Why do I see so many calls for implementing distributed Bitcoin exchanges or putting up more robust/centralized Bitcoin exchanges when we will soon have Ripple, which perfectly provides distributed order books?
I can't see a price discovery mechanism in ripple .....a trading point ... a board .... where bids and offers are matched and a price is fixed like in an exchange
Ripple can be used for transfer as long as the price is determined elsewhere ...example at an exchange or at a central bank
Also.... NOT directly connected to this question, Ripple has a counter party and the founders have a huuuuge stake
Please see
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https://ripple.com/wiki/Introduction_to_Ripple_for_Bitcoiners#ripple.27s_CurrencyDistribution
The ripple founders created the initial ripple ledger with 100 billion XRP. The founders gifted a for profit company called Opencoin 80 billion XRP. Opencoin intends to give away over 50 billion XRP. The remainder will be used to fund Opencoin operations, which include contributing code to the open source network and promoting the network.
Even if Opencoin should close, the ripple network will continue. Because the ripple is a P2P network, it is not operated by Opencoin but by the combined efforts of all the computers running the ripple server software. The ripple network cannot be shut down without shutting down the entire Internet.
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