Anybody ever heard of Yacoin?
Hey everybody. I haven't posted on this forum in a few months, but I wanted to contact this community about something really important.
First, I'm sure all of you know what bitcoin is, so I won't explain what "cryptocurrency" means. Anyway, over the past year or so, many people who have never used free software before started to use bitcoins. I'm sure they were amazed out how powerful democratic consensus can be when combined with free trade and free software.
Unfortunately, I think almost noone realized that the reason bitcoin succeeded is not because it's just that great. It's because it built on the free software and information that came before it. Because these people do not understand that they shouldn't expect its future to mimic a stock, company, or "software product". they ignore the other currencies that have been created. A handful of these new peer-to-peer technologies have made crucial innovations that, honestly, render bitcoin obsolete.
I would like to encourage all the activists that read this thread to investigate all that is happening in the cryptocurrency world. It is really our responsibility to help as many people understand what it can mean to the world.
Second,
to those of you who already know about Peercoin and it's proof-of-stake protocol, I would like to make sure all of you know about what is happening to one of its forks, Yacoin. Despite its unusual name, I can assure you that its technical features (like its dynamic mining algorithm, first of its kind) render it the most viable cryptocurrency yet made. It has the potential to have a more decentralized distribution and function than any other kind of money, electronic or otherwise.
Right now, several things threaten its success. Cryptsy has removed it (for no apparent reason, which makes conspiracy theorists like me raise an eyebrow), trolls hate it, and almost no one knows about it.
While it is undeniable true that I have financial incentives to talk about it, I hope your social ideals drive you to learn more.
Thanks for letting me rant. And remember, as soon as something technologically better than Yacoin comes along, I will most certainly upgrade, even if it means losing money.
Hrm, it looks like YAC is back on cryptsy (?). Cryptsy is still way too shady to take seriously. I mean, really, as if they don't know that Goldcoin is a scam.
cryptolife.net (This website has some great info, but its author behaves like a pump-and-dumper sometimes. Beware)
Eem.
I don't quite know, mate. For those people who are in the field and heard of cryptocurrencies, those coins seems like either a threat or hope. Either way, it's part of the revolution which will not be televized.
cryptocoins are here to stay, because it's an invention that can't be un-invented. Not the protocol, not the way a protocol is being used to transfer tokens of value or wealth.. but in the end, it doesn't matter which one of these coins will be "the last one standing", it's the outcome that matters for me - which to me is to give power to us the users. The same core value as free software movement advocates.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that people already use the protocol as transferring wealth quickly. I've also heard of BitMessage, which uses the protocol for message transferring. Dan Kaminsky said as a sidenote-suggestion in a defcon speech, that a BitcoinFS is totally possible, but have we explored such things or other wild uses of bockchain?
What I would like more people to realize is that the bitcoin network and, by extension, almost all cryptocurrencies can be easily compromised. Either through blockchain spam, 51% attacks, or selfish miner exploits. (Details about these can be found on peercoin's new website and forums) Proof-of-stake mechanisms patch most of these vulnerabilities, but they do not solve the centralization problem that ASIC's and other technologies pose.
Yacoin is the first (and only, to my knowledge) problem to more fully ensure equal opportunity, low-startup-cost mining. It does this by utilizing a mining algorithm that changes its own memory requirements on a schedule. I think those of us who are able to understand these issues should take it upon ourselves to share our knowledge with the ignorant majority of users. Now is a great chance to reach out to cryptocurrency enthusiasts and help them see the bigger picture of the ideals of crypto-anarchy.
Thanks again.