<p>Ripple address r3AWbdp2jQLXLywJypdoNwVSvr81xs3uhn and you set up a trust line for 1.0 BTC in each direction. As part of some previous payment (not a trade), Ripple made use of that trust line just as it was told it could. If you don't want a negative balance ask people not to trust you :-). [As an aside, previous ripple implementations like classic.ripplepay.com required you to approve and limit what trust others gave you, it's more complicated and there really isn't a downside to people trusting you so ripple.com doesn't support that, at least not yet).]</p>

<p>Looking at the <a href="https://ripple.com/graph/#rhQ7mQ1JJKygoxh7SoCaKNZB4GufdCRiH3" rel="nofollow">Ripple Live Graph</a>... you currently owe the above address 0.1 BTC and you have 0.096+ BTC from WeExchange. For small amounts it's generally easiest to just leave it alone in Ripple rather than trying to zero it. The friend that has your IOU can use it to make payments through you and anyone that accepts your IOUs or that accepts any IOUs you hold.</p>

<p>E.g. If your friend had a WeExchange account (they don't trust WeEx currently so they may not) they could pay WeExchange say 0.06 BTC. Your total balance would stay the same but you'd owe the friend only 0.04 BTC and hold 0.036+ BTC from WeExchange. Your friend could pay their Bitstamp account too. In that case the payment would go through you, to rfTXGr6j9ExwSQd9NwRaLBCCa4VETr4GYu (who trusts you) and from them to Bitstamp. In that case the first friend would effectively be exchanging your IOUs with the second friend in exchange for their Bitstamp IOUs :-).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-02T21:34:46.567Z
Also see http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/8866/ripple-a-strange-send-i-dont-quite-understand for an example of how your IOUs can be exchanged or automatically issued in exchange for others.
dchapes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-02T18:29:41.673Z
2013-04-02T18:29:41.673Z
dchapes
<p>I just sold some BTC for XRP, and managed to get a negative balance. WTF?</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/t7SRU.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>Transaction ID - E2D1BBD7A602E9D5B16FD79819A0347E18DED7F988F2F4C9EA3854BFCB4D3664</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-02T06:19:56.200Z
I believe that this means that you offered to pay for some bitcoin with a self-issued IOU, then somebody accepted that.
Nick ODell
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-02T12:43:47.240Z
@NickODell - how can I check this? I never intended to go to a negative balance. I think I'll open a bug report on this.
ripper234
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-02T12:46:14.297Z
@NickODell - https://github.com/rippleFoundation/ripple-client/issues/359
ripper234
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-04T14:56:54.753Z
For a general understanding of the ripple concept you may want to read the old wiki: http://archive.ripple-project.org/
I like this video a lot:

http://www.youtube.com/user/utunga#p/a/u/0/ySzqM5dpF7s

Negative balances are very normal in ripple, for every positive balance there's another negative one. For IOUs the total balances in the system are always zero.
jtimon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-04T15:05:18.977Z
@jtimon - of course, it makes sense. I saw the old Ripple material a while back.
ripper234
<ripple>
What does a negative Ripple balance mean?
ripper234
# What does a negative Ripple balance mean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-04-02)

I just sold some BTC for XRP, and managed to get a negative balance. WTF?

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/t7SRU.png)

Transaction ID - E2D1BBD7A602E9D5B16FD79819A0347E18DED7F988F2F4C9EA3854BFCB4D3664

**Tags:** ripple

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I believe that this means that you offered to pay for some bitcoin with a self-issued IOU, then somebody accepted that.  
> **username_0**: @NickODell - how can I check this? I never intended to go to a negative balance. I think I'll open a bug report on this.  
> **username_0**: @NickODell - https://github.com/rippleFoundation/ripple-client/issues/359  
> **username_2**: For a general understanding of the ripple concept you may want to read the old wiki: http://archive.ripple-project.org/ I like this video a lot:  http://www.youtube.com/user/utunga#p/a/u/0/ySzqM5dpF7s  Negative balances are very normal in ripple, for every positive balance there's another negative one. For IOUs the total balances in the system are always zero.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 - of course, it makes sense. I saw the old Ripple material a while back.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-04-02. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Ripple address r3AWbdp2jQLXLywJypdoNwVSvr81xs3uhn and you set up a trust line for 1.0 BTC in each direction. As part of some previous payment (not a trade), Ripple made use of that trust line just as it was told it could. If you don't want a negative balance ask people not to trust you :-). [As an aside, previous ripple implementations like classic.ripplepay.com required you to approve and limit what trust others gave you, it's more complicated and there really isn't a downside to people trusting you so ripple.com doesn't support that, at least not yet).]

Looking at the [Ripple Live Graph](https://ripple.com/graph/#rhQ7mQ1JJKygoxh7SoCaKNZB4GufdCRiH3)... you currently owe the above address 0.1 BTC and you have 0.096+ BTC from WeExchange. For small amounts it's generally easiest to just leave it alone in Ripple rather than trying to zero it. The friend that has your IOU can use it to make payments through you and anyone that accepts your IOUs or that accepts any IOUs you hold.

E.g. If your friend had a WeExchange account (they don't trust WeEx currently so they may not) they could pay WeExchange say 0.06 BTC. Your total balance would stay the same but you'd owe the friend only 0.04 BTC and hold 0.036+ BTC from WeExchange. Your friend could pay their Bitstamp account too. In that case the payment would go through you, to rfTXGr6j9ExwSQd9NwRaLBCCa4VETr4GYu (who trusts you) and from them to Bitstamp. In that case the first friend would effectively be exchanging your IOUs with the second friend in exchange for their Bitstamp IOUs :-).

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Also see http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/8866/ripple-a-strange-send-i-dont-quite-understand for an example of how your IOUs can be exchanged or automatically issued in exchange for others.  

---

