Why Vision Matters Blog Post

[yvv]

Selling people "peace of mind" and an opportunity to "change the world" and "fight the empire" and "fight Obamacare" is a much easier sell in my own market research.

HAHAHAA!!! You have have to come up with something better than this bullshit. Try selling a place in Paradise in afterlife. Many crooks do it successfully.

[bytemaster]

The DEX is "done" except for perhaps the MAKER proposal which isn't even necessary.  SVK and CASS are working on improving the User Interface of the DEX.  Michael is working on improving the API to be similar to poloniex. 

The key to bootstrapping any exchange is having UNIQUE assets to trade.  This is something that FBA and new business models will have.

I haven't forgotten the DEX, it is a critical component. I have just learned through experience that selling a DEX is a hard niche market.

Banking partners are telling all blockchain companies the same thing: "we don't want your chain, we want our own".   Anyone holding out for banking partners getting on board any existing public chain in a meaningful way needs a wakeup call.   

BitShares needs to provide VALUE to the average joe.  A DEX doesn't provide that value on its own.  A bond market doesn't provide that value on its own. 

Selling people "peace of mind" and an opportunity to "change the world" and "fight the empire" and "fight Obamacare" is a much easier sell in my own market research.

Please, someone tell me the market value of Poloniex.. how much is their exchange worth?  How much is BitStamp worth?  BitFinex?    The combined revenue of all crypto currency exchanges is less than $25 million per year.  If we assume these exchanges operate with a 50% profit margin then that means $12 million per year in profit.  Based upon a 5% dividend, this would put the combined value of all exchanges in the cryptocurrency space at  $240M dollars and my guess is that is very high.

So if BitShares grew to become the only exchange in the entire market it would be worth at most 24x its current valuation. 

Bitcoin is valued because of the COMMUNITY of freedom activists that are using it and promoting it.  It has no revenue based valuation.  A DEX doesn't inspire a community following like Bitcoin has.   

Lets gain some perspective before calling for the DEX to be "finished" as if that will magically make BTS grow in value 10x. 

[yvv]

Lets have a bigger vision with a focus on helping other people. A vision that the average Joe can benefit from and get behind. A blockchain is a means to an end, it isn’t an end in itself. While everyone else is busy creating advanced “smart contracts” and new “privacy solutions” and attempting to partner with banks that want nothing to do with them we can actually start helping people.
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so does that mean no banking partners anymore ?

The banks want to develop their own blockchains. IMO they don't like having little control and not having a large piece of the pie.

Ripple negotiates with banks for 2 years or so. The result: interledger. Screw previous goals. Main reasons: banks need privacy; banks don't like to rely on tokens like XRP. Check ripple forums for more details.

[CoinHoarder]

Lets have a bigger vision with a focus on helping other people. A vision that the average Joe can benefit from and get behind. A blockchain is a means to an end, it isn’t an end in itself. While everyone else is busy creating advanced “smart contracts” and new “privacy solutions” and attempting to partner with banks that want nothing to do with them we can actually start helping people.
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so does that mean no banking partners anymore ?

The banks want to develop their own blockchains. IMO they don't like having little control and not having a large piece of the pie.

[btswildpig]

Lets have a bigger vision with a focus on helping other people. A vision that the average Joe can benefit from and get behind. A blockchain is a means to an end, it isn’t an end in itself. While everyone else is busy creating advanced “smart contracts” and new “privacy solutions” and attempting to partner with banks that want nothing to do with them we can actually start helping people.
=======================

so does that mean no banking partners anymore ?

[btswildpig]

MAS is one more reason to leave bitshares.  I will leave if MAS is worked on before bond market and orediction markets.  It's highly theoretical and will take more funding and resources than you estimate.  Why?  cause it's a reoccurring theme here when bitshares tries to implement somethjng anew and untested.

Did BM ask you to fund it?
I am sure if you can fund the development for prediction markets CNX will hire more devs and get it done

you sure ?

I'm not sure , because as they said , development is not exact science , you can't predict time and cost to get it done .

[clayop]

In the short term we have the addition of privacy features to BitShares. Privacy is something that is a critical component of any disruptive system.

Shortly after that I wish to add support for the creation of Mutual Aid Socieites. This idea is perceived as niche today, but within living memory once involved the majority of the population. MAS fell appart due to government regulation and the creation of health insurance, life insurance, homeowners insurance, renters insurance, unemployment insurance, disability insurance and welfare.

I'm worried about this statement. Please don't leave DEX incomplete.

IMO, DEX is almost complete. What it only needs is percentage based fee system (+ very low order creation fee) and market making bots (several people are already working on it).
I do not insist to develop advanced exchange features, such as margin trading, maker/taker flag, etc. What we need is "basic" exchange features that can generate sound profit for BitShares. Once basic DEX is completed, third-party services can grow based on the system.

Does BSIP 4 take long? If not, please do it first, before developing MAS.

[lovejoy]

I really get a kick out of all the people here who are so afraid of 1. An idea, and 2. Bytemaster in a leadership capacity... I hope the irony is not lost on anyone.   

Going into 2016 I would like to see a renewed focus on community and vision. Our community is the product we are selling so let’s give people a reason to join our community rather than offering them a service they can pay for like a customer.  Lets focus on helping one another and being a place where others would like to be rather than being self-centered individuals complaining about how the breadcrumbs are divided. Let’s adopt an attitude of abundance and love rather than one of scarcity.  As our attitude changes so will our community and the value of BTS will grow to give us the abundance our combined society can generate.

