but I still see Ripples/XRP as a centralized currency that is more in par with Fiat than cryptocurrencies..
I understand why you feel that way, but in itself, XRP is just a block chain ledger. The heart of the matter is, is the Ripple/Stellar proof-of-? system worth trusting?
As a fork of Ripple, the Stripe-backed digital currency Stellar, founded by Jed McCaleb, also encompasses these same ideals. The idea, as shown in the graphics above, is that for every node added to a network’s Universal Nodes List, the stronger the system becomes.
Yet there is a key weakness to this kind of structure – the source of incentive – and it is a fair question to ask. Unlike mining, what incentive exists for individuals or entities to host nodes?
Both Ripple and Stellar, along with Hyperledger, believe that there will be enough stakeholders to support PBFT-based transaction systems.
http://www.coindesk.com/stellar-ripple-hyperledger-rivals-bitcoin-proof-work/http://www.coindesk.com/stellar-ripple-hyperledger-rivals-bitcoin-proof-work/Do you know the differences between Stellar and Ripples? to me, Stellar just looks like Ripples scam 2.0
There are significant differences. Development team of Stellar is a non-profit entity, and unlike Ripple, there is indeed very active effort to spread STR as widely and as quickly as possible to potential users. There will probably be also differences in the tech of attaching gateways to the network and I presume Stellar is aiming for easy and approachable in this respect. The main difference is thus philosophical: Stellar is investing in global community, Ripple is marketing a product to OECD banks(ters).
PS: one significant difference is the Stellar "inflation":
There is a fixed 1% rate of new coins added to the Stellar network each year. New coins will be distributed via a direct voting method similar to “participatory budgeting.”
Every account is able to vote for another account as its preferred inflation destination. Any account is a valid inflation destination. Every week the network adds up the coins in all accounts that voted for each inflation destination. This sum of coins is considered the total vote for each inflation destination. The top 50 of these accounts that also have over 1.5% of the coins voting for them will be the inflation recipients. If no account has over 1.5% of the vote then the network will just take the top 50 voted for as the inflation recipients. That week’s inflation pool will be distributed pro-rata to the inflation accounts based on what percent of the vote they received.
Since very few people will be able to successfully direct the inflation at themselves the hope is that they will direct the inflation at causes they support or it will enable novel business models.
In essence the inflation system seems to me a version of PoS
