Parody account.

Clue us in! Is it Its spelling?

I am not advocating investment in XRP, nor suggesting any certainty exists XRP will rise in value. I am hoping to help inform.

Ripple has a lot of potential that is overlooked, due to widespread misunderstanding. It damages the community to ignore Ripple in its entirety---when other systems may be able to benefit from its core tech and concepts. If anyone finds Ripple Labs or Ripple implementation specific details troublesome, then they are free to improve upon its ideas and technology in alignment with their own values. Fork the github repo.

Here is information that may help others understand the bridge-currency role of XRP:

• Ripple Labs Chief Cryptographer on XRP as a bridge currency
• Community discussion of XRP as a bridge currency
• Q & A on the recent introduction of auto-bridging functionality

XRP is also used to prevent transaction spam. It accomplishes this by way of a requirement that all transactions include a small fee. Individual Validator load is used to dynamically adjust that fee. If a user attempts to crash the network by sending millions of transactions, the cost becomes prohibitive. Neither Validators nor Ripple Labs receive the fee; the associated XRP are destroyed. Many use postage stamps as an analogy.

In addition, XRP is used to prevent ledger bloat. Entries to the ledger require a specific number of XRP. If the entry is removed from the ledger, then the XRP are returned to the user. An end result is that ledger bloat attacks on the network---say an actor attempting to flood an order book with millions of bids or forming millions of trust lines---also quickly becomes cost prohibitive.

In line with the last 2 points, XRP provides a vital security function for the network.

It may surprise you that financial institutions are generally not interested in holding XRP. Instead, they are attracted to Ripple for the core functionality it provides for solving existing problems, and those problems have nothing to do with XRP. International transfers are the current leading use case.

My opinion is that building something of lasting value on the Ripple network is the best Ripple investment anyone could make, as opposed to speculative currency investment---and I believe that is true of all cryptocurrencies. CrossCoin Ventures startup accelerator offers up to $50,000 equivalent of XRP value for funding, and has no requirement that focus be Ripple exclusive. LibraTax is a solid example.

RippleWorks has also now launched, as of last week, with $60 million in funding to help facilitate social change.

Anyone wanting a deeper dive should check out xrptalk.org. Ripple has an incredibly knowledgeable and friendly community, with a lot of diverse perspectives on both cryptocurrency and the general industry. A few Ripple Labs team members post regularly, with contributions spanning both technical and general topics. Exciting time to get involved  

100,000,000,000 XRP were created at the outset of the network, by its founders, and portion of those were gifted to Ripple Labs. Here is an explanation of why that total specific number of XRP units was chosen. No new XRP can ever be created, and the total supply constantly decreases---as small portion of XRP are destroyed with every transaction.

Many have been confused on this topic, due to how Ripple is represented on sites like coinmarketcap.com. Available supply has increased over time, as Ripple Labs continues to distribute its XRP holdings, but total supply has only ever decreased. Calculating market capitalization according to available supply of XRP is in some ways similar to calculating Bitcoin market cap according to mined Bitcoins, as opposed to the total number that will ever be mined. Initially, coinmarketcap.com calculated XRP market cap according to total supply and received criticism that the number was misleading, since it did not represent the total number of XRP potentially available at market.

I think NXT matches your pre-mine definition.

I am not sure how well the term applies in any of these cases. Is a coin that is not mined pre-mined?

I am not familiar enough with hyperledger to have an informed opinion. All that I can say is that it will be awesome as more competition moves into implementation and adoption phases.

Ample opportunity for innovation exists right now. I think Ripple has a lead on adoption and implementation maturity, but the future is open---and I expect increased competition. As people begin to thoroughly understand all that Ripple offers---and why it is attractive for solving financial problems that exist today---I hope to see more people building upon its fundamental concepts.

I am hopeful for technologies like Ripple to level the playing field between individuals and FIs. I recently read about the 1970s Irish Banking Crisis, and am left wondering how systems like Ripple and Codius could fill in the gaps. I would like to see Ripple succeed, personally, but any systems that get us there are a good thing.


Good stuff. I have a lot of excitement for the potential of 2 way pegging and smart contracts.


I suspect poorly coded bots or intelligently coded bots designed to mess with poorly coded bots and day traders. I lean toward independent actors being the source, but that is purely speculation.

At the moment, I believe Ripple Labs is targeting solving the spam and unfunded orders concerns or on the client side. I believe it is a problem that needs to be solved.

I addressed founder allocation concerns earlier in this thread. it may be useful info if you are not aware of more recent developments.

