Quote from: Stardust on March 01, 2013, 12:57:46 PM

While Bitcoin was created to free you, give you financial independence. Transparent and verifiable from the beginning with a fair way of distribution (mining). Ripple was created to enslave you more than banks ever did. Closed source and opaque, with a distribution of XRPs method, designed to send a clear message.

While Bitcoin promotes mistrust and decentralization, true to the hacker ethic (Hacker ethic). Ripple is a currency based on debt that promotes trust. One of the origins of slavery in human history is debt and trust. Debt also takes away your dignity, while you owe someone something you are not free. Unless you are a scammer and don't acknowledge the debt (but even that doesn't keep you free if the debt is enforced). By trusting someone you are always placing yourself beneath them. Someone who has honest intentions doesn't require trust.

Ripple is also hierarchical. Notice the 20:80 divide, an inside joke reference to the 1%:99%, but also to send the message that XRPs are valuable, and who holds them. To get some XRPs you have to beg for them, the purpose why they choose this method of distribution is to satisfy their ego. To tell you who is the master, and for them you are just a beggar. Joel Katz's weaseling around questions and his claims of being prohibited to speak of certain things; His way of telling you that he is part of the elite and you are not. Notice how also you don't have control over private keys like in Bitcoin. Even if they make it open source eventually, it doesn't matter, because it will be too late by then.

Well I might have stretched it a little bit. But misterbigg, gmaxwell, casascius, and others are correct in their criticism.

If the creators of this Ripple were serious about, they wouldn't have created this pump'n'dump crap. They would have made it open source from the beginning, and not a bitcoin clone (and a bad one at that), that functions as another pump'n'dump scheme. It's disappointing to see how many intelligent people fell for it.

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