Money supplyThe total number of bytes is 10
15, all bytes will be issued in the genesis transaction. Since the fees paid are returned into the circulation, the money supply will remain the same.
Initial distributionThere will be no ICO, no crowdsale. I believe the success of a currency depends on the number of people who own it, in fact Peter R’s research suggests that historical marketcap of Bitcoin follows
Metcalfe's law:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/empiricalmathematical-method-to-choose-which-cryptocurrency-community-to-join-572106, i.e. it is proportional to the square of the number of active users. That’s why I want Byteball to be in the hands of as many people as possible:
- 98% of all bytes and blackbytes (the private untraceable currency) will be distributed among bitcoin holders who link their bitcoin and byteball addresses before any of the distribution rounds. No investment required, you keep your bitcoins, plus receive the bytes and blackbytes. See below how to receive the coins.
- 1% I reserve for myself
Current statusThe network was launched on December 25, 2016, and 10% of bytes and blackbytes distributed to those who linked their Bitcoin and Byteball addresses. The total balance linked was over 70,000 BTC.
Participation in Byteball distributionIf you missed the 1st round of distribution, you can still participate in the further rounds. If you were in the 1st round, you can multiply your holdings. In the second round, which is expected in mid-February, you receive:
- 62.5 MB for every 1 BTC of proven balance
- 0.1 new bytes for every 1 byte (received in the 1st round)
To participate, link your Byteball and Bitcoin addresses before the second round:
1. Download and install the wallet by following the above links.
2. Visit
https://byteball.org and click the link to chat with the Transition Bot. The link will open the new wallet and start a chat. Follow the instructions of the Transition Bot to prove your Bitcoin balance.
You have two options to prove your Bitcoin balance:
a. By making a micropayment. The bot will see your address the payment came from, will know that it is your address, and will instruct you to move your Bitcoins to this address. By making several micropayments, you can link several Bitcoin addresses to the same Byteball address.
b. By signing a message (if your Bitcoin wallet supports this function). You tell the bot your Bitcoin address and sign your Byteball address with the Bitcoin address. After you prove one address (a typical Bitcoin wallet has dozens of them), you can either move all your coins to this single proven address or prove all other addresses in the same way -- by signing a message.
If you try to link the same Bitcoin address to multiple Byteball addresses, both links are ignored. If you did this by mistake, link another Bitcoin address.
If you prove by micropayment, remember to check that the Bitcoin address that the bot received the micropayment from, is indeed your address. An attacker might see your payment on the blockchain and repeat the same micropayment from his address trying to trick you to move your funds to him.
3. If you make any Bitcoin payment, your coins will most likely be moved to a new change address. Chat with the bot again, see the balance on your linked address(es) and move the coins back to the linked address(es) if necessary.
The linking phase will end in mid February (exact date to be announced later), after which we'll do the distribution in proportion to BTC and bytes balances on the distribution date.
In the second round, we'll distribute as much as is linked and calculated by the above rules, the exact % is not known in advance.
The 3rd and subsequent rounds (yet to be announced) will follow similar rules, but the relative weight of bytes vs. BTC in the 3rd and further rounds will change and will gradually increase to 1 BTC=62.5 MB. It will be selected to maximize the value of bytes and keep the speed of distribution in sync with the growth of user base and the actual use of the network. The ratio 62.5 MB per 1 BTC is chosen so that the total money supply of bytes (10
15) and the total number of BTC in circulation (16,000,000) are equivalent.
We'll have as many rounds as is necessary until all bytes are distributed, the rounds will be spaced 1 to 2 months.
My 1% doesn't participate in the 2nd and further rounds.
Earlier adopters have the opportunity to participate in greater number of distribution rounds and receive new bytes in each round by using the same BTC balance and bytes received in the previous rounds. You are effectively multiplying your stake in each additional round you take part in.
Track the progress of linking at
http://transition.byteball.org.