Why not every crypto is decentralized ?

[brawdias]

Why some cryptos, such as Ripple are called centralized ? If it's using the blockchain technology, as from I understand, it should all be decentralized, so no one is in charge, that's why i'ts safe. The community and the system works by itself.

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[squatter]

Why some cryptos, such as Ripple are called centralized ?

In some sense, the Ripple protocol is decentralized. That is, if Ripple (the company) disappeared today and took their validators offline, the network would still persist. However, as it stands, Ripple (the company) is essentially a central authority with significant control over the network.

I would consider it highly centralized. It depends on a trusted network of validators. As one commenter here points out:

If it’s the same group of untrustworthy parties doing the validators, then Ripple becomes more centralized. Likewise, if those validators are separate, trustworthy parties, then it becomes less centralized.

Also, XRP is not mined. It was centrally issued by Ripple (the company) and the supply is highly concentrated under their control. I think they control more than half the supply. That's a big part of why people call it centralized.

If it's using the blockchain technology, as from I understand, it should all be decentralized, so no one is in charge, that's why i'ts safe. The community and the system works by itself.

In some protocols (like Ripple or masternode coins), not all nodes are created equally. If Ripple (the company) wanted to censor a bunch of transactions or fork the protocol to new rules, I'm sure they could.

[XinXan]

Well, nothing ''should'' be anything, everyone is free to use the blockchain technology as they want. There are far more applications to it than cryptos. Decentralized isn't always a good idea, just like communism. In theory it's amazing but in practice it's much harder to make it work. Look at decentralized exchanges, they are amazing but they can still have security breaches, they can be really slow sometimes and there is no insurance for your coins if they get stolen.

[MintDice]

Instead of a ‘stick-it-to-the-man’ attitude held by many Bitcoin enthusiasts, Ripple is attempting to integrate blockchain technology with the existing financial network...combining the forward movement of cryptocurrency while innovating the way money is transferred across borders.

[pooya87]

just because they are using the same technology it doesn't mean they all should come up with the same product. the focus of each coin is very different. for example bitcoin is focusing on remaining decentralized and every change has that in mind. so it can be a censorship resistance currency that people use freely.

but altcoins such as ripple are focusing on being centralized and working with banks to get them to adopt their project and make money from their contracts with the banks.
others are centralized so that the team or foundation behind it can control the supply, the code, and everything else there is about the coin and its future and it is usually done in order to make money.

[Anycoin Direct Support]

Hello brawdias,

During this period of rapid development for both the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies we have problems where centralization might offer a better solution. For example, Ripple is more easy to implement for banks and big companies due to its centralized nature. This centralization can help spread confidence and make a single organization liable which can be very helpful when implementing this kind of technology. Furthermore blockchain technology in general does not necessarily need to be decentralized to work optimally as it can be implemented in a wide variety of ways.

Another example of a centralized coin is NEO, NEO only has a few validating nodes which are all controlled by themselves. In the future they will allow third parties to run these nodes as well, however they will select these parties making it relatively centralized. We do not think that this necessarily makes a coin better or worse, it is just something you should be aware of when investing in these coins.

With kind regards,
The Anycoin Direct team    

[fritzwalter195]

As of Ripple, it's quite different from the rest.
It can't be mined.
It is created for the enterprises and banks.

However, it's decentralized as much as the blockchain technology is.
The question is how the Ripple authorities decide to use it. 

[quynhdang]

Is there any problem with this decentralized smart contract? I mean how we are all sure that the system is 100% reliable?

[mcoulatta]

Well, some really good use cases for DLT can be captured by smaller parties who have no need for a public blockchain but still benefit from the reliability and efficiency of DLT