I hesitate to write this article. In fact, I have spent so much time investigating and researching and analyzing and compiling and then regurgitating condensed summaries of my work onto steemit.com and only made 1 to 2 cents for it so I basically gave up. I am writing this article mainly because of a phenomenon that I have observed and not for steem credits (though they would be nice).
I joined a boatload of groups on facebook dealing with cryptocurrency. I have seen tons of scams and a whole lot of political correctness gone awry. I have seen power hungry admins go crazy, I mean absolutely berserk. But nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, has been as wildly INSANE as SOME defenders of Ripple.
I dont know why some people defend it as if it is their elderly mother. If you were to say something small and factual, such as, "It's centralized," prepare to receive an onslaught of death threats. Yes, death threats.
If you are sick of the bullshit and simply want the real facts before investing a ton of your hard earned cash into xrp/ripple, you should check out http://fb.com/groups/xrphaters its not what it sounds like. It is level headed facts run by smooth operators.
Do your own research, Don't invest what you can't afford to lose, and Good luck out there!