The way I see it when looking at www.coinmarketcap.com

Ripple is centralized  BS, not to be touched
Litecoin is not innovative and has been dieing off for years
Dogecoin is a joke, a good one
Maidsafe might not even work
Paycoin is a scam
Stellar I don't know about
NXT is shady and a bad model
Darkcoin is overly engineered and flawed, SDC has a better method for anonymity

Bitshares solves all the problems critics love to slam on bitcoin, volatility, centralized mining, wallet addresses, etc etc

I can't wait to see what this list looks like by end of 2015 but in my mind Bitshares will remain at top with bitcoin for a very long time.

Keep it Simple... Lets not complicate the pool.  Once you have BitUSD you can buy anything you want with it including BTS.

Separate out concerns of mining vs investing.  Mining is working to earn a paycheck.   You use your paycheck to invest.

Focus everything on BitUSD.   Imagine how tight the peg will be if our mining pool is buying BitUSD constantly.

One thing to consider though, is that Bitshares isn't really positioning itself as an alternate currency, like other altcoins. It could provide that service, but it just isn't taking that approach right now it seems. Bitcoin, for example, is basically marketed as the new "money" of the Internet. I don't know if BTS is really seeking to compete in that space. Of course, it could turn out that it does become one of several preferred “currencies” to make transactions online. But it will take time before people understand what else Bitshares is capable of.

>>> This exactly. BTC will coexist within the BitShares platform just as gold, silver, oil, fiat, etc. exist. BTS is not a competitor to BTC... but many BTS attributes/features happen to make BTS a very viable BTC successor. Acting as a currency is possible but secondary.

Now if say Bono from U2, or another well-known band, came out and said that anyone who buys into the new U2 single can share in the profits, then there would a lot of interest. Is Bitshares laying the groundwork for those opportunities? That seems quite a while down the road. And even then, something like that wouldn't necessarily elevate the valuation of BTS, correct? But the asset that is being used (the new single).

>>> Yes, this is possible with UIA or PLAY and you can expect to see many artists using the tech in the years to come.

As I understand it, BTS is more of a neutral baseline from which to launch other assets. And perhaps we wouldn’t want that baseline to have a huge valuation ($100 per share, etc) because that may prevent everyday users from participating in the exchange. 

>>> USD value of BTS is irrelevant just as for BTC. Both are divisible to a degree that purchasing even the smallest fraction of a BTC or BTS is possible.

I look at something like Scottrade, which has a commission of around $7 a trade. I wonder if something like BTS can follow an online brokerage model, and essentially the 'fee' becomes the exchange rate before an asset is "purchased?" (BitUSD, etc.) Even then, it is the underlining asset that would be the investment play. So in the case of the the new single,  BitU2single, would be what investors would be interested in. Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way?

>>> Sounds like you need to read up on PLAY. With regard to brokerages, BitShares + fiat gateway effectively renders brokerages obsolete. Folks can trade bitAssets and UIA for a few cents and hold those assets with zero counterparty risk.

Quote from: OldMan on January 22, 2015, 09:19:52 pm

I think we should consider finding an accountant or lawyer to run as a delegate specifically to help folks navigate through the process of setting up a bitAsset/bitCompany/bitCorp etc, as well as provide review/advisory services on the compliance of bitAsset listings.

The last thing we want is a bunch of honest people getting nailed with securities fraud, or worse, scammers committing fraud and sullying the brand.

US/Can centric 'incubator' at first, but as the delegate income grows it is completely conceivable to have a delegate managing an international team of accountants/lawyers/consultants helping business around the globe with bitAssets.

Would be fantastic to start building precedent case law and a body of knowledge/experience around bitAsset issuance and interfacing with the 'real' world.

Incidentally, bitAssets render Kickstarter and Lighthouse obsolete... folks can now issue shares in their ideas instead of having to pussyfoot around with 'rewards' etc.

Everything you just described refers to UIA's, not bitassets.
I guess this post suggests that we need to give up on having "bitasset" mean market-pegged asset...