Confirmed... Thanks!  I now know that the wallet works. 

GSD1LFbZ3MAG665FpVXj1gafyedh2hKZhe

Any further thoughts?  Did we experience some sort of hard fork over three weeks ago after block 72160, and are we now in a circumstance where brand new users can't synchronize with the network?

Contents of FoxCoin.conf:

addnode=pool.us.hackshard.com
addnode=pool.eu.hackshard.com
addnode=5.135.153.118
addnode=123.176.103.130
addnode=174.60.84.23
addnode=node-us.foxcoin.info
addnode=node-us2.foxcoin.info
addnode=176.9.189.114
addnode=109.235.64.156
addnode=217.172.183.11
addnode=5.135.153.118
addnode=216.244.74.180
addnode=69.64.38.78
addnode=190.97.165.170
addnode=98.215.74.213
addnode=76.120.23.46
addnode=94.230.253.169
addnode=95.95.107.190
addnode=83.227.7.146
addnode=217.198.117.29

I have several major issues at the moment.

First and foremost, I cannot synchronize the wallet past blockheight 72160, no matter what I do.  I've gone so far as to back up and then delete all of my FoxCoin data, perform a fresh install of version 1.6.0 and let it attempt to synchronize.  Always, without fail, the synch stops at 72160 exactly, with a block time of Tue Mar 11 17:44:34 2014

Thinking it might initially have been wallet corruption, I made a new wallet and tried again.  No joy.

To add insult to injury, I tried to bring the keys from my old wallet across using dumpprivkey and then importprivkey in the new wallet.  No matter what, I always got the following message on the import attempt:

 {"code":-5,"message":"Invalid private key"}

I have included in the foxcoin.conf addnode lines for every node listed in the first post, in the infrastructure section on foxcoin.info, and even off of the screenshots I saw on the thread on page 74.  Nothing makes a difference.

I see no way forward, and no way back.

I cannot see it making sense to continue mining a coin that I cannot (at this point) ever spend, transfer, or otherwise interact with.
It looks like a 100% loss of all of the mining effort I have applied up until this point, which seems like the worst-case failure scenario for any coin, ever.

What say you, AnonyFox?

The corollary to that low difficulty is that the total network hash rate is back down to a low rate, which shows that not many people are interested in applying hashing power to the coin.  That's the whole point of the Kimoto Gravity Well: to quickly adjust difficulty to match up with the total network hashing power, which acts as a counter-force to those who engage in pool hopping.

Those of us who stick with the coin when others lose interest gain some benefits, but without a solid base of well-distributed hashing power, the coin will remain at risk of a 51% attack, and with a very low total network hash rate (as we see with these very small difficulties), that risk amplifies substantially.

We can't have our cake and eat it too... to be successful long-term, the coin needs enough interest from the crypto-currency community of miners to get them to devote some significant amount of hashing power.  That's why I was happy to see that (brief) spike up to the 250 Mhash range, since it indicated renewed interest.  That has dropped now to less than 10% of that value, and I've seen it as low as 5% of that.

Despite AnonyFox's complaints about "price hype", we have problems to solve if the coin is going to avoid collapse from multiple 51% attacks... and that calls for getting a LOT more people to pay attention and mine it, and having a rising trading value for the coin is one of the historically most successful means of attracting attention.  Sure a lot of it will fall away eventually when they see that the Kimoto Gravity Well makes it less exploitable from a difficulty-manipulation standpoint, but some of them would be likely to stick around.

I think we need the big surge in interest if only to attract the small subset of those who will stick around in the long-term, establish a strong mining base to make the coin secure, and then move on to the next tier: adding USPs and distinctiveness to get word-of-mouth going from OUTSIDE the current crypto-currency community, and get users who have never mined anything before to get their feet wet via in-wallet mining of FoxCoin.  Just my two Fox, mind you.

I think the goal of having FoxCoin be an innovative alternative currency with multiple uses (i.e. widely accepted) is one that I very strongly support.  The question is how do we get to that point?  Personally, I don't think it helps the potential future of the coin to act as if the word "profit" is somehow a dirty word... and demonization of profit is (IMO) far more likely to strangle FoxCoin in its crib than it is to help it grow.

