Bitcoin has Satoshi, which gives the lends the coin a backstory that the media loves. I think it's time we elevate the status of Ripple's founder, Jed McCaleb. To that end, I've written two articles on him:
1) Where I talk about the origins of Ripple:
http://crypt.la/2014/02/02/jed-mccaleb-the-secret-origins-of-ripple-xrp/2) A breakdown of all my favorite Jed McCaleb quotes:
http://crypt.la/2014/02/02/best-jed-mccaleb-quotes-of-all-time/He really is a fascinating guy: a 38-year-old college dropout/surfer who builds up insanely successful businesses (like MtGox) then tosses the keys to someone else so he can go enjoy life. I also love the fact that he's a bitcoin believer who saw issues with the waste in mining... Here are my top three favorite Jed quotes:
1) On the “impossibility” that another currency could overtake bitcoin: “Oh, just like how no social network could possibly overtake friendster. or no payment method could overtake paypal. I see your point.”
2) On bitcoin deflation: “Maybe this will cause people to only buy things, which are important rather than what they do now, which is buy a ton of crap.”
3) “After I sold Mt. Gox, I was thinking of ways to do Bitcoin without the mining. I had an idea about how to do it and I posted the idea on a forum hoping that someone else would make it, but no one did. Finally I did it myself because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s something I believe needs to exist.”
More great Jed quotes here:
http://crypt.la/2014/02/02/best-jed-mccaleb-quotes-of-all-time/Please note Jed still believes (as I do) that ripple won't "replace" bitcoin, but rather complement it... Both of them should have a great year in 2014.
