trippy.... i'll have to read more about them but the fact that systems like this are emerging is kindof giving me some closure. It makes perfect sense. Convert as you want "Or you can keep it simple in Ripple". Perfect.
I'm excited to see when they open source the code. I think a key part of this model that is missing from Bitcoin is that for this to work they'll have to keep an actual bank account to pay out to users whatever was put in. With Bitcoin once you buy a coin that cash is gone. The burden of maintaining the value of the system is then, somewhat paradoxically, on the buyer.
EDIT: Ugh, WHYYYY?!!! They mint a finite amount (100 billion XRP) and Ripple Labs plans to donate 55 billion to "users, charitable organizations, and strategic partners". This is MY WHOLE BEEF with cryptocurrencies. They are all redistributing wealth in a way that hasn't proven to be mathematically sound just cuz they're like "eh what's the big deal us originators can just print ourselves as much money as we want for a while". Now again faced with a situation where something that is supposed to be currency is now a trading platform with somewhat arbitrary rules that make the market difficult to predict.