I realize that FoxCoin is designed specifically to combat the flash-in-the-pan syndrome that seems to afflict so many of the newer altcoins, and I think that's a good thing.  I'd like to see FoxCoin continuing on long after the majority of the currently-listed altcoins on CoinMarketCap have faded into oblivion.  So I agree that a tulip-bulb mania style bubble inflating and popping isn't in the long-term interest of the FoxCoin community.  I don't want that at all.

That being said, you've got a chicken-and-egg problem here that is made much worse by taking a position that anyone interested in profit is rather unwelcome and will be "actively opposed".

Here's how I see it:  For FoxCoin to have a long future, it needs a solid base of people devoting their resources to mining it, rather than to mining any of the other 150+ altcoins that are out there.  It also needs to have an established base of people who are interested in having the coin itself in their possession. How does FoxCoin get to that point?

There's been quite an effort to get the coin listed on various exchanges... why?  You've just slammed someone in your community over selling the coin early and wanting to learn from that experience by positioning themselves better in the future to help minimize regret.  I don't know of anyone who is interested in trading altcoins with a goal of of being unprofitable, yet you seem to be treating the notion of trying to come out on the positive side of trading as some kind of badge of shame.

Why seek to get the coin listed on exchanges if you don't want anyone to exchange the coin? Every time someone sells a FoxCoin, someone else is buying a FoxCoin. I would think that should be seen as a good thing, as it shows a spreading interest in the future of the coin itself. 

When a coin is in the early stages, as FoxCoin is, with a wide variety of other coins competing for mining resources, it seems to me that the number-one thing that the coin needs is to attract attention and interest... miners will generally need a good reason to specifically mine FoxCoin as opposed to other coins.  If you take the position that no one who would rather have FoxCoin be worth more (i.e. interested in "profit") is welcome in your community, it seems like you're making an active effort to drive miners AWAY rather than attract them.

For a coin to be attractive to mine, there seem to be two primary drivers: I can spend these mined coins today on services or goods in such a way that my net cost is lower than using fiat currency (which is another way of saying that mining the coins is a net profitable transaction because it lowers my costs), or I can hold the coins until later, in the hopes that the value will grow over time and then I can spend them, again creating a scenario where the action is in my best interest precisely because it represents a net profit.  Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" is not evil, but an enlightened self-interest in profit is crucial to understanding why it works.

For someone to spend their FoxCoins on goods or services, merchants have to be interested in accepting it.  Is the merchant unwelcome if they expect that accepting the coin will lead them to a net profit?  Is a potential customer of that merchant unwelcome to mine FoxCoin if they think doing so allows them to make a more profitable transaction?

I don't see much hope for attracting merchants with an attitude like that, or attracting interest in mining the coin, either.

I've pointed out before that I think the key to making FoxCoin successful is establishing the USPs that will make people want to mine it (and hopefully, to keep mining it).  I'd like to help in that regard, but I'm disinclined to do so if you're interested in trying to treat me as an enemy.  I'm not.

I'm a wee little miner in the grand scheme.  My total mining power hasn't increased in ages, and I'm under 300kh today.  I've never bought a crypto-currency, nor have I even traded one crypto-currency for another one.  I've never bought dedicated hardware for the purpose of mining either, I've always mined on existing hardware I already had.

I have mined and spent coins, but doing so costs me money in direct electricity costs, and marginally for cooling in the summer from running an extra PC that otherwise would not need to be on.  It would be irrational of me to do so if it represented a net financial loss to me... that's just a waste.  I mine because I get a positive marginal utility from it, or in other words, because it is a net profitable transaction to do so.


I would submit that if you think anyone who is interested in profit is "stifling your progress to the goal", then the real person who is stifling progress is probably you.  I think you can ill-afford to alienate almost everyone else who is involved in crypto-currencies or even involved in any form of capitalism itself, and whether they know it or not, all of those folks are interested in profit.

If you want to be innovative, and add distinctiveness to the coin, I encourage you to do so without reservation.  No one else but you seems to be stopping you.  Develop the features and implement them.

I have quite a few ideas for suggestions, innovations and features which (I believe) could help FoxCoin become a true long term stand-out in the world of altcoins... but I am quite unwilling to help out if my expected reward for doing so is to have you or others metaphorically spit in my face for having the sheer gall of wanting to end up profiting from my contributions.

