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Topic: Bitcoin Island - page 4. (Read 10642 times)

donator
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
May 17, 2012, 01:13:18 AM
#25
I know the fee seems excessive, but it's based on a cursory estimate of worst-case transaction fees.  Since I would have to refund on a per-address basis, it could end up being a lot of transactions.  Perhaps it could be less, something like 0.2% instead.  I haven't had a chance to make a more realistic estimate.

Never heard of paymany?  Tx fee likely would be 0 or at worst 0.005 BTC per kb.
hero member
Activity: 588
Merit: 500
Hero VIP ultra official trusted super staff puppet
May 17, 2012, 01:10:26 AM
#24
The point is for the entire Bitcoin community to buy an island because it's awesome.
..and island that no one will own and everyone will be fighting for creative control over.

If I participated in this, I'd want to be able to move there and put up a house of my own. Will that be allowed? What if my house takes up more space than the relevant percentage of investment? Are there any rules, laws, ordinances, codes etc I need to abide by? If so, who is responsible for enforcing them? What happens if I ignore them? Who will reprimand me and through what means? Can my shares ever be taken away from me? Can I ever be banned from the island? Can I visit it anytime I want? What if I have a giant party there and never clean up the mess? Will someone try to take away my shares by force?


 Roll Eyes


EDIT: It seems like we'd all be helping you buy an island and that'd be the end of it.
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
May 17, 2012, 01:05:38 AM
#23
Contingency - Bitcoins refunded (minus 0.5% fee) if objective not met

Why charging a fee to refund?

This is bitcoin, you can send them almost for free. Ok, you're building a project and you can charge administrative fees, but if you don't win the auction, the fee seems huge for so little work...

I know the fee seems excessive, but it's based on a cursory estimate of worst-case transaction fees.  Since I would have to refund on a per-address basis, it could end up being a lot of transactions.  Perhaps it could be less, something like 0.2% instead.  I haven't had a chance to make a more realistic estimate.

Incentive - Contributors receive proportional discounts
That's all?

We are just "contributors" eligibles for a "proportional discount"?

Yep.  I'm not too thrilled about dealing with shareholders, and I'm certainly not interested in dealing with regulators.  I can justify donations towards a common goal.  I'm not sure I can justify anything like GLBSE or the legal complications of shared ownership.  And I see no point in tracking profits and issuing dividends on a bunch of 5 BTC "investments".  If there are huge profits, those who contribute will be adequately compensated.  If not, oh well.  Don't send your life savings.

Besides, the point isn't for a dozen people to buy an island as an investment.  The point is for the entire Bitcoin community to buy an island because it's awesome.
sr. member
Activity: 325
Merit: 250
Our highest capital is the Confidence we build.
May 16, 2012, 06:12:35 PM
#21
Incentive - Contributors receive proportional discounts

That's all?

We are just "contributors" eligibles for a "proportional discount"?

No shared ownership? No partnership? Not even some participation on future income?

Or to put it simple. No compensation for the risk taken?

Contingency - Bitcoins refunded (minus 0.5% fee) if objective not met

Why charging a fee to refund?

This is bitcoin, you can send them almost for free. Ok, you're building a project and you can charge administrative fees, but if you don't win the auction, the fee seems huge for so little work...
hero member
Activity: 490
Merit: 500
... it only gets better...
May 16, 2012, 05:41:57 PM
#20
Voltron assemble!
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1000
May 16, 2012, 05:37:29 PM
#19
FAQ Update:

Wouldn't you have to be a Nicaraguan citizen to buy that?  Are you prepared to live in Nicaragua?

"Current owners are American and have owned the island for 6 years.  There are no restrictions for foreigners in owning the island, and the Nicaraguan Government fully recognizes foreign ownership."

And, yes, I'm willing to relocate in order to oversee development.

internet? Im guessing the nearest cell tower is a bit far.

