Topic: The MPA (Market-Pegged Asset) Thread (Read 756 times)

Good thread idea.  How do the speeds and TPS compare?

you forgot $tethers

I disagree on multiple levels. I am not saying BitBay is not a possible solution to issuing MPAs, or at the very least a part of the solution, but I am just stating that other solutions are still necessary.

The most glaring issue is that there are hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies traded every day. It is impossible to easily extrapolate what percentage of that is FIAT/MPA-based, but a quick glance at coinmarketcap will give the impression it is at least tens to hundreds of millions of dollars. Bitbay's 24 hour volume is $84 (that is not a typo... they did eighty four dollars in volume the past 24 hours.) There is not nearly enough liquidity in the Bitbay token to take on a sizeable portion of trading. So what if someone can enter a contract on Bitbay for any currency/commodity/etc if they cannot easily get into or out of the Bitbay ecosystem.

Also, there needs to be multiple working solutions floating around.
Some users will prefer some implementations more than others for various reasons (see nubits vs bitusd threads).
Some implementations may fail (see Nubits... although I am still not convinced Nubits won't rebound and/or a more successful Nubits 2.0 rise to replace it which hopefully learns from Nubits 1.0's mistakes).
Some implementations will have more volume than others (to small traders it won't matter, but to larger traders it will).
In theory, the more implementations there are of MPAs, the more volume that will exist as a whole, as some users/traders will reject some implementations but embrace others.

I am not familiar with Bitbay, but MPAs need to have the ability to be easily sent and received just like any other cryptocurrency, because this opens up many other applications other than simply trading. For instance, being able to transact in a FIAT-based MPA allows e-commerce sites (or decentralized markets, etc) to transact in a stable cryptocurrency. Some users may not want to be subject to the wild swings of regular non-market-pegged cryptocurrencies. Etc...
Can these Bitbay contracts be easily transferred?

I am not sure that a market place is the best way to sell and buy MPAs, as users then have to wade through the marketplace just to get to where they can trade the MPAs. A trading/exchange interface that exists solely for MPAs seems more convenient and ideal.

Admittedly, I am not well versed in what is going on with Bitbay, but I refuse to agree with your simple statement that "Bitbay is the answer". You must understand that it is hard to believe that Bitbay (mainly intended to be a decentralized marketplace) is a better solution than all four of the projects (or sub-projects) listed in the OP whose only purpose is to facilitate the creation and trading of MPAs. As far as half of the projects listed in the OP... their entire existence has been pretty much dedicated to the creation of MPAs. Even if it were true that Bitbay is the best solution, I believe that the community/ecosystem will be better off if more solutions/implementations exist rather than only one or a couple.... for multiple reasons, some of which I listed above.

I don't think you need MPA's for every currency or commodity. In BitBay we have already had contracts where we have longed and shorted other currencies. It's safe for both parties because of the double deposit escrow (no third party). Soon anyone that knows python can write their own smart contracts in BitBay, allowing a whole new level of complexity.

In another thread, the Decentralized Exchange (DEX) thread, I outline the projects aiming to eliminate the need for trusted third parties from cryptocurrency exchange and why they are necessary. Consider that this thread's "sister thread" (https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/the-dex-decentralized-exchange-thread-1338970). However, I think it is important to split up the topics. No matter what DEX solution ends up being most popular/ideal, it has no bearing on which Market-Pegged Asset (MPAs) solution is most popular/ideal. They should each be judged separately, and then combined to form the most ideal solution. Thus, two threads are needed so the judging is of each components is not commingled or tainted.

Functional MPAs, or in other words derivatives, must exist in order to eliminate the need for trusted third parties in cryptocurrency commerce and trading. What exactly are market-pegged assets you say? The definition that will be used in this thread is any cryptocurrency-like token that closely resembles the value of its real-life counterpart (USD, EUR, Gold, Silver, GOOG, AAPL, NASDAQ, S&P 500, etc.) over an extended period of time in an autonomous, free market-based and decentralized manner.

Why are MPAs necessary? The whole point of using a DEX is to rid ourselves of trusted third parties. Trusted third parties (centralized exchanges) inevitably result in the exchange being hacked or theft of the cryptocurrencies traded, and therefore end in insolvency. It is not a matter of if, but instead a matter of when. MPAs are necessary in order for market participants to have a similar trading experience as they are accustomed to today, and to allow them the flexibility of being able to diversify their wallet or investment portfolio. Ideally, someone should be able to store value in stable-value MPAs, commodity-based MPAs, stock-based MPAs, and index fund-based MPAs (among others.) MPAs also open the door to many different use cases and have essentially an unlimited amount of utility, bounded only by our imagination. For instance, being able to transact in a FIAT-based MPA allows e-commerce sites (or decentralized markets, etc,) to transact in a stable cryptocurrency. Some users may not want to be subject to the wild swings of regular non-market-pegged cryptocurrencies. There are many use cases for MPAs that have nothing to do with DEXs.

This thread is intended to track the development and features of MPAs. Feel free to bump the thread with updates or new projects. I am not really sure which design is best at this point. This is intended to be a neutral thread, but feel free to discuss the pros and cons of each implementation. Which design is the best, or is the best solution yet to come? What ideas (if any) do you have to improve the MPAs' designs? Do you know of any other MPAs in existence/development?



(in alphabetical order)


Bitcoindark's PAX (Pegged Assets Exchange)
Status: Vaporware
FAQ: http://bitcoindark.com/pax-faq.html
Infographic: http://bitcoindark.com/docs/pax-infographic.png
Website: http://bitcoindark.com/

Synopsis to come as soon as I have time...

Bitshares' SmartCoins
Status: Released
SmartCoin Overview: https://bitshares.org/technology/price-stable-cryptocurrencies/
Bitshares Whitepaper: http://docs.bitshares.eu/_downloads/bitshares-financial-platform.pdf
Website: https://bitshares.org/

Synopsis to come as soon as I have time...

MakerDAO's Dai
Status: Vaporware
Whitepaper: https://makerdao.github.io/docs/
Website: https://makerdao.com/

Synopsis to come as soon as I have time...

Nushares' Nubits
Status: Released, but in dire straights as of recently
Whitepaper: https://www.nubits.com/assets/nu-whitepaper-23_sept_2014-en.pdf
FAQ: https://www.nubits.com/about/faqs
Website: https://www.nubits.com/

Synopsis to come as soon as I have time...





Please reply with any other solutions, comments, concerns, or questions.