What happens if someone starts another blockchain or cryptocurrency? - page 3.

FreeMoney

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Quote from: cunicula on March 29, 2012, 11:07:02 PM

Quote from: FreeMoney on March 29, 2012, 03:35:32 PM

The cleverest way to bootstrap (handle initial distribution) imo would be to allow people to buy in to the new chain by destroying their bitcoins in a specified manner to 'move' them into the new chain. But really that is just a way to allow people a one-way ticket into a breaking change version of Bitcoin, not a completely new system.

Bitcoin isn't really working. I've been around here for a long time now and still don't see much growth in real economic activity outside of speculation. This might be fixable with a better distribution scheme.

IMO, cleverest way of handling initial distribution is to force miners to give away money to merchants who agree to accept the currency. Starting will small-time merchants and working up gradually to more important merchants as the currency becomes more valuable. Possible mechanism described here:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.825936

Of course, bitcoin tries to do this through voluntary participation already. It is clear fail. People don't volunteer to give away significant amounts. You need to compel them.

Ok, me me me I'm a merchant.

Maybe it is a clue that people are speculating that it's going to get a lot bigger? They don't spend money for no reason you know.

cunicula

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Quote from: FreeMoney on March 29, 2012, 03:35:32 PM

The cleverest way to bootstrap (handle initial distribution) imo would be to allow people to buy in to the new chain by destroying their bitcoins in a specified manner to 'move' them into the new chain. But really that is just a way to allow people a one-way ticket into a breaking change version of Bitcoin, not a completely new system.

Bitcoin isn't really working. I've been around here for a long time now and still don't see much growth in real economic activity outside of speculation. This might be fixable with a better distribution scheme.

IMO, cleverest way of handling initial distribution is to force miners to give away money to merchants who agree to accept the currency. Starting will small-time merchants and working up gradually to more important merchants as the currency becomes more valuable. Possible mechanism described here:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.825936

Of course, bitcoin tries to do this through voluntary participation already. It is clear fail. People don't volunteer to give away significant amounts. You need to compel them.

FreeMoney

legendary

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Quote from: coretechs on March 29, 2012, 04:21:19 PM

Quote

I think the cleverest way to bootstrap would be to pick a bitcoin block and then look at the bitcoin balances of that block and copy them to the new genesis block. Then every bitcoin user would become a newcoin user automatically and they would be inclined to at the very least install the new client, copy their private keys to it and sell their newcoins.

I'm not sure what you are suggesting with "pick a bitcoin block". A block only contains a subset of transactions that happened since the prior block was solved.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_bitcoin_works

He just means pick a point in time marked by block number.

FreeMoney

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Quote from: 2_Thumbs_Up on March 29, 2012, 04:11:01 PM

Quote from: FreeMoney on March 29, 2012, 03:35:32 PM

The cleverest way to bootstrap (handle initial distribution) imo would be to allow people to buy in to the new chain by destroying their bitcoins in a specified manner to 'move' them into the new chain. But really that is just a way to allow people a one-way ticket into a breaking change version of Bitcoin, not a completely new system.

I think the cleverest way to bootstrap would be to pick a bitcoin block and then look at the bitcoin balances of that block and copy them to the new genesis block. Then every bitcoin user would become a newcoin user automatically and they would be inclined to at the very least install the new client, copy their private keys to it and sell their newcoins.

It might work, but you get a flood of newcoins that way (maybe not terrible I don't know). In the way I mentioned you get new newcoins whenever they are worth more than a bitcoin (because people will 'convert' bitocins then). But since bitcoin has no such feature it is a one way street and eventually you'll get the goodness of newcoin (whatever that may be) and the wide distribution of bitcoin and network effects.

coretechs

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Quote

I think the cleverest way to bootstrap would be to pick a bitcoin block and then look at the bitcoin balances of that block and copy them to the new genesis block. Then every bitcoin user would become a newcoin user automatically and they would be inclined to at the very least install the new client, copy their private keys to it and sell their newcoins.

I'm not sure what you are suggesting with "pick a bitcoin block". A block only contains a subset of transactions that happened since the prior block was solved.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/How_bitcoin_works

2_Thumbs_Up

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Quote from: FreeMoney on March 29, 2012, 03:35:32 PM

The cleverest way to bootstrap (handle initial distribution) imo would be to allow people to buy in to the new chain by destroying their bitcoins in a specified manner to 'move' them into the new chain. But really that is just a way to allow people a one-way ticket into a breaking change version of Bitcoin, not a completely new system.

I think the cleverest way to bootstrap would be to pick a bitcoin block and then look at the bitcoin balances of that block and copy them to the new genesis block. Then every bitcoin user would become a newcoin user automatically and they would be inclined to at the very least install the new client, copy their private keys to it and sell their newcoins.

Portnoy

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My money; Our Bitcoin.

Quote from: FreeMoney on March 29, 2012, 03:35:32 PM

My brief answer is that barring a revolutionary improvement it makes sense (from BOTH their own selfish perspective and the perspective of others) for each person to join the largest network if they are identical or similar.

It would already require a large improvement that was not possible to make to the existing bitcoin network.

The cleverest way to bootstrap (handle initial distribution) imo would be to allow people to buy in to the new chain by destroying their bitcoins in a specified manner to 'move' them into the new chain. But really that is just a way to allow people a one-way ticket into a breaking change version of Bitcoin, not a completely new system.

Yes this is the way I feel when I hear people say things like, "We need this new cryptocurrency to solve this problem X with Bitcoin".

If there is a recognized problem with the Bitcoin protocol as it is why not just fix the problem with it instead of creating something new.
That way people won't have to worry about being stuck with coins of an obsolete cryptocurrency.

Another question about alternative cryptocurrencies is, how much is it about solving some particular problem and how
much is it about trying to make a quick profit by getting people excited about the next big thing which could take off?

I notice many people refer to many of these alternatives as "scamcoins".

FreeMoney

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Or you could title the thread "What happened when someone started another chain" :p

My brief answer is that barring a revolutionary improvement it makes sense (from BOTH their own selfish perspective and the perspective of others) for each person to join the largest network if they are identical or similar.

It would already require a large improvement that was not possible to make to the existing bitcoin network.

The cleverest way to bootstrap (handle initial distribution) imo would be to allow people to buy in to the new chain by destroying their bitcoins in a specified manner to 'move' them into the new chain. But really that is just a way to allow people a one-way ticket into a breaking change version of Bitcoin, not a completely new system.

Portnoy

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My money; Our Bitcoin.

Well there have been other cryptocurrencies started. Some have come and gone and others still exist.

Some seem to complement, or seek to serve another purpose from that of Bitcoin (e.g. namecoin),
while others seem to want to compete with it.

Is the Network Effect enough to protect Bitcoin?

Is this something to be concerned about, now or in the future?

Topic: What happens if someone starts another blockchain or cryptocurrency? - page 3. (Read 16602 times)