Ask HN: Which horse do I back for my startup: Ripple or Stellar?

1 point

11 years ago

I am working on a side project (which is in fact a startup), and like the idea of a "value transmission protocol" idea being promulgated by both Ripple and Stellar.

My initial analysis is to go with Ripple, but I also get a sense of them not being "very serious/professional" - for example:

1. Opaque, non-technical response when technical questions are asked

2. The website of the entity suggested by RippleLabs, to obtain some Ripple units for GBP, looks like a school project being run by a spotty teenager

3. IIRC, test transactions pollute the real transaction ledger, and there is no simple way to sandbox and test apps (I could be wrong)

4. The recent news of Ripple being censured by FinCEN, unfortunately, reinforced my image of things not being very professional behind the scenes.

Despite the misgivings above, I DO LIKE Ripple, and would much prefer to use them than Stellar - the whole backstory of Stellar (http://www.coindesk.com/history-ripple-stellar-tell-all-report/) - is repugnant to me.

Unfortunately (as we well know), it may be exactly the unsavoury personality of Jeb McCaleb, that make's Stellar a success (nice guy's finishing last and all that).

I don't want to spend resources, only to find out that I have been backing a 'BetaMax'.

Can anyone out there (preferably, with more knowledge than I have shown above), provide Pros and Cons to help me decide which horse to back?