Ripple is not mined. XRP vs. Bitcoin is where a lot of people get lost. I am not selling XRP as an investment; instead, I am trying to clear up misconceptions about the protocol and network. It has massive potential to benefit all cryptos. Its emphasis is on transacting external currencies. Ripple Labs is explicit about their intentions; they are using XRP to attract partners (for increased liquidity), funding operations, and supporting humanitarian projects. Check out the interview linked above.
Creating services for the Ripple network, that can profit from any currency, is the best option for making money through Ripple.
XRP can be earned in exchange for contributing to the
World Community Grid, but this most likely only attractive to existing contributors or those with access to free computing power. I can buy XRP directly at a lower cost than spinning up VMs to mine with.
TBH it looks to me the reason XRP exists is to exploit the attention and value given to cryptocurrency, coupled with promises of exchange of external currencies.
The first question I have is why is an XRP currency unit needed in order to keep the ledger of IOUs? That's not how Ripple started...
Second, if you say XRP currency was created to raise money I don't have a problem with that, but it should then be done as an alt-coin, the cryptographic model people are familiar with and respect because they know there are no shenanigans for the market. Everything is independently verifiable.