The nearest city of Bluefields (15 miles away) has a fiber link.  I'm sure wireless can be arranged.

reserve price

Yes, there is a reserve.  I have a guess as to what it is.  And I think a target of 40,000 BTC will get us close enough.  No guarantees on this obviously, since we can always be outbid.

The main problem I see is that it would be empty for the majority of the year so you will need to be inventive to come up with a way to make money from it

This is the reason I've chosen a market-based approach to development rather than a corporate model.  With Bitcoin, I'm sure the community can find a way to make the best use of the available resources.

It would be really nice to have a more detailed, better thought plan...

The plan is to buy the island, rent out the current facilities for Bitcoins, and go from there.  If that means attracting a developer to break ground on a skyscraper, great.  If it means building a small fishing village and exporting lobster and coconuts, that's fine too.  I think there is lots of potential either way.

Personally, I'm open to just about anything as long as a reasonable balance between development and the natural surroundings can be maintained.  I foresee a development process that is open, transparent and inclusive of the entire Bitcoin community, but aimed toward the economic needs of the market and neither democratic nor directed.

I know that's not very detailed, but that's intentional.  I see many different ways this could end up being a boon to the Bitcoin community.  Which way it goes has more to do with you than with me.  Pitch in a few Bitcoins and we'll find out together.

there doesn't appear to be a beach on this island. Seems like that would be a critical feature.

Most beaches dredge or import sand anyways.  That's not a big issue.
newbie
Activity: 21
Merit: 0
May 16, 2012, 05:28:59 PM
#18
Be careful, there doesn't appear to be a beach on this island. Seems like that would be a critical feature.

Since the island wouldn't be separable from the rules and regulations of Nicaragua anyway, it would be much more useful to just buy a resort already on the mainland beach someplace tropical. Internet would be easier, supplies would be easier, and arriving vacationers would have an easier time getting there. You could still allow people to pay for everything there in bitcoins.
sr. member
Activity: 325
Merit: 250
Our highest capital is the Confidence we build.
May 16, 2012, 05:13:20 PM
#17
I have considered something like this for a long time.

Crowd funding something.

The idea would be to have a type of club where you purchase membership by contributing Bitcoins.

The Bitcoin wallet where all of the Bitcoins sit would require a key from each member in order for it to be spent.

Once the right opportunity comes along and enough BTC is accumulated, then the members of the club all enter their keys and the BTC gets transferred.

The main thing I cannot figure out is if one person wants to sabotage the project they can get their key and hold it over everyone else to either destroy the club or to use it as a bargaining chip to get the money released. The only solutions to this would be situations where not everyone who contributed gets what they want.

Simple solution just make it an n of m multi-sig address.  Set n to be something reasonable which still makes members feel safe like say 80%.

Yes, I thought of that. But the 20% that do not agree would be forced to have their money spent on something they do not want. I suppose it could work if you set up a way to send the money back to those who do not want what the final decision is. Perhaps the 80% threshold gets hit and then the BTC gets transferred toward the purchase and the other 20% goes to those addresses that did not agree on the final decision.

Very easy to do that and do it completely anonymously but it does require a little trust that the refund will be honored.
1) Setup an multi-sig address for the initial contributors (lets say there are 20 of them)
2) Everyone must contribute from an address which can receive payments back (i.e. no ewallets other than ones like StrongCoin).
3) So all 20 initial contributors have paid into the multi-sig address (16 are required to sign a tx).

Now if new contributors come along you simply create a new multi-sig address (i.e. 18 of 22) have the new contributors make their pledge deposit, and have current contributors sign a tx to forward funds to the new address.  

When a potential purchase is found call a vote.  Vote can be verified by having members sign their vote w/ private key of their deposit address.

The options are:
Vote Yes
Vote No (refund if vote passes)
Vote No (contribute anyways if vote passes)

If the vote fails to gain 80% approval then nothing happens.
If the vote does gain 80% approval then create a multi-sig tx paying from all the addresses which agree and refunding all the addresses which don't.  All members can verify the tx and sign it.  Once it has 80% of signatures the tx is valid and funds will be dispersed.

