Quote from: //v on May 16, 2013, 06:18:07 AM

So, I've been trying my best to learn about bitcoin and ripple lately as I have essentially no experience with either, but the concept intrigues me. I must say it is very difficult to find non-biased commentary and objective analyses in these forums....

1. Bitcoin will always have "fees" too unless it changes its very inefficient coin security model. It currently costs $150,000 a day just in electricity (not including other costs) to secure Bitcoin. These costs are being paid by the users and miners of the coin. Unless the profits of the miners cover their cost of mining, Bitcoin cannot exist. So Bitcoin will continue to have either mining profits (a form of fee similar to dollar inflation) or transaction fees in the future, which may even exceed those of credit cards.
2. Ripple has less fees becauses it uses a consensus model with a small number of computers to process transactions, so it doesn't consume all the electricity of Bitcoin and can afford to be profitable with very low fees.
3. Ripple is not a scam. However, it is similar to other coins that have been considered scams, because it is 100% pre-mined. In the past, coins that were even partly pre-mined were considered scams because the miners thought it was unfair that they are paying for high costs of equipment and electricity to compete against others who already took the best benefits of pre-mining for themselves. However, Ripple simply uses a different security model that doesn't involve mining, so their reflexively labeling it a scam is not insightful. They are biased and prejudiced, and too quick to judge based on their other experiences. Ripple is not a fly-by-night scamcoin, but a serious effort backed by big names and good money. It is no more a scam than a stock market offering, where the company keeps a lot of stock for themselves while selling off a portion to the general public. All companies do this. Ripple is a for-profit enterprise, not a pure community-based coin, but it is not a scam.