In the end, it's up to you, AnonyFox.  Perhaps you should re-examine your premises and determine what is truly most important to you in this endeavor, and what serves to further that goal.

If I'm reading the order book at Poloniex right, it would take only 4.76 BTC in a buy to push the price up over 0.0082 mBTC, which would put FoxCoin into the top 100 and on the front page... and at current BTC prices, that's just less that $3,000 worth.

So this looks like it could be pushed into taking off surprisingly fast.   

The next big bump with respect to visibility on CoinMarketCap will be to have the valuation for the total FoxCoin market be large enough to put it on the front page (among the top 100).

Where things stand now, that would require having the total valuation (between increases in total coins and coin price) go up by a factor of about 5.8x from today's initial reported values.  That would move FoxCoin up to position 99 on the list, and make it a bit more "discoverable".

FoxCoin is now listed on CoinMarketCap, at the time of this post it is the 132nd biggest currency out of 154 (you have to hit "Next 100" or "View All" at the bottom of the page to get it to show up.

Now is when it starts getting interesting.  I suspect that the recent spike in hash rate has a LOT to do with it showing up there... that's a bellwether I've been waiting for!

 

In order to be effectively marketed, the coin needs something truly distinctive to set it apart from the slew of other alt-coins out there.  People need a reason to focus on it, and long-term mining strength is going to come from people recognizing that good reason.

I think that if AnonyFox settles out what the USPs (Unique Selling Points) are going to be long-term for this coin, and gets a good level of shine and polish on everything associated with that, the coin has a wonderful future.  Personally, I think the idea of making the coin ultra-easy to get started with for people who have never done anything at all in crypto-currencies stands the greatest chance for a solid USP.

Solid GPU mining from the wallet (with near-zero prior knowledge about mining required from the user) could be a great way to get a bunch of people involved.  While that may be a goal, I think we're still a long way from getting there.  The starting post in this thread is a good example... there are simply too many things listed there which won't make any sense at all to people who aren't already deeply involved in crypto-currencies, and some of them will even elude people with moderate experience levels.

When trying to reach out to new people, it's important to make as few assumptions as possible regarding what will be "obvious" to them.  "Easy to use" is one of the toughest goals to achieve, but if it is done right, it can be EXTREMELY powerful.

Per Wikipedia, a group of foxes is referred to as a skulk, leash, troop, or earth.  I've personally heard them referred to as a pack as well, which seems appropriate since they are in the Canidae family.  Herd is usually used for prey animals rather than hunters, and I've never heard of a "herd of foxes".

Just an observation... if we are trying to appeal to fans of foxes, having the naming more accurate would likely help at the margins.

Regarding acceptance and promotion of the coin: with the huge flood of altcoins we are experiencing, Foxcoin needs multiple Unique Selling Points (USPs) to help set it apart from others, and give people a good reason to choose mining it over other coins.

The smooth downward glide path is one, and it very nicely fixes the "reward cut in half cliff" that so many coins experience as they hit those milestones.  The graphics are very nice, and the commitment that is being shown to incorporate mining information and controls directly with the wallet can serve as another, as they are fleshed out.  The Kimoto Gravity Well for adjusting difficulty is also nice, but not as unique these days.

I think we need a bit more to help establish "stickyness" for the coin.  That's part of why I proposed Fox Blocks for boosted rewards, https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=420727.msg4846415#msg4846415.

AnonyFox has said that he'd consider implementing it if it received some solid feedback on the idea from the community, and having the possibility of bigger rewards popping up periodically would seem to make it more attractive, and thus easier to promote.

I haven't seen anyone post anything else in regard to the idea (good, bad or indifferent).  I've heard a lot of chatter about getting it on exchanges, but if there's not much interest in the coin itself, it's going to be that much less likely to have it added to any significant exchange.

So the best-case path from my perspective would seem to be:

1.  Make the coin and associated software as interesting/fun/attractive as we can
2.  Use the distinctive USPs of the coin (what we have now, plus stuff from point 1) to promote it.
3.  Show growth in the community, both mining and commentary, as well as on the official website.
4.  Leverage that growth in community to get more interest from more major exchanges
5.  Ride the upward spiral in interest that comes from people seeing it available on those exchanges.

