Have you researched Codius?  This is Ripple's smart contract solution that is more robust and user friendly for developers.  You do know that Vitalik interviewed at Ripple in 2013 and it didn't work due to visa issues, don't you?  Ripple decided to focus on ILP instead of Codius which was a great decision.  Ripple is building interoperable, great open source software.  They have just released Codius and while I don't think it will kill Ethereum it will take significant market share.  Especially considering all of Ripples (and now R3's) clients dont have to use another vendor for smart contracts.  All under one roof.  

Also, XRP is a critical tool towards building the internet of value.  This is worth trillions in unlocked value and with XRP ledger more decentralized than Ethereum and Ethereum 2.0 possibly 2 years away this is a very easy decision.  XRP is a significantly stronger long-term investment.