The age-old debate resurfaces once again: Ripple vs Stellar Lumens. This argument represents the tradeoff between pure decentralized systems and easy to use effective systems.
They both share a common link: Jed McCaleb. McCaleb co-founded Ripple with Chris Larsen and founded Stellar Lumens as well. After disagreements on future progress, he quit Ripple and founded Stellar based off the Ripple code.
Stellar and Ripple both serve their own purposes. When we think of Ripple, we usually associate it with banks. The centralized nature of the network gives users a level of comfort because somebody is held accountable. This is why it is appropriate for institutional money. Stellar gives a user the decentralized feel of Ripple but trades that for a little less ease of use and speed. But for individuals, this is perfect because it doesn't require you to trust a company; just the code.
But at its essence, both use cryptography to secure transactions and create a worldwide network to make payment remittance 100x easier, faster, and cheaper than it is today. Transaction fees are negligible on both.
So rather than seeing them as competitors, see them as two organizations working in parity. One aims to bring institutional adoption to cryptocurrency, the other focuses more on individual usage. Some individuals may prefer the Ripple protocol while some companies may prefer Stellar, as seen with IBM and other institutions like ICICI Bank in India.
Both of them having competent teams and are making great progress. The goal is to purge the shitcoins; not pit the disruptive, hard-working projects against each other.
- AB
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