Frankly, I think we're still at point 1 in the trajectory.  The low difficulty has been nice personally as a low-power miner, since there are proportionately higher rewards per day.  But if it falls much further, it may be in danger of simply collapsing or ending up with one or more 51% attacks giving the coin a major blemish on its reputation from early on.

I see lots of possibilities for this coin becoming nicely distinctive... but that calls for interest and participation from the community in MAKING it more distinctive.

Will you do your part? Perhaps starting with letting AnonyFox know what you think about the Fox Blocks idea for superblock rewards?

Thanks in advance!

I'd like to offer a set of suggestions regarding random Superblocks that I think would fit well with the coin.

For those of us who work regularly with hexadecimal, it's common to hear someone refer to a 0xF character as a "Fox".  What I'd like to propose for random rewards to help increase interest and enthusiasm is the concept of "Fox Blocks".

When a new block is solved, if the first hex character of that block is F, that block is a "Fox Block", and will pay a bonus amount equal to a multiple of the block reward that would have otherwise been paid.  At a target 60 seconds per block, that would happen roughly once every 16 minutes, or about 4 times per hour.  I'd like to suggest a base multiple of 4, so if the current block reward was 240 Foxes, a base Fox Block would pay out 4*240 or 960 Foxes.

For additional interest, this can be extended... if the first TWO characters of the block are FF, that could be something like a "SuperFox block", and pay a higher multiple, like 16.  At a frequency of roughly every 256 minutes, those would show up about six times per day.  A block starting with "FFF" might be an "UltraFox block", and pay something like a multiple of 64 over the current reward.

A structure like this accomplishes multiple things:

1.  The super-block reward structure meshes nicely with the current logo for the coin... the F is important, and the vertical lines next to it create the impression of "stacking", which is how the super-block reward system works.

2.  Since people using a command-line miner can actually see the start of the address of the currently-being-worked block, they can notice when a Fox Block is about to be found, and can "root for" their miner or pool to pick up the bonus.

3.  Given that the address of the next few blocks are inherently unpredictable, this randomization strategy helps to prevent the whales from putting their hashing power elsewhere and only switching to Fox mining when they know that a superblock is set to be mined soon (as happens with the superblock strategies of "every 1000th block is a superblock").

4.  Since this doesn't interact directly with difficulty, even a solo miner or those with lower hash rates could end up finding a high-reward block in the first few seconds of mining, spiking the interest in continuing to mine even for low-powered miners.

5.  Rewards that happen irregularly (with large deviations in amount above typical) have been shown in video game studies to greatly enhance the attentional value of the player... this is the basis for the "addictiveness" of activities like this.  High attention due to taking advantage of this reward mechanic might help keep hashing power more dedicated to the coin itself.

6.  Even though the individual rewards are high in this kind of strategy on the upper tiers, the total increase in coin volume per unit time remains relatively low.  For the three tiers I outlined, the coin reward rate per unit time increases by less than 25% (24.6%)... and it's still less than 25% higher even if you add a fourth tier for FFFF at a payout of 256 times normal.

7.  The base block reward continues with its smooth downward trajectory, so we still have a clean glide-path down in base rewards, and the Fox Blocks scale themselves down in tandem, since they are even multiples of the current block reward.

8.  The finite amount of Foxcoins that will be mined can still be maintained... this simply pulls the endpoint for when that happens towards us in time.... over 280 years to see it fully mined out isn't a terribly realistic target as it stands (IMO).

9.  The tiered structure gives natural variation to the size and frequency higher rewards... 4x rewards showing up about 4 times per hour gives regular reinforcement, 16x rewards about six times per day gives a stronger reward signal six times per day or so (still frequent enough to feel like one is "right around the corner") and a large reward of 64x normal still shows up more often than every three days on average, so they aren't super-rare and feel entirely plausible.  (A FFFF tier would only show up every 45 days or so on average, so the much higher jackpot might not seem as plausible to happen any time soon.)

What do you think, sirs?

TorVek
FOX: wuVRXki63Wz7j5xG2Auod9TqGk1zkDkvc6