I think the idea itself is brilliant (hey, I LOVE self-regulating systems), but it's not a good idea for Darkcoin.
Right now, an institution (Government, some billionaire, some agency) can buy whatever they want number of Masternodes and there are still "free" Masternodes owned by you and me to secure the anonymity.
If driven by market-force, they could buy-out EVERYONE else and get 100% control.
The variable you're forgetting here is the desire of Darkcoin holders to make a profit. Both Spreadcoin and Darkcoin are at the mercy of the almighty deep pocket government agency as the more the price of the coin goes up, the greater temptation to sell your masternode coins. Everyone has a price.
Yes, everyone has a price, but one of the beauties of DRK is that once one has acquired a MN (and I have a long way to go
) The return on that MN pretty much guarantees its ongoing existence, and works against its liquidation. Those who are living entirely hand-to-mouth will not pursue a MN. Those such as myself, who do only slightly better, can see hope of getting one in a year or two, and have a fixed target to aim at. Even if a price rise takes direct purchase out of reach, the return on the MN shares I have been able to get thus far assure my eventual achievement. If I understand what is being proposed for Spread, I could never have such assurance, and therefore would
never make such a longterm commitment to try to hit such a moving target. Once I achieve my goal, the higher the price of DRK, the
more precious my MN will become, and the
less likely I will be to liquidate it. I suspect the same will hold for my heirs.
In addition, along the lines of Tokenormal's comments, I see encouraging the turnover of MN's as being
major security issue. One can assume that Neither DRK nor Spread, are much of a blip on Nation/State radars; that blip will grow, and it will only be later that budgets are freed to address the "threat." By that point not only will MN's be more expensive, but in DRK's case they will be well established and "aged." New MNs will be less and less available meaning the network will be more and more secure.
As a student of economics, I have no doubt that Evan has worked out the supply/demand curves for MNs vs holding/spending coins at various returns. If I remember correctly he is aiming for a balance point of around 3,000 MNs. Given the divisible nature of the coins, I can imagine an economy asymptoticly approaching 21,000 MNs. This of course is the theoretical maximum, and even under those ludicrous conditions MN holders become the elite of the world who would never under any condition sell. In a "Spread" economy, that decision would not even be in the holders control,
guaranteeing a world where the rich get richer and sincere honest players are at their mercy.
Peace to you all...