In general, I think market cap is a pretty useless metric. It all comes down to how specific sites decide to calculate market capitalization, and valid arguments exist regarding the flaws and trade-offs of all the varied methods.

It seems you are suggesting that the coinmarketcap.com homepage calculates XRP market cap according to the full ~100Bn XRP supply. If you check the Available Supply column, you will see coinmarketcap.com is using solely the number of XRP not held by Ripple Labs.

If you would like to see the marketp cap calculation result based on all XRP (total supply), you can view that by switching to the Total Supply display, by using the Currencies tab dropdown. I believe coinmarketcap.com is already showing the 1/3rd value of the total supply that you believe is most accurate.

Coinmarketcap.com previously used the full ~100Bn XRP (total supply) for its calculation, which has led to frequent confusion.

I agree that coinmarketcap.com is weak. I am most interested in the Total Network Value metric on ripplecharts.com, for long term network growth perspective. It reflects not only the value of XRP, but also the total value of assets traded on the network. I am not focused on short term speculation, however, so it may be a less useful metric for others.

I disagree that the breadth of XRP utility limits its potential exchange value. XRP can be used to make payments directly, the same as with any cryptocurrency. Everything else is in addition. If Bitcoin added multi-currency support---requiring the usage of BTC for that functionality---I would consider that a plus in support of BTC's future potential exchange value. In no way does XRP providing that utility guarantee the price will rise, but it does introduce additional future potential justification for a rise in exchange value.

I agree about Ripple Labs being focused in other areas. I think you nailed it.

I see the survey results and smile. I see opportunity. Ripple is succeeding, despite popular opinion, and the prevailing popular opinion seems to be based on widespread misunderstanding.

I have not known popular opinion to be a solid reference for almost anything cryptocurrency related

Ripple / XRP

Adoption by banks and payments networks is underway---driven by an immediately relevant use case. Ripple has potential to replace the slow, archaic, and expensive correspondent banking system---leveling the playing field for everyone.

Network transactions clear within 5 seconds, inclusive of distributed exchange functionality and cross-currency payments. Any currency may be represented and transacted on the network, providing enormous value beyond XRP (yet, while also being supportive of the value of XRP, due to its utility in also facilitating non-XRP transactions).

Ripple is increasingly cited by industry foundations and publications, from the W3C through NACHA.

30+ engineers are employed by Ripple Labs to support the technical success of the network/protocol, core tech, integrations, and related projects (such as Codius). Business experts are driving adoption. Regulatory experts are helping to clear a path.

Chris Larsen, at the helm of Ripple Labs, has the experience, track record, and passion necessary to make it happen. Everything is consistent with the long term vision he has expressed---prior to even beginning at Ripple Labs. It would be easy to write him off as an idealistic daydreamer or even a naive earnest hippy, if not for his prior success helping catalyze and advocate for community driven financial reform.

In your post you state that 90% of XRP are controlled by 3 guys; this is inaccurate. A majority of XRP (69%) is held by Ripple Labs.

XRP distributed to Chris Larsen, Arthur Britto, and Jed have all taken different paths. Chris Larsen has apparently used a majority of his XRP to finance the Ripple Foundation for Financial Innovation. XRP of Arthur Britto are controlled by a lock-up agreement, and Jed is restricted in the quantities of XRP he can sell over the next 6 - 7 years.

Concerns regarding the potential impact of the founder distributions were proven valid, however, when Jed apparently flipped out and threatened a fire sale. He had allegedly attempted to force Ripple Labs into a buyout agreement of his share, and then proceeded to announce to the community the beginning of the sale of his XRP---in tandem with promoting his new project. He then walled himself off from communication, ignoring repeat community questions and concerns and putting the people that trusted and supported him at enormous financial risk. XRP value cratered, and remained depressed for a long long long time. It has since recovered, following the more recent founder developments noted above---as well as the steady stream of good news for the Ripple network. I agree with your concerns, but believe the Ripple network has now moved beyond them.

A key takeaway for me has been that we cannot assume any actor will not act against what the community perceives as being in that actor's best interest. It applies to all cryptocurrencies.

I had previously heard a lot of arguments along the lines of Satoshi would never dump his BTC; it would kill the BTC exchange value therefore conflict with his or her best interest. Motivations beyond profit may exist, ranging from an unsound mind, having an axe to grind, promoting a competing project, immaturity, or even just pure destructive glee. If Satoshi Yakamoto had a stroke, would you still trust in that individual's reasoning relating to the best uses of their share? Ability to securely manage their private keys? Not become vulnerable to manipulation?

