Author Topic: Why are we Here? Why BitShares? Why this community? Why Me?  (Read 22936 times)

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Offline topcandle


We are so so close to getting this right.  Please don't change the plan before:

1.Trading fees are updated
2.Referral trading fees are possible
3.API for 3rd parties is ready.

Aren't your 1 and 2 nearly covered?  The big one there is #3?  But that's not hard one right?
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jaran

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This means that BitShares original reason for existence (to provide the decentralized exchange) in a world where Bitcoin is being cracked down upon is less and less relevant. Instead we are put in a situation of competing head-to-head with centralized exchanges which are trusted, fast, and legal. .

Have you seen all the headlines the past few days?  They are trying to blame the recent terror attacks on bitcoin and encryption...

Offline lil_jay890

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Lol that Ted Talk has been around for years... Just because Apple got popular, this guy thought he new the reasons why.  There is still a lot up for interpretation.  Big wigs at some big companies have tried to emulate this exact Ted Talk.  The results have been mixed judging by profits and share price.  Also this "why" thing is what all these little venture funded tech companies are using to get funded.  Doesn't matter that they have no profits and are losing money daily, they think the "why" will bring customers in... Fact is it won't.  Once people start realizing these little companies will never turn a profit but they are valued in the billions, things will change and people are going to lose tons of money.  The only "why" being asked will be "why the hell did I buy into that stupid sales pitch".

How this relates to bitshares-

If you take your eye off the exchange ball now, we are legitimately screwed.  You might think we can never compete with centralized exchanges, but just look at what happened when the peg was removed from the EUR/CHF... numerous brokers went out of business!  That would never ever happen with bitshares!

There is a real fear among forex traders, that eventually the markets will be taken away.  That people won't be able to make money from swings of volatility and that speculators are evil.  These same forex traders would love to trade and even pay a premium for something that eliminates this risk. BITSHARES IS THAT SOMETHING!!

We are so so close to getting this right.  Please don't change the plan before:

1.Trading fees are updated
2.Referral trading fees are possible
3.API for 3rd parties is ready.

I know we love to fuck ourselves over in this community... but all we have to do is stay the course this one time, and you will have all the funds to implement anything you want.

Offline donkeypong

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Thank you for the context. It is important to remember where we are and where we have come from. I agree with you about the WHY being fundamental, but that does not mean we cannot have a sustainable product. It seems like every time we have almost gotten there, the plan has changed a bit and people have been left holding the bag and awaiting the next incarnation. Each incarnation has been far better than what came before and I am thankful for what your team is developing; don't get me wrong. But I'd like to see it come to a usable fruition, especially to thank so many members of the community who have funded or worked hard on these development efforts. If there is a robust trading engine which will attract an exchange business, and if that is simple enough to create from the point we're at now, then please do it. We are most of the way there already.

From there, more possibilities will open up. I think that the WHY will have far more support behind it and that the community will be able to do far more with it if there is a successful product and exchange as its basis. If this thing succeeds, the world will be at your fingertips. It's not just the money; it's the legitimacy and a stepping stone to greater opportunities and open doors, whether these be in the realms of finance, social change, business, politics, or whatever calling each of us has to help solve problems and make a better world.

Offline bytemaster

Why, why, why? 

From time to time I find it necessary to reflect on where we have been, what we have accomplished, and where we are going. In the middle of all of the chaos it is easy to lose sight of our purpose. Everything we do we do for a reason, but if we are not careful short term 'reasons' can cause us to take actions that are not in line with our big picture reasons.

Crytpocurrency was originally created out of a desire to break-free from the slavery created by the combination of fiat money and a legal system that outlawed private solutions such as (egold and liberty dollar).  This product found a market among a small segment of the population and they have taken the concept of Bitcoin and created a speculative bubble.  This speculative bubble in turn has attracted people with *different reasons* for being interested in cryptocurrency, the short term gold rush.

BitShares was originally created out of a desire to solve a problem that Bitcoin faced (exchange with fiat) under the presumption that the governments would eventually shutdown the exchanges like they did egold and liberty dollar. With each day that passes it seems less and less likely that governments will shut down these exchanges. They are being regulated and given rules to follow that allow them to stay in business.

This means that BitShares original reason for existence (to provide the decentralized exchange) in a world where Bitcoin is being cracked down upon is less and less relevant. Instead we are put in a situation of competing head-to-head with centralized exchanges which are trusted, fast, and legal.  In the process of attempting to attract "exchange users" who are ultimately just "speculators" we have lost sight of our original customer: the person who wants freedom from the financial system.

My mission in life has been to find free market solutions to secure life, liberty, and property. Systems that are so powerful and effective that they can render governments irrelevant. This is something that I am very passionate about and the reason why I believe most of your are here and loyal to BitShares. If we lose sight of this particular vision we lose our core belief, our mission, our "why".   And without a reason why we are adrift chasing profits and losing hope when they don't come quickly enough.

Clearly a system that aims to secure life, liberty, and property must be profitable and provide incentives to attract normal users who could care less about our philosophy. These profits will come eventually, but in the short term we need to ask ourselves what "features" do our core users actually need to secure their liberty? How are regular users currently vulnerable to government interference? How can we produce tools that empower the average Joe to take a stance and make a difference?

Here is how the average BitShares user is vulnerable and is still being victimized by governments:

1. Their activity is too public, easily tracked, and their profits/losses easily reported to the various taxing agencies. In this sense BitShares is contributing to enslavement.
2.  Attempting to do commerce with untrusted parties is still difficult (lack of simple escrow and dispute resolution).
3.  Lack of tools for building reputations, bonding users, etc
4.  Lack of tools to support and encourage civil disobedience and peaceful tax protests

The people interested in this particular market are few and far between (1% or less of the population), but they are passionate and desperate for tools and willing to try anything. These people are willing to pay significant money to gain their freedom.

Unfortunately, if BitShares starts to go in this particular direction it will scare away those who want "mainstream adoption NOW!".  Banks will not touch it. Merchants will think twice. Governments will crack down.

BitShares has solved many problems that put it in a unique position among all other crypto projects. It is fast, efficient, clean, and most importantly has the gift of self-governeance and self-funding. This is a very solid foundation upon which to build a larger movement. A foundation that is more robust than any other platform.

The reason why we want to gain exchange users is to accomplish a higher mission than just profit. If we focus on being a payment / exchange solution then we have 100's of competitors many of which are better suited to meet the needs of the masses. If we focus on being a platform for freedom then we have almost no competitors and can start a larger movement.

We all have needs that must be met (food, shelter, clothing for ourselves and family). These needs demand we provide value to the market each day. It is easy to lose sight of our goal in the middle these daily demands. Our objective gets short-sighted, focused on the next dollar rather than the grand vision.

I am all for helping BitShares earn a living from the exchange business, but the exchange business is just a day-job.  The exchange is not our reason, our why. 

If we lead with our Why, then people will join our movement and we will grow and never die.  If we lead with our How (Blockchain/BitShares) and our What (exchange) then we will forever struggle against competitors because users have no deeper reasons to stay with us.

I have shared this link before, but I will share it again:
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en

So I ask each of you, Why are you here? Why do you support BitShares? And how does the Fee Debate, Exchange vs Payment Debate, actually support your Reason for being here?
For the latest updates checkout my blog: http://bytemaster.bitshares.org
Anything said on these forums does not constitute an intent to create a legal obligation or contract between myself and anyone else.   These are merely my opinions and I reserve the right to change them at any time.