Re: Ripple a scam?

On 26 April 2013 19:13, Brent Shambaugh <brent.shambaugh@gmail.com> wrote:

> For reference, Melvin Carvalho posted a link on the list to a video about
> the future of Bitcoin by Mike Hearn. At the end of the talk (~24:48) Mike
> mentions that Bitcoin is still centralized, but Ripple is a completely P2P
> (decentralized) currency exchange.
>

I really enjoyed this talk.

The truth is that neither bitcoin NOR ripple are 100% decentralized.

bitcoin is pretty much decentralized in that it has 1 million+ people
running software with the 'one cpu one vote' concept

ripple is more a consensus idea which is interesting, but at this point
more centralized ... i think there are under 10 nodes running rippled, but
then again it's still a closed beta

cc: mike hearn


>
>  "Mike Hearn on Bitcoin" Sun, Apr 21, 2013 at 11:05 AM
>
> >Sorry posted this to wrong list, it was meant to be web payments
>
> >Some on the webid list may still find it interest, as it talks about
> payment workflows between different identities aka 'smart >contracts' :)
>
>  >https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mD4L7xDNCmA
>
>
> >On 31 March 2013 19:18, Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>    > https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mD4L7xDNCmA
>
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 11:57 AM, Nathan <nathan@webr3.org> wrote:
>
>> I agree, I know a few of the ripple developers and they all assure me
>> that they just want it critical-bugless before released.
>>
>> Put it this way, I trust it enough to hold several hundred thousand XRP
>> and use it daily and give feedback + submit issues, so I for one trust it.
>>
>>
>> Jeffrey Cliff wrote:
>>
>>> It should be pointed out that the so far cloeed components are planned to
>>> be opened--the system is not yet stable enouhh and they are just trying
>>> to
>>> figure out how to do this in such a way thay they won't likely have to
>>> reset the ledger afterwards.   In the meanwhile  it is sensible to not
>>> use
>>> it, given the source isn't finished yet...but the criticism *as a system*
>>> that it is closed is imho invalid.
>>> On 2013-04-26 10:40 AM, "Nathan" <nathan@webr3.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>  Manu Sporny wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  Interesting commentary on Ripple being a scam:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://ripplescam.org/
>>>>>
>>>>> #bitcoin #ripple #payswarm #w3c #futureofmoney
>>>>>
>>>>> Some of the arguments are fairly weak, I think the underlying
>>>>> assumption
>>>>> that the author is making is that Ripple is attempting to be Bitcoin
>>>>> (it
>>>>> isn't, it's a for-profit currency run by a corporation). So, if you
>>>>> trust Ripple, most of the arguments go away.
>>>>>
>>>>> The open source argument is pretty solid, so is the one about hoarding
>>>>> of XRPs. The OpenCoin developer arguing in the comment thread certainly
>>>>> didn't help defend Ripple.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think the real argument is whether or not Bitcoin is better than
>>>>> Ripple, and in this case, it completely depends on what you want out of
>>>>> the currency. Fast transactions? Use Ripple. Decentralized and open
>>>>> source? Use Bitcoin.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any commentary from payment folks on this list?
>>>>>
>>>>>  Yes! I use both daily, and heavily.
>>>>
>>>> There are two things here:
>>>> a) Ripple as a clearance system.
>>>> b) Ripple XRP as a currency.
>>>>
>>>> Ripple as a clearance system is rather good, it'd be better if it was
>>>> open
>>>> source, but it's certainly setting the bar and more than usable (I use
>>>> it
>>>> daily). Worst case the rippled project can be reimplemented using the
>>>> details on the wiki and using the API (which isn't great). The low
>>>> friction
>>>> and latency is hard to live without once you are used to it.
>>>>
>>>> Another + is that ripple has opensourced some rather good client
>>>> libraries
>>>> in Javascript, and lots of tooling for it.
>>>>
>>>> Ultimately you cannot directly compare Ripple and Bitcoin directly. You
>>>> can compare the currencies, in which case there are two ways to compare
>>>> and
>>>> value them.
>>>>
>>>> 1) Traditionally, where the value of the currency is the amount of trust
>>>> behind it
>>>> 2) In ripple case, where XRP is a utility of the network, in which case
>>>> 1
>>>> XRP has the value of 10k-100k transactions depending on how the fees are
>>>> set.
>>>>
>>>> The aside issue, is the distribution of the pre-mined currency. Are they
>>>> doing this to get rich and get out, or get rich while making things
>>>> better
>>>> for the general population. If the first case then that sucks, if the
>>>> second case then who cares? I'm sure we all hope Satoshi and the
>>>> original
>>>> bitcoin pushers are rich today, and likewise I hope the Ripplers will be
>>>> too.
>>>>
>>>> Ultimately, a well defined clearance system similar to ripple,
>>>> supporting
>>>> multiple currencies will and should become the norm, ripple is pushing
>>>> the
>>>> populations in the right direction. That can't be a bad thing.
>>>>
>>>> Best,
>>>>
>>>> Nathan
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Brent Shambaugh
>
> I've worked with polymers, I teach chemistry, I'm currently researching
> how to build distributed economies.
> Website: http:// <http://bshambaugh.org/experiments/connect_dots3.html>
> adistributedeconomy.blogspot.com
>