Well I read a good theory once that Ripple, Stellar, etc. was designed and built to exchange via ICO BTC for something of less worth, allowing the banks to hoard BTC. I don't think a blockchain should be centralized, but I do believe that the current money transfer system is broken. Unfortunately both BTC and ETH are a little expensive on transactions and too slow.
RE: Saudi Arabia's central bank signs blockchain deal with Ripple