[Math Lesson]
I want to explain some things that are very clear to me, but it seems that almost everybody else has come to the opposite conclusion. So, either my math is wrong, or nobody else has done the math.
The question is do we want everything in AE to be traded via NXT.
joefox is only partially correct that if the market wants this we cant stop a layer that hides the AssetA <-> NXT <-> AssetB transaction. If the market really wants this, there will be AssetA <-> AssetB direct trading. I already know how to do this.
Before you start slamming out a reply, please bear with me. I have a clarifying example.
Q1. Do you want USD assets to exist within NXT AE?
If you answered no, they you can skip reading the rest of this post and start flaming away. If you think having USD assets in AE might actually benefit NXT, here is
Q2. How much USD assets do you want deposited into NXT AE?
a) $100,000 USD
b) $1 million USD
c) $1 billion USD
If you answered a) or b), stop reading and start flaming away. If you answered c)
Q3. If all AE trades are denominated in NXT, then how do you propose actually dealing with $1 billion USD deposit.
If you can post a coherent answer to Q3 other than "NXT will be worth $10 billion and it will easily absorb $1 billion" then I might change my mind. I am not an economist, just a simple C programmer. When I write a program to deal with $1 billion of assets, but only have $30 to $50 million of NXT total and much, much, much less in active circulation, my conclusion is that if we limit AE trading to being just NXT, we will be lucky to have $1 million USD of assets deposited.
Q4. Are you still 100% sure that you want to restrict all AE trading to be in NXT?
James
Would I be correct in assuming the USD's would be introduced to the NXT network via your gateway?
I think that only NXT should be allowed for tender on NXT AE and for fees and for any other feature that are implemented on the NXT blockchain (market place, etc).
I have made this suggestion before, but I don't know if it is possible: Create a wallet /client that would facilitate holding, spending and receiving external assets, and assets created on the AE, and any coin created on top of the NXT network. In other words, a client that would work for USD's that were introduced through the gateway. This would allow for the use of USD's in purchasing goods and services on the NXT blockchain, with fees still paid in NXT. In this model, the AE would still have NXT as the base currency though, and NXT would still be the base currency for the network and there would be a common demand for NXT in at least as much as were needed to pay fees and make purchases on the AE, as well as any other demand that could be leveraged or that would come into existence organically.
The demand for NXT would increase as confidence in it increased. If NXT were backing a broad range of external assets, internal assets, and coins created to function within the NXT network, it would seemingly achieve this confidence by default. This leveraged demand would only be complimented by what is in my opinion, NXT's being a better form of currency than fiat and other cryptos.
Welcome back (soon)! 
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