We have now reached the deadline for the ultimatum we previously issued to the Syscoin team, and while we are entering in to a review period; we have made the following preliminary decision (that is subject to change).
Our preliminary decision is that we will not be refunding the coin, but with the agreement of the Syscoin development team, will be changing release and development schedules moving forward. This decision will either be confirmed (or rejected and modified) publicly at 6PM GMT on Tuesday 26th August, 2014. While we could make the decision in full now (which would be to not refund), this review period will also include us engaging with various members of the community, over the best course of action to take. Please do not scream FUD at us, engage with us constructively.
While the launch of the coin was fraught with issues, the coin still launched. It worked at first, albeit erratically - and before the blockchain and daemon encountered severe issues, was in a usable state. This was not the case for everybody, but it was the case for many. At this stage, because initial obligations were met, we moved in to the inspection period (originally intended to last 72 hours). During this period, the coin encountered a number of major issues and became non-usable very rapidly.
As a result of this, and general public opinion, we issued a deadline-based ultimatum to the Syscoin team in regards to steps that need to be taken in order to ensure that funds would be released. If they took no action or made no progress, then they wouldn't be seeing a single satoshi. If they made good progress, we would re-review. We are now at the end of the ultimatum window, and we have made an initial judgement based on what the developers of the coin have done, and what they are continuing to do.
However, we are not comfortable to release the funds in full to the developers at this stage, and have put the following agreement to the Syscoin team. We are putting, and will be putting our own resources on the line in order to help protect the supporters of the coin, and encourage general adoption of this. I personally have faith in this coin, despite the abysmal launch - though this did not play a part in my decision.
Clause 1
Staggered release of funds.
The escrowed funds will not be released in full. They will be released in 6 monthly payments. The first payment will be for 250 BTC once this agreement is made formal, and then there will be an additional 200 BTC released each month for the next five months. At the end of this period, the Syscoin accrued during the early buy walls, will also be released. Release each month will be subject to the developers actively working on the coin, and making good progress in any necessary areas (to be determined on a monthly basis).
Clause 2
Moolah to support developers.
Moopay LTD will provide the Syscoin development team with access to our team of developers, for assistance with development issues, for a period of 6 months. Help will be given on a best-effort basis, with priority help granted for urgent issues.
Clause 3
Moolah to guarantee continued development.
If the developers decide to bail in full, and abandon development of the coin before this agreement is up; then Moopay LTD will supply a minimum of 3 developers to continue work on the coin - until the end of the agreement window. Moopay LTD will then continue to supply developers until adequate external contributors can be found. Moopay LTD will guarantee priority 24/7 response to urgent issues, and best-effort response to all other cases. This includes fixing broken services, the QT wallet, and blockchain issues. We will also seek to expand upon the coin when there are no issues. Moopay LTD will also always make a developer available for urgent issues, regardless of contributor state, for a minimum of 18 months from the time this agreement is made formal.
Our (now expanded) development team has experiencing in working for Microsoft, Citigroup, Telefonica and more - and each and every member has substantial experience in crypto development (including daemon and reference client work).
Maybe a good time to re-acquaint ourselves with the stated way forward.
