What's the update on funding efforts? (This is for Devs and MEW). With the effort that was put in over the last few days and continues to be put forth, I think some people might want to give back
A thank you can only go so far.
The devs (core team) and MEW are different entities. The funding requirements mainly arise from the work that is coordinated by the devs. The monthly burn rate for developing Monero by the 7 core team members and several specialists, is significant. So far there has not been an efficient mechanism for recouping the costs already paid by the devs, and supplying the ongoing efforts. Our developers are so great that it is not fitting for them to go around begging for donations, they have rather concentrated on their excellent work and paid the outside help from their own pocket.
A great reason for MEW to even exist is that it can support the development. 50% of MEW membership fees are directed to the developers from the onset. So joining MEW automatically aids the development. More than 2000 XMR are thus received, from the founding members alone.
MEW has a voting system where the community can vote on matters related to Monero. Some members have brought it to me (as Operational Executive, it is my job to arrange the voting if 10% of the votepower so requires) to exhort the devs that Monero software should be developed to include some or all of these:
- a one-time bonus block that gives coins to the development (similar to premine that the other coins have, but "post-mine" and smaller in percentage);
- Permanent diversion of some % of the block rewards to the development;
- Slowing of emission curve, whose side effect would be that coins mined prior to the change would be considered a sort of fast mine. At this point it might be able to rally the owners of the privileged coins to donate large chuncks to the developers, since their remaining coins may likely gain in value.
It must be further underlined that:
a) the
core team cannot stop the MEW members from taking whatever to be voted upon, so merely the fact that something is being discussed and/or voted in MEW, does not mean that the core team is at all behind it, and may be against it, or not even considered it.
b) if such proposal to do something with the software passes, the MEW's authority to
enforce it stops there. The developers may do whatever with their coin. Since some of the core team members are also in MEW, their voting may indicate whether the resolution is likely to be implemented in the core team.
The purpose of MEW is to be a legitimate and functional way to find out what the coin
owners think how things should be developed. The owners of the coin are an important peer group to the developers, eg. for a reason that the aggregate demand for ownership determines the market cap (price of the coin).
In any way you can donate to the developers directly to the donation address. Also hopefully even today, the MEW (in the mouth of David Latapie, the Members Executive) will announce that the membership is opened for everybody starting at 10 XMR entry fee.
Personally I believe excess funding leads to problems with prioritization, thus the "lean and hungry" approach will lead to better results. Concerning Monero, however, the funding situation has been ridiculous for too long already, and if the MEW is allowed to help, the problem will be put to rest even this year.