Legal agreements do not eliminate the risks, but they can be interpreted to mitigate risk for investors. I take comfort in knowing Ripple Labs, its board, and investors provide checks and balances over the distribution of XRP---as well as the more recent founder allocation developments.

I hold XRP as a long term investment, and do not recommend anyone in invest in any cryptocurrency without performing thorough research.

If you ride the wake of the pump and dump crowd, then you have a high likelihood of being disappointed by the Ripple Labs stewardship of XRP. Ripple Labs is not interested in driving short term speculation, and take a long long long view (relative to cryptocurrency community expectations) of building the value of XRP.

Congrats!

I am sorry to hear of your loss. Ripple Trade now features 2 factor authentication and a separate desktop client has been released. If you are a technical user, then you may also manually sign transactions with your private key. Actively ensure sensitive data is stored securely.

A majority of XRP trading occurs within Ripple's built-in distributed exchange. cryptocoincharts.info does not appear to track that data. ripplecharts is a method of gathering data from the network, if you would like to confirm its validity for yourself. As of this moment CNY has lower volume than JPY, BTC, and USD.

I think there has been a lot of good news, which has attracted speculators, and speculators have then attracted more speculators...

A lot can be argued in favor of XRP as an investment, but I am most interested in the merits of the Ripple protocol in isolation from XRP exchange value.

Ripple has a highly engaged community, surrounding a widely misunderstood crypto protocol and network, and that is my general message. I am most excited by the new investment interest attracting new contributors to the ecosystem.

Success of any cryptocurrency, in general, is almost religiously associated with a high exchange value. If Bitcoin continues to incrementally improve, as necessary for scale, dropped to $10 on the exchanges, and then became widely adopted---it would be hard to say that the protocol was not successful. I am not sure why Bitcoin, or any cryptocurrency, needs to trade at $10K for it to be considered a success. And this is also true of Ripple. Adoption is key, in my opinion, and it is cool seeing Ripple continue to gain traction---as well as all of the continual improvements being made to the code base.

I hold XRP as a long term investment, and do not encourage anyone to invest in any cryptocurrency without taking the time to research and understand it. Even then, investment in any cryptocurrency remains high risk.

I think the greatest odds of making money from any cryptocurrency is through building something uniquely useful on top of it, and something useful for people beyond its core community. In general, I also think that will be the winning path to ubiquitous cryptocurrency adoption. Ripple is highly oriented toward utility.

If you are a dev or entrepreneur, check out the CrossCoin startup accelerator linked in my sig. Ripple has opportunity for profit beyond XRP, and the accelerator can help get you rolling.

xrptalk.org is a useful forum for anyone wanting to understand more about Ripple---its community voice is underrepresented here.

A majority of the community gathers at xrptalk.org or in group chats over Skype. Few visit this site.

At the moment xrptalk.org has 90 users online, of which 31 are registered users. I have seen total active users frequently surpass 100, as of late. In my experience, Ripple has a passionate core community of active participants in the ecosystem---traders, coders, and those attempting to establish businesses using the Ripple network---with a broad spread of nationalities and backgrounds represented. I learn a lot through the community.

In my experience, it is much less of a hype oriented culture. I think that has been a side effect of how depressed the price has been for so long; I kind of see that as an advantage now. In general, those that have stuck around through all of the uncertainty have passionate interest in Ripple. A lot of diverse perspectives are exchanged, and critical perspectives on Ripple/XRP/Ripple Labs are frequently and openly shared.

At various points in the past, I would have definitely agreed with your perspective, but it has become an increasingly lively ecosystem. It is worth checking out.

Please add XRP/KRW from RippleCharts.com for Ripple. Pax Moneta recently launched, and accounts or 3% daily volume as of this moment. I would be happy to see the South Korean Won represented.

CrossCoin Ventures startup accelerator is worth checking out if you are a dev or entrepreneur.

Creating something of lasting value is the best path to profit. Up to $50K USD in XRP is available for assistance funding your startup.

Note that both LibraTax and Coinist include focus beyond just the Ripple ecosystem. Saldo.mx offers realtime microremittances. All Crosscoin.

Edit: a general bounties program also exists that offers payouts in XRP, Bitcoin, Mastercoin, or USD. Bug bounties info is available separately here.

I have seen a lot of positive developments over the last few months.

• Earthport partnership
• Fidor bank
• CBW Bank + Cross River Bank
• Astropay Intrabank network
• Shift Payments Card
• SnapSwap SmartyCard
• Noted in NACHA Future of Corporate Payments white paper
• GBI Gateway - and many others
• Codius smart programs/contracts

I do not think anyone can say with certainty what is moving the price, but I would assume that at least part of it relates to the above.