple is destined to becomes something truly fantastic!*






















































*

[paulie_w]

uh. i am exchanging some to see how it works yes. so can someone who knows maybe answer my question?

[traderjoe]

I'll try to help, I did this for the first time a few days ago.

After adding Bitstamp as a BTC issuer, you need to "trust" them to exchange the ripple BTC IOU's for genuine BTC.  This is done by Advanced --> Trust --> Green + sign, then paste the ripple address of Bitstamp and click save.

After that, on the left hand side, click Trade, use the dropdown to choose BTC/XRP.  Click Order Book near the bottom of that page and you should see a fairly active order book like you would at a Bitcoin exchange.   

[paulie_w]

i only see 'amount' and 'grant trust'  in advanced > trust after i enter the bitstamp address... ?

[malderman]

Cheapest and Fastest Account Activation:
http://bit.do/ripple