The trust comes with the last step.  Members "could" once they have 80% of signatures forward all funds (even of those who object) and refund nothing.  Since they have 80% of the keys the minority can't prevent that.  I don't believe multi-sig can remove that element of trust.


This would be the perfect way to implement something like this, but I think there won't be time to handle this particular case in this way.

Coming back to the island, the whole idea sounds really grandiloquent (maybe too much?), would be wonderful but may be easily the riskier thing I read on this forum (and this is something to say). It would be really nice to have a more detailed, better thought plan...
donator
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
May 16, 2012, 04:40:25 PM
#16
I have considered something like this for a long time.

Crowd funding something.

The idea would be to have a type of club where you purchase membership by contributing Bitcoins.

The Bitcoin wallet where all of the Bitcoins sit would require a key from each member in order for it to be spent.

Once the right opportunity comes along and enough BTC is accumulated, then the members of the club all enter their keys and the BTC gets transferred.

The main thing I cannot figure out is if one person wants to sabotage the project they can get their key and hold it over everyone else to either destroy the club or to use it as a bargaining chip to get the money released. The only solutions to this would be situations where not everyone who contributed gets what they want.

Simple solution just make it an n of m multi-sig address.  Set n to be something reasonable which still makes members feel safe like say 80%.

Yes, I thought of that. But the 20% that do not agree would be forced to have their money spent on something they do not want. I suppose it could work if you set up a way to send the money back to those who do not want what the final decision is. Perhaps the 80% threshold gets hit and then the BTC gets transferred toward the purchase and the other 20% goes to those addresses that did not agree on the final decision.

Very easy to do that and do it completely anonymously but it does require a little trust that the refund will be honored.
1) Setup an multi-sig address for the initial contributors (lets say there are 20 of them)
2) Everyone must contribute from an address which can receive payments back (i.e. no ewallets other than ones like StrongCoin).
3) So all 20 initial contributors have paid into the multi-sig address (16 are required to sign a tx).

Now if new contributors come along you simply create a new multi-sig address (i.e. 18 of 22) have the new contributors make their pledge deposit, and have current contributors sign a tx to forward funds to the new address.   

When a potential purchase is found call a vote.  Vote can be verified by having members sign their vote w/ private key of their deposit address.

The options are:
Vote Yes
Vote No (refund if vote passes)
Vote No (contribute anyways if vote passes)

If the vote fails to gain 80% approval then nothing happens.
If the vote does gain 80% approval then create a multi-sig tx paying from all the addresses which agree and refunding all the addresses which don't.  All members can verify the tx and sign it.  Once it has 80% of signatures the tx is valid and funds will be dispersed.

The trust comes with the last step.  Members "could" once they have 80% of signatures forward all funds (even of those who object) and refund nothing.  Since they have 80% of the keys the minority can't prevent that.  I don't believe multi-sig can remove that element of trust.
legendary
Activity: 3598
Merit: 2386
Viva Ut Vivas
May 16, 2012, 04:31:25 PM
#15
I have considered something like this for a long time.

Crowd funding something.

The idea would be to have a type of club where you purchase membership by contributing Bitcoins.

The Bitcoin wallet where all of the Bitcoins sit would require a key from each member in order for it to be spent.

Once the right opportunity comes along and enough BTC is accumulated, then the members of the club all enter their keys and the BTC gets transferred.

The main thing I cannot figure out is if one person wants to sabotage the project they can get their key and hold it over everyone else to either destroy the club or to use it as a bargaining chip to get the money released. The only solutions to this would be situations where not everyone who contributed gets what they want.

Simple solution just make it an n of m multi-sig address.  Set n to be something reasonable which still makes members feel safe like say 80%.

