Mercedes Kelley Tunstall hired by Ripple to bash Bitcoin?

[btcash]

I am sure everyone who watched today's hearing about Virtual Currencies noticed Tunstalls negative attitude towards Bitcoin (not virtual currencies in general).

If not watch the video and make up your own mind:
http://c-spanvideo.org/program/VirtualCu

To get to the point:

So Tunstall just said "we" several times speaking about Ripple.

https://twitter.com/jerrybrito/status/402918026968039425


Here are some quotes from here testemony.

I work directly with multiple clients that offer their own forms of virtual currency.

Who might that be? Blizzard?

but Bitcoin has also demonstrated a number of weaknesses that the next
generation of virtual currency should be careful to address.

I am sure she is not talking about Litecoin.

Bitcoin has built its reputation and structured its virtual currency around being both antigovernment
and anti-establishment.

Ripple has indeed a way better image than Bitcoin.

The
next generation of virtual currency should figure out a way to better align with existing payment
methods, or virtual currency will never be able to move from a “niche” into the mainstream.

Like Ripple gateways?

The final quote

there's also a virtual currency called ripple that has started very differently from bit coin and started with the premise we are operating in in existing financial ecosystem  and we need to be able to comply with the criminal laws and anti money laundering laws that are in place

Here testimony:
http://www.banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Testimony&Hearing_ID=955322cc-d648-4a00-a41f-c23be8ff4cad&Witness_ID=dbe29432-77ba-4884-aead-37d7a6fe60e8


Who is behind this? Banks, an unknown competitor or Ripple? Sure it that is wasn't just here own opinion.

[lindatess]

We might as well go back to using things like e-gold, liberty reserve, stormpay, perfect money, okpay and more.

That's the whole idea of digital currency. A transaction platform where exchange of currencies can occur at a lower cost. I don't think it was originally intended to be a store of value, you can store that in other assets. Thus, a question remains why it was setup in the first place, was it unintentional or deliberate?

One of the most important reasons why bitcoin is said to overtake western union is the transaction fee problem. So, why not a platform that allows this and fixes all the problems associated with cryptocurrencies. The fact is we will likely see something that will mean cryptocurrencies won't go mainstream. If there is an easier alternative, that will take off at the disadvantage of crypto.

Don't forget, before bitcoin, there were other options, take a look at whether those options really are easier to use.

A good example is tencent's QQ coins, reasonably fixed exchange rates, good trading liquidity. That's what's going to blow a big hole into bitcoin. Right now it's just a speculative game in bitcoin.

[crazy_rabbit]

I'm not a fan of Ripple, but I don't like it for what I feel are legitimate reasons. I consider myself a smart person (I could be wrong) and I don't see ripple offering any true advantages that can't already be done with bitcoin, and done without centralisation.

But why are they even at the panel? No one I know is using ripple, they keep getting VC capital, but are they getting any traction? It doesn't really seem like it. No one invites Coblee or Sunny King to talk about their 'new virtual currencies', but of course they aren't getting millions of dollars in VC's that are just looking to boost the value of those billions of XRP they keep for themselves, waiting to dump on the market.

It's really frustrating how they act like they are creating something better when they still can't seem to persuade anyone to use it without bribing them off with large chunks of XRP.

[Rez]

I just thought she ended up sounding like completely uneducated and unprepared to talk on the topic.

[Kouye]

I wouldn't mind a background check on Mercedes, as she really looks dangerous to me.

Basically, all she said was:
"Bitcoin has no future, but America needs to come up with a regulated, centralized, non-anonymous digital "virtual" currency quick, if we want bitcoin dead and keep ruling the worldwide finance."

[jojo69]

mercedeskelleytunstallsucks.com   ??

[Rez]

She said there should be a wall around Bitcoin.

While we're at it, better throw out some nets and gather up all that air, so we know where it is.

[Sukrim]

I just thought she ended up sounding like completely uneducated and unprepared to talk on the topic.

My guess is that she came on short notice instead of Chris Larsen (the CEO of RippleLabs) who would also have attended as witness and she likely works as RippleLabs' lawyer. Most likely she got carried away with "customer loyalty" and is anyways probably not too much into cryptocurrencies (otherwise she wouldn't have called Ripple a currency...).

They likely got into the panel because they are probably one of the largest companies in the US working with Bitcoins right now (~30 employees) and most likely quite busy with business development and regulation work rather than advertising end-user solutions.

[corebob]

Someone should break the ice and ask "Are you afraid of giving more power to the people?"

[Rez]

When she talked about Bitcoin - and particularly about "making sure it's walled in" ... I started hearing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

[corebob]

When she talked about Bitcoin - and particularly about "making sure it's walled in" ... I started hearing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

Some serious brainwashing going on there.
Damn they start early...

[crazy_rabbit]

I just thought she ended up sounding like completely uneducated and unprepared to talk on the topic.

My guess is that she came on short notice instead of Chris Larsen (the CEO of RippleLabs) who would also have attended as witness and she likely works as RippleLabs' lawyer. Most likely she got carried away with "customer loyalty" and is anyways probably not too much into cryptocurrencies (otherwise she wouldn't have called Ripple a currency...).

They likely got into the panel because they are probably one of the largest companies in the US working with Bitcoins right now (~30 employees) and most likely quite busy with business development and regulation work rather than advertising end-user solutions.

I am highly skeptical how they got in into the panel, ripple isn't widely used as far as I can tell and I'm more concerned that perhaps the people who are funding OpenCoin might see an opportunity how to shape legislation in such a way that might make artificial barriers to bitcoin that make Ripple more attractive in the US.

[Kouye]

I am highly skeptical how they got in into the panel.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=329932.msg3644726#msg3644726

Same question, no answer. Still wondering.

[00null]

While watching the whole thing on cspan I got the feeling everyone likes Bitcoin, everyone except this Tunstall Ripple shill.
Can somebody explain why ripple is even mentioned there? Ripple is no digital currency, it is amazon coins or facebook credits with the name ripple...

[Sukrim]

Ripple is a decentralized exchange platform which also contains XRP, a digital asset that can be used as currency. A major part of Ripple trading volume is also done in BTC (mainly against USD but also CNY, LTC and XRP) at the moment.

A lot of Ripple users are also bitcoiners and I highly doubt that they want to see them go away or having barriers built around them.

[drawingthesun]

As I understand it Ripple was around before Bitcoin

This is a misconception that Opencoin loves to propagate. Ripple has been around longer than Bitcoin, but not in the current state it is in now. That was the old Ripple.

Don't confuse the old Ripple (Ryan Fugger's) and the new Ripple (Jed McCaleb/OpenCoin). They have more differences than similarities

In fact the old Ripple did not contain the built in Bitcoin replacement stealth currency XRP (Ripples) of which Opencoin own most of them and create artificial scarcity and sell them off over inflated for Bitcoins to idiots.

Make no mistake, Ripplelabs/Opencoin is the prefered currency for the USA, and Google know this, the entire thing is just a layer on top of the current credit/fractional reserve system.

One of our greatest threats is a freedom restricting bank friendly currency called XRP.

Also this forum is full of Ripple shills, you have been warned.