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« on: April 12, 2015, 05:45:09 pm »
I appreciate that bytemaster is acknowledging the problem of customer attraction and trying to find a solution to it. As a true believer in BitShares and the solutions it aims to provide, I share the frustration of others who see the twofold problem: a lack of a stable client and the dearth of effective marketing.
First, the client needs to be fixed. Yes, it is a pre-1.0 product, but so is Bitcoin-Qt, and we do not hear nearly the same level of complaint regarding that product. I cannot be the only one who has frequent trouble getting a connection to the BitShares network on the GUI client even to transact business on the exchange. I am not a programmer; I would not know the first thing about how to get into the code and work out all of the bugs. I just know it needs to be done if we are going to expect people to trust the network.
Secondly, making price feed publishing a built-in aspect of the delegate client would be ideal. Yes, BTS holders can vote against those who do not publish feeds; but I will admit that, as a novice about what goes on under the hood, I have no idea even how to determine who is publishing and who isn't. How would a complete novice be able to rely on the market pegs holding on their BitAssets?
Lastly, as someone mentioned in this thread, what I see overall is a lack of promotion and a lack of focus. I read and listen to a lot of the crypto news sources out there. I cannot even remember the last time I heard something from the BitShares team that wasn't internal (e.g. the Mumble chats). Preaching to the choir isn't going to build this DAC. And, while incentivizing word-of-mouth is not a bad thing in itself, there are a host of ways to get the message of BitShares out there, not only to the current crypto community, but to the larger population on the fringes of Bitcoin, etc.
Why aren't BitUSD and BitEUR and BitCNY being promoted as stable crypto alternatives to a volatile bitcoin? Merchants who refuse to accept bitcoin because of the perceived threat of loss of value could accept fiat-pegged BitAssets without having to resort to Coinbase or Bitpay to "lock in" the value of their revenue. I have not heard a single person connected with BitShares promote BitAssets in this manner, and I am actively looking for such promotion.
Why isn't TITAN being promoted as a solution to the privacy issues connected to the Bitcoin blockchain? Not only does it assure greater anonymity of transactions, but also it completely gets rid of the need for long, arcane addresses and QR codes. This should be a slam-dunk for those new to crypto, but they are not getting the message.
Using the BitShares blockchain as a real, interest-bearing savings account is another draw for those who may have no interest in the exchange per se. With fiat gateways in place, or even through projects like Shapeshift or Moonstone, people can convert their savings into BitUSD and earn a stable rate of interest while still keeping them quite liquid.
In short, there are several use cases for those who may never be interested in purchasing a single BTS ever, and why should they? Let those of us who are interested in being market makers and shareholders in the DAC do that, and promote the DAC also to those who will drive up demand for the BitAssets but who have no interest in actively trading.
I firmly believe that the BitShares DAC is an idea with qualities far superior to many of the other projects out there, and qualities that make it easier for BitShares to gain followers who have no interest in blockchains or SHA-256 or confirmation times or QR codes. But having a superior idea without proper dissemination of it may make BitShares the Betamax of the crypto world. The value of BTS is plummeting; the available amount of BitUSD is approximately 80% of what it was just last week. We all have to think both inside and outside of the current cryptocurrency box (like Peertracks seems to be doing, to their credit) if this project is to be here for the long run.
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