This has been my feeling from the beginning.  I heartily 2nd the push for such a renewed focus and happy to see it being expressed by you here @bytemaster.

To those of you who have such reactionary fear over these ideas... whoa.. slow down and breathe!  These ideas aren't competing with the DEX, or even challenging it, they are in a whole other complimentary domain.  I understand the desire for focus, but there are a lot of us here, with different talents, and collectively we should have more than enough focus to advance on several fronts simultaneously.

For me personally, I can sell a movement, I can bring the masses into a movement.  What's hard for me is selling a DEX.  So when you fight against these ideas you're fighting against potential allies, and current allies such as me, who can access new demographics for BitShares in ways we never could with just a DEX.  The DEX is great, don't get me wrong, but it's got around .003% sex appeal, intrigue, and excitement to anyone outside of the crypto space.

[CoinHoarder]

OMG! More ideological BS. Stop dreaming and make a decent exchange which could be used by merchants.

If you look it another way it might not be such a bad idea.

MAS is simple easy to grasp idea ( helping  poor, suffering, unfortunate people, by simple click of a button)
MAS has strong underlying emotion ( it is very easy to enter into that feeling, and it is fairy easy overwhelming) 
MAS has sophisticated advertising tool thru social networks (this is basic model for informing and calling people for help, and all people doing there all the time is hanging around and gossip, so information is spreading by speed of light)
MAS has strong yet easy to assemble entrepreneurial model suitable for wide variety of solution for easy money. (use imagination, there are many examples there in the wild)

It could also mean a lot from general Bitshare marketing prospective being visible to tons of ordinary people relating Bitshares to something noble and positive. Every other idea from that source would be accepted much more readily and with greater attention.

Only drawback I could see so far is withdrawal of donations for average Joe.Yes and making donations also

  Good points.

[CoinHoarder]

Good blog post BM. I agree with you in saying that Bitshares need to pivot, otherwise it is at risk in fading into obscurity.

To those of you insisting BM focus on the DEX before moving onto other projects...

I insist you consider the following:
- I recently brought up the fact that the DEX has a lot of competition from Nushares/Nxt in a recent thread (pivot, copy, or die). The DEX market is hotly contested at the moment. MAS' is uncontested territory at the moment, and will bring a ton of PR to Bitshares if done correctly. Which will in turn (ironically) help bootstrap the DEX.
- BM brought up the good point in his blog that even if the DEX was successful, it would not be a big money maker and will not attract a ton of users simply due to the economics of the cryptocurrency exchange ecosystem.
- There is no reason why development regarding the DEX cannot continue in parallel with BM's development of Stealth transfers and a MAS feature. We as a community need to prioritize what is most important regarding other development needs, locate developers that can get the jobs done, and figure out a solution to pay them (dilute, FBA, donations, etc..) I agree with BM that it is in Bitshares' best interest to allow BM to focus on Stealth/MAS and allow the community to organize other projects surrounding the DEX/GUI/etc... It is time that we fully utilize Bitshares' features and figure this out as a community of stakeholders without relying on BM to save the day and hold our hand throughout the process.

[Geneko]

OMG! More ideological BS. Stop dreaming and make a decent exchange which could be used by merchants.

If you look it another way it might not be such a bad idea.

MAS is simple easy to grasp idea ( helping  poor, suffering, unfortunate people, by simple click of a button)
MAS has strong underlying emotion ( it is very easy to enter into that feeling, and it is fairy easy overwhelming) 
MAS has sophisticated advertising tool thru social networks (this is basic model for informing and calling people for help, and all people doing there all the time is hanging around and gossip, so information is spreading by speed of light)
MAS has strong yet easy to assemble entrepreneurial model suitable for wide variety of solution for easy money. (use imagination, there are many examples there in the wild)

It could also mean a lot from general Bitshare marketing prospective being visible to tons of ordinary people relating Bitshares to something noble and positive. Every other idea from that source would be accepted much more readily and with greater attention.

Only drawback I could see so far is withdrawal of donations for average Joe.Yes and making donations also

[yvv]

OMG! More ideological BS. Stop dreaming and make a decent exchange which could be used by merchants.

[clayop]

Building a next generation exchange is not trivial and it's nowhere close to being done.  I doubt shareholders will approve anything not related to the dex.

Agreed. We first need to finalize DEX and make it profitable. Without any profit from our product, we cannot be sustainable.

[morpheus]

Adding new applications to the BitShares platform does not constitute any kind of a turn.

I Can think of many things to get done before MAS

1)  Stealth
2)  Maker
3)  Lending (Bond) market
4)  Prediction market
5)  Vanilla options market
6)  Futures Market
7)  Think or Swim / metatrader style interface
.
.
.
.
.
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100)  MAS



Building a next generation exchange is not trivial and it's nowhere close to being done.  I doubt shareholders will approve anything not related to the dex.

[BunkerChainLabs-DataSecurityNode]

Seems like some people are really hell bent in making Bitshares into another 'me too' platform. As though making it just like everywhere else with a few little Bitshares extras will make a world of difference.

If you REALLY believe it, then get it funded! We got FBAs now where you can have your cake and the whole pie too!

These idle threats over one persons attempt at creating a different business on Bitshares is just a lot of jaw-jacking.

Why compete in spaces with market share elsewhere when you can create a whole new segment?