Comments on: The dawn of algorythmic currencies https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-dawn-of-algorythmic-currencies/2013/06/15 Researching, documenting and promoting peer to peer practices Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:54:42 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.5.14 By: Apostolis Xekoukoulotakis https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-dawn-of-algorythmic-currencies/2013/06/15/comment-page-1#comment-537921 Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:54:42 +0000 http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=31593#comment-537921 Chris Larsen’s view of the effect that the internet has on the financial industry is correct. Algorithms and computers will reduce financial transaction costs
and will allow new economic tools to be created. So it is important to keep that into our minds.

But for this to make social change, to transform and liberate society, to help the simple folk like us, the design of the new financial system is very important.
This is where Chris Larsen and his company fail twofold. Firstly, they write programs, algorithms to control this new financial market and to control the people that take part in it. Secondly, they have the same political/economical ideas with the current economic system.

The only change that will happen with Chris Larsen’s company is a transfer of power from the old financial system to their hands. The transaction cost might decrease too but the
problem in the economy has never been that of efficiency. In fact, capitalism has always tried to increase efficiency.

At this point in time it is important to strongly oppose Ripple 2.0.

]]> By: Matthew Slater https://blog.p2pfoundation.net/the-dawn-of-algorythmic-currencies/2013/06/15/comment-page-1#comment-537890 Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:38:39 +0000 http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/?p=31593#comment-537890 Chris, like many Bitcoin geeks, you are conflating the payment technology with the monetary design. As with sex, most possible types of money were explored long ago.

Your potted history of money is plain wrong. I suggest you read :Debt: the first 5000 years”. You have completely forgotten to mention accounting money, or IOUs which have been used many times in history from ancient mesopotamia to Greek city states, Tally sticks, to Green backs. This money has no value in itself and serves better to spread wealth around

In my view our political monies, (including bitcoin & XRP, when they are better established), should be considered commodity currencies, even though they are created from nothing in arbitrary quantity because
their supply is limited
there is an opportunity cost to lending them
they (will) yield interest
they are controlled by and work for the rich.

Bitcoin and ripple should be applauded as payment technologies, but as currencies there is nothing remarkable about them.

For me the promise lies with arbitrary currency creation in ripple. When you declare a new currency, if I’m not mistaken, no units are created. Any user can therefore issue and redeem a circulable form of credit, or accounting money, out of nothing, in their own name. That’s Peer to peer money

Chris I strongly reccommend you familiarise yourself with the work of Paul Grignon, especially his Digital Coin proposal. http://www.digitalcoin.info/Digital_Coin_Introduction.html
Could Ripple be used as a platform for that?

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