Ripple and OT really are apples and oranges. I think the reason people keep comparing them is because there is some overlap, specifically similarities in the currency trading (or at least the trading if OT is combined with Bitmessage.) But even that is accomplished in very different ways.
But exchanging between fiat and crypto is a killer application, I don't find it surprising people are focusing on it.
OT is late to the party = DOA...
Ripple accounts went from 10,000 to 15,000 in the last week or so...
You can watch Ripple's geometric growth on Ripplecharts... then click Dashboard.
https://ripplecharts.com/They've given out about 1.5 billion XRP (out of 100 billion capped)...
And have managed to keep the price in 6,000 to 8,000 per BTC range...
Which puts Ripple Market Value at about $30,000,000.
People with *** legacy BTC business interests *** are shitting bricks...
Because Ripple/XRP is being rolled out by experienced professionals...
And 1000s of engineers are brainstorming how to leverage and build on Ripple features...
Like instant transactions between ANY currency.. and disruptive stuff like Custom Currencies.
When another large exchange joins Bitstamp on Ripple (MyGox ?)...
Ripple will fucking explode.
This is all gonna be great for Bitcoin...
But it may be bad for *** legacy BTC business interests ***.