Bitcoin 0.10 is probably the best way to go for a long term strategy whereas the current version masternode route is for a short term profit chasing strategy.
That's pretty much my perception as well, fwiw. I think it's one of those “necessary but not sufficient” things in that it will provide a solid foundation for coin logistics - transaction malleability is handled properly and I understand 2FA is being tested - but VCoin also needs to develop a USP and a brand story to go with it.
It sort of boils down to how the community is constituted because that largely determines what kind of additional services will appeal, if any.
Carving out and maintaining a niche in such a crowded market is always going to be a challenge and it's possible that overlay network services might help meet that challenge.
But then again, services can be implemented in different ways, the Soypay/DACS folks are going for a deterministic solution via emulation, gmaxwell hints at an entirely different perspective which I've yet to grok, someone else is using the strength of blockchain cryptography to protect tokens linking to sidechains, yet others are already offering an oracle service.
So far there have been a few expressions of perceptions of VCoin. The negative perceptions seem mostly to orient around inadequate info in the ANN which Chris has addressed. Positive perceptions: (“seems to have popped under the radar of the lunatics that cohabit in this asylum”, “a fine coin, the whole altcoin scene is dodgy”, “a stable good coin”) seem to point towards a more general notion which I'd translate into a brand value of “authentic” (I'm using a very broad brush) which I see as an encouraging and useful start.
Cheers
Graham
Personally I am all for long term investment and development. My interests are not so much profit but the long term development of the digital world of the future.
95% of alt-coin market participants are however after short term profits. If something does not make them 50% by this afternoon they are not interested. Most people will slit their father's throat for a piece of bread and sell their mother for $5. These are harsh things to say but looking at the scams and where price movements are and how the groups move around in the scene this is the only conclusion I can get to. There are coins with good innovation in the works but it does nothing to the price apart from making the price go lower once holders realize that the coin is long term. Long term investment motives just does not exist or is very rare. A coin can say that they found a way to turn lead into gold and it will make nothing to the price and even let the price go down. The devs can just as well say they found a cure for cancer or a renewable energy source that can drive a house for $5 a day and people will just not give a ****. If it can double their profits in a day so that they can cash in and move on to the next "50% profit in a day" scheme they will be interested.
The choice is therefore as follows:
1) Bitcoin 0.10 and long term developments which will attract the long term investors and have very little impact on price over the next 12 months.
2) Say the magic word and post "masternodes with profit sharing" that will attract the locusts and flies and shoot the price up 5x for a few days until the next coin posts "masternodes" and the swarms follow.
I will always vote for the long term strategy because it is like a retirement benefit plan whereby you invest now and build something that can be very valuable over the long term in the future. Long term will also attract the sensible investors that do not pump and dump, but take note that the price will not magically shoot up for option 1. With option 1 innovation comes first and price will lag later on. It comes down to what appetite the dev has, if he has stamina to go the marathon route and if he is committed, sincere and mature and has the skills or resources to hire skills.
Another factor to take into account is if the coin specs match the strategy. Pure POW coins need miners with high power usage on it all the time to keep the chain rolling and if there is no return over the long term to make up mining costs people will move on and the chain will get stuck. Although it is possible to mine within a wallet with CPU there will always be some guy that put an ASIC on it and chase up the diff. POS coins lend itself to a long term strategy because one can fire up a Raspberry Pi and forget about it up to maxage at 5W power and the chain will move along in the background. Vcoin is POW but from what I can see it adjusts its diff quickly and if it diff gets high it goes down again quickly which helps.
Lastly the coin strategy and the exchange strategy must be aligned. Listings on big exchanges need lots of volumes or be delisted. This requires lots of resources from coin management to keep the volumes up artificially because what I have learnt from alt-coin holders is that everyone is out for himself and will not contribute towards the bigger picture. Only one exchange is needed to have a vehicle to get in or out of a coin in order to increase/decrease holdings. People shouting for big exchanges early on has a short term motives because they hope that such a listing will let the price shoot up so that they can cash in and move on. Do not give in to such comments and keep the listings on smaller exchanges if the coin strategy is long term.
You know my vote, but if this is a democracy it will be a landslide victory to the group that wants to double their profits in a day or two. It is up to coin management to determine if they have what it takes to do option 1 or if they just want option 2 and move along swiftly. I like to support minnow coins that shows promise of bringing something new to the table by a committed, sincere and skilled dev team and coin management. I do not know if Vcoin is this yet and I need to observe some more about the dev team and coin management's actions to make an assessment. I hope that Vcoin is not just another coin with a scam dev and short term profit motive but I guess time will tell.