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General Discussion / Re: Lessons Learned from Alt Coins
« on: January 09, 2016, 11:40:20 pm »
Someone suggested I post this from reddit.com/r/bitshares. My original comments on bootstrapping Btishares are in the thread https://www.reddit.com/r/BitShares/comments/401wqp/any_chance_of_bitshares_going_up/ as comment https://www.reddit.com/r/BitShares/comments/401wqp/any_chance_of_bitshares_going_up/cyrzvt2
I'd add that a possible spin on the original idea would be to create a simple open source market project, hosted on github that runs through TOR and can be installed and run by any willing participant to offer whatever they desire (legal or otherwise). You would then heavily promote the availability of this free, no strings attached, idiot proof project on reddit.com/r/darknetmarkets and other forums - One advantage of this is that it could be funded within the Bitshares eco-system with clear development goals and a time-frame (E.g. 3 months for an initial offering).
Crucial requirements would be;
-> Heavy integration of BitUSD and Bitcoin (no plugin architecture for alts, this should be a product that is free but designed to promote Bitshares). Can be forked, but commits should centre on tying in Bitshares features.
-> Hedging (The big use case); Allowing a vendor who receives an order in Bitcoin to hedge into BitUSD. BitUSD could be supplied by either the exchange's personal balance or by soliciting P2P funds in exchange for any hedge premium the vendor may pay. Note; the flawed centralized hedging implementation provided by Silkroad is described here; https://www.deepdotweb.com/2015/01/25/silk-goxed-how-dpr-used-mtgox-for-hedging-lost-big/ - Bitshares can pretty much completely avoid this scenario...
-> Integration of a P2P liquidity system similar to that offered on the Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex. This would allow any instance of the marketplace to solicit funds in exchange for a hedge premium (say 4%) to offer those vendors that want to hedge their consumer sales. Possible amendments would allow vendors to cash out hedged orders as Bitcoin or BitUSD (See below)
-> Ability to withdraw in Bitcoin or BitUSD (and possibly Bitshares).
-> Ability to exchange BitUSD for Bitcoin within the market. Bitshares will gain adoption, but the fiat on/off ramps will remain overwhelmingly Bitcoin until critical mass is reached. Any vendor holding hedged BitUSD would need to have confidence they could exchange to Bitcoin for withdrawal to enable the transition to fiat.
-> Easy to install and configure; Obviously, if a user wants to sell illegal wares it's on them to understand the technologies and not to rely on any one offering themselves, however getting *something* running easily is a psychological plus and makes it more likely you'll see marketplaces with a bitshares backend proliferating.
If this offering were tabled and developed with a targeted marketing campaign at the only sector that is really driving crypto, Bitshares would likely start seeing the growth is so desperately deserves.
A currency only works when there is a network effect of people who trust and use it. Bitshares doesn't have that yet, but by targeting the market that most uses crypto in a real-world setting this could be remedied.
There is no other way to *make* Bitshares popular unfortunately and history is littered with technically competent solutions waylaid by their inferior counterparts. Don't let it happen to Bitshares - decentralized USD is just awesome and there is a very real need for it!
I'd add that a possible spin on the original idea would be to create a simple open source market project, hosted on github that runs through TOR and can be installed and run by any willing participant to offer whatever they desire (legal or otherwise). You would then heavily promote the availability of this free, no strings attached, idiot proof project on reddit.com/r/darknetmarkets and other forums - One advantage of this is that it could be funded within the Bitshares eco-system with clear development goals and a time-frame (E.g. 3 months for an initial offering).
Crucial requirements would be;
-> Heavy integration of BitUSD and Bitcoin (no plugin architecture for alts, this should be a product that is free but designed to promote Bitshares). Can be forked, but commits should centre on tying in Bitshares features.
-> Hedging (The big use case); Allowing a vendor who receives an order in Bitcoin to hedge into BitUSD. BitUSD could be supplied by either the exchange's personal balance or by soliciting P2P funds in exchange for any hedge premium the vendor may pay. Note; the flawed centralized hedging implementation provided by Silkroad is described here; https://www.deepdotweb.com/2015/01/25/silk-goxed-how-dpr-used-mtgox-for-hedging-lost-big/ - Bitshares can pretty much completely avoid this scenario...
-> Integration of a P2P liquidity system similar to that offered on the Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex. This would allow any instance of the marketplace to solicit funds in exchange for a hedge premium (say 4%) to offer those vendors that want to hedge their consumer sales. Possible amendments would allow vendors to cash out hedged orders as Bitcoin or BitUSD (See below)
-> Ability to withdraw in Bitcoin or BitUSD (and possibly Bitshares).
-> Ability to exchange BitUSD for Bitcoin within the market. Bitshares will gain adoption, but the fiat on/off ramps will remain overwhelmingly Bitcoin until critical mass is reached. Any vendor holding hedged BitUSD would need to have confidence they could exchange to Bitcoin for withdrawal to enable the transition to fiat.
-> Easy to install and configure; Obviously, if a user wants to sell illegal wares it's on them to understand the technologies and not to rely on any one offering themselves, however getting *something* running easily is a psychological plus and makes it more likely you'll see marketplaces with a bitshares backend proliferating.
If this offering were tabled and developed with a targeted marketing campaign at the only sector that is really driving crypto, Bitshares would likely start seeing the growth is so desperately deserves.
A currency only works when there is a network effect of people who trust and use it. Bitshares doesn't have that yet, but by targeting the market that most uses crypto in a real-world setting this could be remedied.
There is no other way to *make* Bitshares popular unfortunately and history is littered with technically competent solutions waylaid by their inferior counterparts. Don't let it happen to Bitshares - decentralized USD is just awesome and there is a very real need for it!
