Re: Ripple a scam?

Ripple is not a centralized system.  The *beta* is currently
centralized...because it is not released yet.  There is a crucial
difference -- when the beta is over, OpenCoin will no longer be a central
place for law enforcement, double-spending will be neigh impossible,
blocking payments will be impossible etc.  This is like suggesting when
bitcoin was a project on Satoshi's desktop/IDE of choice that Satoshi
himself could break it.  Of course he could.  These criticisms are,
however, more valid on www.villages.cc and previous instantiations of
Ripple (whoever runs the server there could reverse transactions/etc) but
these threats are not the ones worried about up until recently -- the
biggest threat was apathy, and the idea not gaining enough traction to be
useful in real life.  That has been The threat until 2012, but there's good
reason that at this point, we may be finally more or less free of that
threat.


On 26 April 2013 11:25, Neil Peters <Neil.Peters@tradeexchange.ca> wrote:

> The part of the argument that does appear valid is the idea of a Ripple
> being a centralized system, and therefore a single point of failure and a
> single target for attack, etc.
>
>
> On 26/04/13 01:30 PM, 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?
>>
>> -- manu
>>
>>
> --
> Neil Peters
> The Corporate Trade Network
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>
>
>
>


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