Thanks! It is nice to be noticed!
I've been lurking, and still following the progress of XEL closely week to week. Unfortunately I can't say that I've been particularly happy to see where it has been headed, personally. IMO the decision to partially re-centralize with bonded master-nodes and the decision to launch a "lite wallet" token are both likely mis-steps.
Having 0 stake in XEL it is obviously not my business, but I had held high hopes... and now I have little but worry for E-K's work ever making it out into the world in a form that is anything like what he would have really intended.
I've been thinking a lot, lately, about a the idea of a relatively simple variant of the earlier XEL design which might address several of the concerns with the model, particularly with regard to the PoW rewards. It would eschew a dedicated programming language, in favor of a machine model, but at the same time make for a more consistent work calculation and allow for some additional assurances. It may not be something I ever pursue further but I am ever more convinced (though still not quite 100%) that the whole thing might even actually be possible after all.
I hope all is OK otherwise people will mark it as scam/too far fetched etc
