The Ripple currency, known as XRP, can be used to represent any form of asset, such as dollars, pesos and even bitcoin itself.
This is actually incorrect.
The Ripple protocol can be used to settle EUR to USD directly, without touching XRP. Ripple is a currency agnostic, decentralized settlement protocol.
Ripple is a scam. The coins are centrally controlled. It is NO different than fiat. Ripple is an attempt by Google, a few other companies and large banks to slow the adoption of p2p digital currencies like bitcoin. It's also an attempt to muddy the water for average consumers.