Ripple
My first instinct with Ripple was to dismiss it, it isn't really a currency. I have since refined this view, Ripple is a currency but it's not a Digital Cash. What does this mean and does it have implications for it's future?
Ripple has never really been that attractive to me. I am not a trader, what interests me more about coins and cryptocurrency is the innovation, the idea. Steemit could change the world. Ripple won't change the world it will just make existing institutions better and faster at continuing what they currently do.
Digital Cash
The coins in this group; Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, Dash, Ethereum?, Zcash... all have a few common properties.
- They are part of an economy.
- They act as a unit of exchange for goods and services.
- They are a store of value which can be deferred for use or exchange at a later time.
These features are in common with the way Dollars, Euro and Yen operate in the 21st century. There is nothing special about a 50 Euro note or a bitcoin. Its the economy that a currency is linked to that makes the currency cash. “Real” money is basically a way to convert and exchange time and effort you put in now for use at a later time.
Digital Shares/Assets
In the second grouping I put coins such as; Maidsafe, Factom, Augur ... which are more akin to shares in a company.
Indeed the term has been coined “Initial Coin Offering” (ICO) similar to Initial Public Offering which companies use when they list shares on the stock market for the first time.
These coins are issued, and as they are digital tokens they can also be exchanged for goods and services, but they are more analogous to owning shares in a company. Their value is derived from the value of the company behind the coin.
As the company grows and the company offers goods and services the value of the coin will grow. Indeed many of the coins in this category are not mineable and are released by the creators in exchange for initial investments.
I go into some more detail on this in a previous post Blockchain - Beyond Bitcoin (Part 2)
What is Ripple?
The best description of Ripple I have seen is
"Ripple is a type of centralized currency on a decentralized payment network"
from the following post on Quora How is Ripple different from bitcoin?
Taking this description as a definition, would put Ripple into the Digital Asset box. The implication is that the true long term value of Ripple will depend on the payment infrastructure that it creates. And it does seem to be making great advances in that, will it be the future infrastructure for the global banking system, or will the bubble burst?
I will leave the trading to the experts, and focus on the mind blowing implications of these new currencies. Will Maidsafe revolutionise the Internet? Will Sia revolutionise the data Industry? Will Augur revolutionise the worlds future markets? Will Ethereum and a decentralised app revolutionise Insurance?
Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Travel and lots of random topics.
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I really appreciate your point of view. I have invested in Ripple for its growing profits and I have already made profits. I agree that it is a centralized currency in a decentralized system. Let's see how it evolves, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for reading.
I think ripple is beneficial for wider adaptation of cryptocurrencies. It allows a "merger" of the FIAT world with the Cryptos. Surely we can't accept that the banks will sit still watching the crypto revolution and doing nothing. They too have to migrate somehow and I believe this is what ripple is all about.
To cut things short, the ripple marching signals wider crypto adaptation.
I completely agree and i think this is the good news story from the ripple explosion.
Missed the Ripple boat...
Now picking up the leftovers dropped by Steem whales.
Sigh.
Do they taste good?
I see Ripple as a sign that this crypto bubble is going way overboard.
Billions of dollars in market cap, with nobody using it. Transaction rates are dwarfed by Bitcoin, Steem and Ethereum.
https://charts.ripple.com/
(Funny that you have to dig in to the graphs to see transaction rates, like they'd prefer you didn't)
There is talk that banks will use it, but that seems to be mostly hype. And it's not a future I want to contribute to bringing about.
I am with you on this @demotruk.
It is an interesting story for me though. 13.5 billion vs Bitcoins 30 as market cap. This has obviously exploded in recent weeks with a 60 fold increase since December. Is this new money coming into crypto and a sign that crypto is gaining momentum? It would be natural for new money to go with the banks who they trust to start out their crypto journey, I interpret this as a lead indicator.
As you mention though transaction rates are key, why i think so is because as these currencies scale the theoretical limits may or may not prove real. Ripples posterchild use examples pale in comparison to what steem, litecoin, dash, monero, even bitcoin are capable of and proven with in the real world today.
I think that banks are speculating on and supporting a foil to Bitcoin. A counter-disruption, strategic move, the same move Microsoft made bringing XBox to market vs. PlayStation.
Although the market cap is now billions, it doesn't actually take that much money to move the crypto market up phenomenally. Money to toy around in the crypto space is trivial to large banks.
The story gets more interesting. Never a dull moment in crypto.
me neither (not wanting to bring about that kind of a future, that is) -- glad to see that there are people like you out there sharing that view, so it's not just me :)
So let us support and stay with other -- and real, as in de-centralized -- Crypto coins. There will always be good or "real" ones; the genie is out of the bottle, as Andreas Antonopoulos keeps saying. If one isn't good, or if it goes away for technical issues (BTC itself might sooner or later), there will always be other ones to fill the void.
There seems to be some hate campaign against Ripple due to its current upsurge and major business acceptance. Some question it being a centralized crypto and some simply on its business structure and company decisions. Here is a typical example coming from ETC taking a jab at Ripple on Twitter
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
This centralised currency is there to make money for it's owners, the owners of the company.
nice post, and good job my friend ,I come for you pleas come to me .....
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Ill check out your posts.
Really good post and very educational! Congratulations @eroche !
Thanks @marieta88
bought ripple in .00007000 BTC..just want to ask that is it the right time to sell it or should i wait more
Wow good for you, you have made a killing.
I am not sure I can be much help on this.
There seems to be several possible factors driving the surge, and its hard to predict which way this will go.
I also wouldn't like to offer investment advice here on Steemit either. There are many personal factors you should consider.
Informative post. Learned something new here...Following
Thank you. I'll check out your posts too.
We had such a lovely relationship Ripple and I. I remember buying a small amount when it was 500 satoshis. If I could go back and slap myself for selling it at 4500 :D
Slap yourself but not too hard. You made a great profit. :)
I had some ripple in an account ages ago, it was so small i couldn't transfer it out. It's worth 40 dollars now :)