I have been supporting Folding coin for some time now. This project is one of the most constructive in the ecosystem since it really contributes to scientific research. Folding coin is proof that PoW can be used by for something really useful
True that!
I've been following FLDC since last February and if I would recommend a crypto to invest asap for somebody it would definitely be FoldingCoin.
There are couple things I'd like to point out.
As the back-end gets solid needing less active human maintenance (already done work) and the marketplace gets done, there might be some time left over to expand. In that case maybe it could be a good thing to also start bringing folding@home into a wider awareness, once the "preparing" stages are complete.
I've understood that folding@home is somewhat semi-official for Stanford, but not completely (yet?)...
I'd think that if you guys could get a more official status for the project, it could be noted in the radar of science publications, magazines, medical professionals etc. audiences rather directly. In this way FLDC is sort of a flagship at the moment.
Quite many people have at least heard of Bitcoin these days too and FLDC has tons of legitimate say of making the mining (folding) process useful.
The timing starts to be right on alt footsteps.
Also alternatively so many are apathetic how corrupted and inefficient fiat world is, therefore it's not a long stretch to become inspired with the idea that it's possible to make currency do beneficial tasks on it's own instead of trusting some magical invisible hand acting for the favour of... well, humanity.
Right now it looks like a fist pounding in the face of near everyone.
There I definitely see a future where the kind of money you use itself is a direct "vote", an direct action (instead of having a machine made of people with no accountability i.e. bank+govt's) towards what you want to achieve with your money in super forward fashion.
That being said, FoldingCoin, as a project and an operation might seem small, but it wears big shoes.
FLDC in principle is very understandable for non-tech people in it's mission - using it to find cures for diseases.
This is serious issue for even the good projects with the typical Bitcoin 2.0 functionality... Try understand that as an outsider!
or rather
I see the whole issue of cryptos kind of the same as Nokia vs. Apple.
Nokia was there long before Apple got into phones, but Nokia kept itself a sort of more engineer bias company. Therefore in the critical time when there were TONS of different phones on the market, Apple came out of the woodworks with a very simple solution that did what most used a phone for. Nokia almost plummeted completely. They forgot that to the casual end user a kind of no-brain simplicity is utmost of importance.
The gadgetry most cryptos try to do is somewhat futile in the big scheme likewise.
Engineers/Technicians pitfall - Creating to your peers instead of realising that if an average person is dumb, half of them are even dumber. Technically speaking of course
Therefore, if you trust your end user to be technically proficient the table is never turned towards you until someone with more simple (or stupid) will guide attention away. It's very simple, but almost impossible for countlessly many programmers and developers to see.
I'm going to this direction because even as a somewhat tech oriented person, I found the act of starting to fold just a tad bit too difficult with the lack of time (and laziness) I usually have. Many people lack any kind of confidence whatsoever in any under the hood situation and give up the instant the page they are supposed to read seems too long and technical. That's where most people will drop the ball. And will never return.
Hence, given the potential burst of new users once the silent period is over, I'd love to see a dummiest way possible to fold in the future as well as the current one for (tech peeps). I'd mentally benchmark easy usability as a somewhat non techie being able to start folding and get rewards going (normal delay of receiving allowed!) within the same burts of first inspiration. People rarely come back after the first excitement, but they also can't hold their excitement (and sharing it to the world) if they can do it on the first go.
There's also a scenario where folding@home would find a cure...
That event would open floodgates and then it would be highly beneficial to have it super simple.
As you can see, I already see a lot of mainstream break (read: getting mentioned) potential with FLDC as it's a very sensible project.
And damn... Such enthusiastic, devoted and friendly attitudes you guys have + the people in this thread!
Thumbs up!
PS. Yes to the vote for rewarding long term folders. No brainer decision if there are no reasonable (or at all) objections!
