title: RIPEMD-160 vs SHA-256
body: <p>Can anyone shed some light into SHA-256 and RIPEMD-160, which algorithm is normally faster and what are the performance and space comparisons, if any?
  By space comparisons I don't mean 160 bits and 256 bits, but what are the collisions frequency, difference in space requirements in production env. and time to calculate both.
  Is RIPEMD-160 a requirement for European countries?
  Any additional information, that would be helpful in deciding.</p>