As I posted on HN: I'm not sure whether patio11 is aware of the existence of Ripple. But if he is, it's a curious omission from the story, and if he's not, it's curious that he's writing the story at all. (Ripple is the previous system that Stellar is an exact clone of, even having one of the founders in common -- Jed McCaleb, who was also the original founder of the ill-fated MtGox.)

I happen to be a big fan of Bitcoin, but I also think Ripple/Stellar is a clever idea -- which puts me somewhat at odds with what I think of as the Bitcoin Establishment, which largely does not. But I think a reasonable account of Stellar has to acknowledge the history, both positive and negative, that already exists, and not pretend that Stellar is something newly-formed.