Topic: Why Ripple is Superior to Bitcoin... - page 2. (Read 5733 times)

Most of the transactions we currently do in the financial realm of our lives rely on trust based systems.

Bitcoin, brilliant in design, sidesteps the need for most of this trust.

Bitcoin is a sort of digital gold with a built in transaction system.  Awesome and very useful.

Bitcoin's base value comes from fanboys, folks willing to take a stand for their monetary ideology, but most importantly its usefulness in transactions that can't be done online for legal reasons or when a person would prefer not to reveal their identity.  Due to this base value, it has attracted speculators who have driven up its price way beyond its value based on its base uses.

That said, in every day transactions, is it useful or practical for people to exchange their dollars (or other currency), pay 4% to move it to Bitinstant so they can get it into MTGOX, so that they can buy some Bitcoin (another 1/2 % fee), so that they can buy a pizza at their corner store?    I'm going to go out on a limb and say "no."

This is the MAIN problem with Bitcoin.  It is not useful as a transaction system to purchase every day items and does not fit well into the current system.   Would you exchange your dollars for euros to buy a pizza in the USA?   Then why would you do that with Bitcoin?  You wouldn't unless you already had a bunch of Bitcoin or you were living your ideology.

Ripple on the other hand, is first and foremost a PAYMENT AND TRANSACTION SYSTEM.   It can handle trust based transactions that people currently use and will therefore be readily accepted into everyday use (unlike Bitcoin).

So where does XRP and ripples (the currency in Ripple) fit in this equation?

I'm guessing but...

Opencoin, Inc., is smart in that they have printed up the currency in their instance of the pre-open source server almost like a stock issue. They have a certain number of shares that they are banking will increase in value, since xrp is the Bitcoin/gold in the Ripple system. They can hand out these "shares" like an IPO without the usual regulatory rigmorole and without having banks in between each transaction. Ingenious in my opinion. However, as mainly a transaction system, the value of the xrp will only increase and be worth something if Opencoin Inc. gains an early mover advantage in the market with their version of Ripple.

Anyone can make a Facebook clone even though Facebook isn't open source. The software isn't what makes Facebook worth something. It's the network of people and the infrastructure possible because of it. I think Opencoin is attempting to reach the critical mass needed to make sure that their instance of the server is looked at more favorably because of the network adoption vs. a clone.

If they succeed then their xrp will be worth quite a bit, in my opinion. If they don't they can still make money consulting with people running or implementing the software. The former would be preferable I would think.

So Ripple is taking the exact opposite approach of Bitcoin to gain adoption of xrp.   Bitcoin people have to convince others to use Bitcoin in situations where they would normally use their regular currency.   Ripple will merely need to get people to use their payment network for currencies they are already used to (by partnering with banks and other financial services) and xrp will become valuable as a result of that (it being the only trust-free currency in Ripple).

Taken straight from the description of the various coins in the stick of this forum.

Ripples (XRP) - http://ripple.com , no mining - all coins available at start 80% foundation, and 20% develeopers. centralized, not opensource. not designed to be a currency, but an IOU exchange. Very innovative and usefull, but "not a coin"

You are describing ripples business model in your last sentence

This is true. When you borrow some money from your neighbor it is not a slavery. I did this a lot when I was a student. I borrowed from my friends when I needed to survive to next scholarship, and gave loans to my friends when they were in need. Slavery begins when your debt becomes somebody's income.

Debt can be very close to slavery depending on the conditions.

This  is a stupidest statement I'v ever heard. If you was born in human society, you are in debt. No matter if you are slave or a king, you are in debt. This is how nature works. Human species live in herd since a birth of humanity. If you want to be free, go live in desert alone, eat peyotes.

What page are you referring to?

It only matters that it's closed-source if they don't open the source to the public after it's out of Beta like they promised.

But, because you guys can't seem to get your brains off the little details (or even the big details) that are irrelevant to the big picture...

Imagine for a moment that Opencoin keeps their server software closed for YEARS.  That's right YEARS.   And during those years they manage to get all kinds of financial providers to use their system.  They help them create custom front-ends so that it works seamlessly with the current banking system, people have apps on their computers, etc. etc.

Then once a critical mass of adoption as a payment system has been reached, they release the code to the public... and the code reviewers find that XRP is just as secure as Bitcoin.    At that point, does it matter?  I think not.   I think xrp would rapidly become the most valuable virtual currency simply because the payment system ecosystem would make it the most trust-free asset to have within that system.

It doesn't matter if Ripple is the system that makes this happen or some other system.  The important thing is (IMHO), is that PAYMENT SYSTEM adoption must come first and must be inclusive of existing legal tender, and that payment system adoption will lead to better widespread adoption of the virtual currency vs. doing it the way Bitcoin (backwards).  The thing is - all Bitcoiners think that every currency must come up the same way.   That is not the case.

I understand debt just as well as anyone else.  I don't have any.

You don't seem to understand that debt equals to slavery.

I understand debt just as well as anyone else.  I don't have any.

Bitcoin solves problems of trust, that's for sure, but it won't ever replace or get rid of existing debt based legal tender, if for no other reason than governments collect taxes with legal tender, so you'll have to have some whether you want to or not. You also must accept legal tender in the US for all debts public and private - you can't demand payment in Bitcoin.  This is how they screwed people with gold contracts in the US.  

So, knowing all that, as I'm sure you do, I'm not sure what you're getting at.   Ripple doesn't add anything that doesn't already exist.   What's the difference if you look at your USD balance at your bank website or in the Ripple interface?

You don't seem to understand that debt equals to slavery. Sometimes it might be a necessary evil. But a system based on credit is rotten at its core.

Bitcoin helps to solve one problem. Ripple, is a problem.

There is no way Ripple is better than Bitcoin, I doubt if it will even make a ripple in the crypto-coin market.
You make valid points, but I think you have a hard time arguing with people because your thread title is provocative and incorrect.

Ripple is older than bitcoin, but it was not in focus until now. What changed? Bitcoins came to the world. Bitcoin technology gave ripple developers some ideas. Combination of both technologies lead to progress.

While you are all focused on crypto-coins, a distributed payment system that can include all crypto-currencies will become king.   It may not be Ripple, but as of now, Ripple has the best shot in my opinion.

While you are all focused on crypto-coins, a payment system a distributed payment system that can include all crypto-currencies will become king.   It may not be Ripple, but as of now, Ripple has the best shot in my opinion.

There is no way Ripple is better than Bitcoin, I doubt if it will even make a ripple in the crypto-coin market.

Uh... Everybody.  It's one of the key advantages.
Sorry for not addressing your post but this is 100% a dealbreaker.  The only reason ppl are using ripple now is to make a quick buck.

Open-source, closed-source.  Who cares? 

+1

Not one of you has addressed how Bitcoin is going to become a payment system.   Ripple DOES address this FIRST.  xrp will only take off in value once the payment system takes off.

You CAN'T USE BITCOIN until you exchange your regular money to get it.  Why would someone do that to buy a pizza?

Answer this question and let me know how Bitcoin plans on addressing these problems.

Ripple on the other hand DOES address these issues.  

If Bitcoin has something that will address these issues in the near future, I'd be happy to reverse my opinion.  I don't see any answers other than people don't like that Ripple is closed source, they don't like that a company pre-mined 100,000,000,000 of that system's currency, or that they are worried their might not be enough currency to create an account for everyone in the world.  

Are you guys for real?

I'm all about solutions.  Tell me how Bitcoin fixes (or plans to fix) the issues I illustrated in my OP.