Ripple has the potential to revolutionize global currency exchange. Will it? Who knows. Maybe banks will co-opt the tech and use their own tokens. Maybe there's a security risk that we haven't accounted for.
But look at it this way: there's immense value in quickly converting XRP into any currency anywhere any time for less than 4 cents per $1,000. To transact on the Ripple network, you need XRP. Global currency is worth about $90 trillion, with $2 trillion exchanged every day. This doesn't include normal business operations of global companies operating in local markets (e.g., Qualcomm's factory in India buying paper from a company in Mumbai) -- potentially trillions of dollars more in money exchanging hands.
You can do this instantly with XRP, which enables companies to store some of their reserves in XRP as convenience and a hedge against arbitrage risks. Add this to normal use of XRPs for standard currency exchanges ($2 trillion worth each day), you have a huge market. Huge. Add the massive quantity of XRP tokens, the non-existent fear of losing value on a transaction (price of XRP is unlikely to change in 8 seconds, the time to conduct a transaction)...the case is compelling.
Doesn't mean Ripple will win, but, you can't dismiss it as a copycat. It's a real solution with real value.
The problem with Ripple is that it is centralized. In that case a MySQL database is much faster and cheaper. Ripple builds solutions for banks and financial services but they do not connect them to the global network. It's merely a showroom for whats possible. So yes, Ripple might be the future. No, you don't need XRP to use it. You only need a contract with the Ripple foundation to either run your custom version of the network on their server or hand you over some XRP from their bag of 63 billion outstanding XRP.
My understanding is there are two components: the Ripple protocol and XRP tokens. The tokens assure people using the protocol that their transactions will complete as expected. And Ripple subsidizes the use of XRP by large institutions. So, I understand that you don't need XRP to use the protocol...the big question is whether there's value in holding XRP. If nobody uses the token, it will be useless. If institutions use the token, it will be huge. And, if banks are using XRPs for international finance, international companies will have incentive to hold some XRPs to guarantee low-cost, low-risk payments instantly in any locality without having to use any intermediary.
Sounds like you're well-informed about all of this. I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Anyway I didn't mention Ripple as a copycat. I mentioned it as the only working solution.