Ripple consensus keeps a distributed database in sync without requiring mining. And the network's security has no correlation to the amount of hashing power involved. (There's no 51% attack on Ripple)
I actually think PoW based systems, because of the 51% attack, present an extremely undesirable amount of systemic risk for broad adoption in the financial system.
I think you are misunderstanding what the majority of users consider "security". Typically it involves a situation where someone else can't arbitrarily change the rules on a whim or influence the outcome of transactions on a one-off basis.
I'd also like to point out this account is used almost exclusively to promote ripple here on HN while rarely disclosing that the owner, Phil Rapoport, is currently involved with Ripple (the corporation) and has been since 2011 [1]
[1] https://ripple.com/blog/interview-with-phil-rapoport-directo...
Here is a youtube explanation of consensus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj1QVb1vlC0
and here is an explanation on the Ripple wiki: https://ripple.com/wiki/Consensus
and a brief explanation on stackexchange: https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/7550/how-does-ri...
You are correct that I am involved in the project. I think Ripple consensus is a more practical, faster, more secure, and less wasteful solution to the double spend problem than proof of work. Happy to entertain your arguments to the contrary.
It's generally considered proper (at least here on hacker news) to disclose any potential conflicts of interest upfront, particularly when making posts discussing an industry or company in which you are employed.
So... it's wrong to work for a company? I dont understand your argument, sorry.
>It's generally considered proper (at least here on hacker news) to disclose any potential conflicts of interest
I wasn't aware of the HN disclosure policy, but I'm not trying to hide something. Does this disclosure policy also require people who own bitcoin or work on a bitcoin related project to disclose the conflict of interest before posting on this thread? I find it hard to believe that this is the standard.
If you have a constructive argument on consensus, still happy to hear it...