I guess that the question should be what is a cryptocurrency, so here we go, what makes something a crypto or not a crypto?
Not all cryptocurrencies are decentralized, some of them are centralized like ripple. Ripple is still classified as cryptocurrency, but the way it was developed and operates are different from other cryptocurrencies. It is built upon the idea of distributed ledger which requires parties to participate in validating transactions rather than any singular and centralized authority. So ripple is more centralized cryptocurrency in a decentralized space.