i thought ripple is not centralized but a distributed system as written here: https://ripple.com/ripple_primer.pdf

also, to my understanding they are backed by google ventures and other known venture capitalists.

they also have this giveaway of ripples (xrp) by donating processing power thru the world community grid. like seti at home but for cancer research. it's really a brilliant system of distributing their currency, i think.

https://www.computingforgood.org

http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org

edit: some of them even use cloud computing for more processing power to "mine" ripples (xrp) in the world community grid. crazy. here is the guide: https://ripple.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=4428

haven't tried it myself so i can't really comment.

Ripple is centralized completely in its ledger, and Ripple owns the vast majority of the Ripples. This is only a problem if you are trying to get rich quick buying Ripples.

Ripples are not really the end-game of the currency but an anti DOS/spam prevention mechanism and a tool for bridging currencies.

Ripple is more useful in playing in the old currency system but making it more useful for the digital age. IMO it compliments cryptocurrencies more than competes with them. I'd love to see exchanges interact with Ripple.

can you explain how ripple is completely centralized in its ledger? because it clearly states that the network is distributed. i am referring to page 7 of the ripple primer.

also this:

http://wiki.dgcmagazine.com/index.php?title=Ripple

Page 7 talks about distributed exchanges. Not sure what you are seeing. I could be wrong on this, though. It's centralized in that Ripples are created and distributed by a central authority. Not sure if you could remove them from the mix and have the system function.

ooooh lol. yeah, a little misunderstanding. when i say ripple, it's the ripple network, and ripples, it is xrp the crypto-currency inside the ripple network.

so you meant ripple is centralized in the sense that all xrp's are being held by ripple labs, the company behind ripple. i think it is wrong to look at it that way. ripple is a distributed network. all the validators in ripple have a copy of the ledger. anyone can run a ripple daemon and act as a validator.

as for xrp's. it's no secret that ripple labs made 100 billion xrp's. 20 billion was kept by the founders, 30 billion was given to the company ripple labs for operational expenses and such, and 50 billion will be given away to the public thru giveaways just like the computing for good giveaway.

the ripple network itself is not centralized.

"Not sure if you could remove them from the mix and have the system function."

well maybe you can remove them from the mix, but not entirely. you'll need some reserve xrp for your wallet to function. xrp isn't the only currency in the network. you can also use all fiat and all crypto in ripple, given that there is a gateway offering which fiat/crypto currency you want issued to you to transfer in your ripple wallet. right now the ones with most volume are usd, btc and cny. and if you need or want xrp you can trade your fiat or crypto for xrp in the exchange built inside of ripple. easy.

that's all really there is to it. all the xrp you need is the base reserve really, which isn't that much. 20 xrp base reserve, plus 5 for each trust line. that's it. and probably a person would have only 1 or 2 trustlines at a time maximum.

Does anyone think Dogecoin has any chance of even reaching US.01?

do you have a chart? or price and volume history of at least 3 months? let's take a look.

Lol its only been around for about a month. Marketcap of $8m though.

Crypptocoincharts





Thinking about it. Almost no chance it hits that. When all the coins are mined, 1cent would be a marketcap of $1B

Do you guys like Peercoin or Namecoin better? Would love to see a Pros/Cons analysis of both if possible.

Thanks

ah. hard to tell then. i like buying coins that are trending. dont care if they say if its a scam. as long as the volume is good. volume is key cos if you decide to sell there will be someone else willing to hold the bag.

fundamentals go out the window in crypto currencies.

just look for the ones that are breaking out and trending up with good volume.

but if you really want to invest for the long term and go into the fundamentals, i recommend ripple. yeah some people say it's a scam, the same thing some people say some altcoins are pump and dumps. if so, then i'd rather invest in a "scam" that's backed by andreessen horowitz and google ventures.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news...etter-bitcoin/

http://gigaom.com/2013/05/14/google-...change-ripple/

the whole ripple protocol thing seems pretty awesome from what i've read, but i really don't understand the appeal of the ripple currency. can you explain to me why a "currency" that's basically controlled entirely by a private entity is a good idea?

They have an incentive to make sure it's worth something because they own a bunch of it.

yup. ripple is really an awesome idea. but as for xrp, here's my stance... i don't care who controls it, if ripple labs decides to play "federal reserve", ok. if they think their business model will propel ripple to success that's their call. good idea or not, i don't really care. what i care about is the profit i get by trading xrp. so as long as we got our little economy buying and selling xrp, there's profit to be made. and if it ceases to be profitable, i leave. (mind you, i am a small player. and my main objective in trading in ripple is to increase my xrp holdings as these might be worth much more in the future)

but i do hope the network grows tho. the more money there is in the ripple network, the better. it's kinda like the poker economy really, the more money that goes around, the better.

their incentive is to make their own chunk worth as much as possible. this is not a good thing for the people who own ripple currency.

what do you mean by 'make their own chunk worth as much as possible'? they are holding the same xrp like the everybody else's xrp. how can they make their own chunk worth, say 1 dollar per xrp while the rest owns xrp worth .50 cents?

the market decides how much the price is per xrp.

liquidity is finite

right now is there any way to actually use your ripples? I get the general idea that ripples must be used in each transaction but who is actually using them at the moment?

Anyone know where I can buy:

1) Ripple
2) Mastercoin
3) WDC
4) Megacoin
5) FTC

unless it's a scam so liquidity evaporates. Especially if the liquidity is fake because the altcoin is being transacted between two people to build volume during the pump and dump.

No way, I'm sure everyone can be an expert at leaving someone else holding the bag when everyone is playing the same game.

i am not exactly sure where you're pointing at. can you please explain a bit further?

yeah it's risky in trading altcoins. i just play with in my br like poker lol. and usually all these scam accusations, are just that. so i'm not too worried. again, volume is key. winning or losing, you gotta have someone else to sell to.