Is Ripple a LETS system?
Ripple was inspired by the LETS concept and the writings of Michael Linton, and was conceived originally as a way to bring more accountability into the spending of credits in a LETS system. Unlike LETS, which only tracks obligations to and from a single central intermediary, Ripple tracks obligations between individuals in a social network. In practice, many LETS users and administrators have complained that LETS provides little incentive to make good on one’s obligations other than the desire to have the system work. In Ripple, obligations are never to “the system”, or to some other collective entity, but in specific amounts to specific individuals who have agreed to trust you, and the loss of whose trust would have a tangible effect on a participant’s life should they decide to renege on their obligations. Put another way, Ripple is like an interconnected network of LETS systems, each operated by an individual participant. The subscribers to each individual’s LETS are his or her neig