Yes, I thought of that. But the 20% that do not agree would be forced to have their money spent on something they do not want. I suppose it could work if you set up a way to send the money back to those who do not want what the final decision is. Perhaps the 80% threshold gets hit and then the BTC gets transferred toward the purchase and the other 20% goes to those addresses that did not agree on the final decision.
sr. member
Activity: 336
Merit: 250
May 16, 2012, 04:24:16 PM
#14
Shove it on GLBSE and if you can provide enough reason to trust you and some kind of business plan we will raise the money.

The main problem I see is that it would be empty for the majority of the year so you will need to be inventive to come up with a way to make money from it to keep shareholders happy.
This.
I'd throw a 10BTC your way just because I'd love to see something like this happen, but I don't think the community is likely to pitch in $200k on your word that you're using the money for an island...
donator
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
May 16, 2012, 04:06:02 PM
#13
I have considered something like this for a long time.

Crowd funding something.

The idea would be to have a type of club where you purchase membership by contributing Bitcoins.

The Bitcoin wallet where all of the Bitcoins sit would require a key from each member in order for it to be spent.

Once the right opportunity comes along and enough BTC is accumulated, then the members of the club all enter their keys and the BTC gets transferred.

The main thing I cannot figure out is if one person wants to sabotage the project they can get their key and hold it over everyone else to either destroy the club or to use it as a bargaining chip to get the money released. The only solutions to this would be situations where not everyone who contributed gets what they want.

Simple solution just make it an n of m multi-sig address.  Set n to be something reasonable which still makes members feel safe like say 80%.
legendary
Activity: 3598
Merit: 2386
Viva Ut Vivas
May 16, 2012, 04:04:27 PM
#12
I have considered something like this for a long time.

Crowd funding something.

The idea would be to have a type of club where you purchase membership by contributing Bitcoins.

The Bitcoin wallet where all of the Bitcoins sit would require a key from each member in order for it to be spent.

Once the right opportunity comes along and enough BTC is accumulated, then the members of the club all enter their keys and the BTC gets transferred.

The main thing I cannot figure out is if one person wants to sabotage the project they can get their key and hold it over everyone else to either destroy the club or to use it as a bargaining chip to get the money released. The only solutions to this would be situations where not everyone who contributed gets what they want.
legendary
Activity: 1792
Merit: 1000
May 16, 2012, 04:03:55 PM
#11
Can you imagine?  Grin

I would love for this community to crowd source something like this.  

If we had a clear business plan then I don't see why it isn't possible  Cool
donator
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1079
Gerald Davis
May 16, 2012, 04:03:31 PM
#10
Quote
And how would that work exactly? You know.. internet? Im guessing the nearest cell tower is a bit far.

Telestar-14 can hit it.



http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/t14_nam.html

PEW PEW.  Bitcoins from SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
legendary
Activity: 1708
Merit: 1010
May 16, 2012, 04:02:44 PM
#9
Bitcoin will be used on the island,

And how would that work exactly? You know.. internet? Im guessing the nearest cell tower is a bit far.

Internet access for a large group of users is relatively easy anywhere on earth except the poles, and even that isn't insurmoutable.  Still won't be as cheap as a mid-city broadband account, but the data for a minor bitcoin node shared by the group isn't an overwhelming burden.
hero member
Activity: 630
Merit: 500
May 16, 2012, 04:02:16 PM
#8
Bitcoin will be used on the island,

And how would that work exactly? You know.. internet? Im guessing the nearest cell tower is a bit far.
I thought the same thing.  No Internet at all there = bummer.  Would have to somehow do a bi-directional sattelite setup and those SUCK.
legendary
Activity: 1708
Merit: 1010
May 16, 2012, 03:59:35 PM
#7
If it isn't in international waters beyond the authority of an existing government, it serves no purpose in seasteading whatever.  Nice thought though.
hero member
Activity: 518
Merit: 500
May 16, 2012, 03:56:45 PM
#6
Bitcoin will be used on the island,

And how would that work exactly? You know.. internet? Im guessing the nearest cell tower is a bit far.
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