Just seems weird to me that if people can get 50,000 XRP for free, why the market price for 50,000 XRP is ~$30-35.
You can only get 50,000 XRP for free
once (well, without trying to game the system). Actually I think they lowered the hand out to 40,000 XRP.
Since there are absolutely no goods and services available for purchase using Ripple IOUs, we must assume that XRPs current valuation is purely speculative.
It seems that OP is not interested in any meaningful discussion, and intolerable to the point that if you call his bullshit straight, he is going to start a smear and libel campaign against you. See evidence here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=148806.0. Locked, no less, to give him the last word on it.
Not true. I started the price tracker thread and immediately Arvicco jumped in with claims that my calculations are "bullshit" and that I was deceiving everyone. Then he deleted his posts, and now he claims that I'm libeling even though all I am doing is laying out facts and backing them up. I locked the thread because one of the accusers didn't step forward with more evidence but Arvicco prefers it unlocked so I am accommodating him. Far from being "not interested in any meaningful discussion" I am very responsive.