Now live on Factom.com:

https://www.factom.com/dhs-st-awards-199k-to-factom-inc/

It's in use and increasing in use every month: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RUZLxxoAfT3C5jIJ144DLYdztYe_sqrKqbTlZuD05-s/edit#gid=445871101

0 Factom are being generated right now.  Some are being burned and destroyed.  Once milestone 3 goes live, 73,000 FCT will be generated per month.

The news broke late Friday.  I suspect most of the team has taken the weekend off as it looks like they're going to have a busy week.  Point being, I'm sure it'll be linked to on Monday.

Good find.

While those sums will eventually be drops in the bucket for Factom, when in startup mode, every bit helps.

If it was determined that Factom was communicating privately with people on a forum like you describe and providing information that wasn't available to the public at large, it would create a huge credibility, trust, and potentially even legal issue.

These are the guys who are going to be trusted to, "Make the world's systems honest".  To say that their i's need dotted and t's crossed is the understatement of the year.

Some of the early choices Factom made such as all the, "Community Leaders" (and some other things) made me worry that this was an amateur operation.  It would appear to me that some seasoned businessmen have since got involved and are working to cross those t's and i's.  I wouldn't take it personally that they aren't actively communicating with you and giving you inside info.  However, if they are moving away from utilizing community leaders, a well-worded email to each of you would have likely paid dividends.

To those who are upset with the lack of communication from Factom, if I was a seed round investor or performing due diligence in anticipation of taking part in a series A round, I assure you, after reading some of the earlier communication from them, they would have gotten a phone call along the lines of, "You guys need to learn to shut the fuck up."

I suspect something along those lines has transpired.  I realize it would be comforting to have some degree of reassurance from Factom, but their current approach is better for those of us in this for the long haul.

I realize many in the Cryptosphere aren't big fans of the government and regulation and I can understand why.  But what Factom is developing is a bit different and they're smart to take a more middle-ground approach.  These aren't people creating a something like a digital currency for pot growers.  These are people creating a means for data, especially data created by business and governments, to be secured and auditable.  As such, to sell on news that they're working with the government would imply that there isn't an understanding of what Factom is being designed to do.

This is huge.  A USA government agency funding a cryptocurrency?  As a former VC, I can tell you that this will make Factom's series A financing round go MUCH smoother.

Outstanding work Team Factom!

From a technical perspective, this is the healthiest I've seen the Factom charts in a long, long time.

I suspect we're in for an uptrend.

I strongly suspect we see it this coming week.

All software has bugs that need fixed.  No big deal as long as the team has the capability to fix them.  I'm no programmer but I've had a couple analysts check the code and they assure me Factom programmers know what they're doing.

While there are areas Factom could improve and if I was a VC investing with them that would happen, overall, I'd say they're doing a good job and I see no reason to question their honesty.

*edit*  I see you ninja edited so my response doesn't make as much sense.  But I'll leave it as is.

Early in my career I made similar mistakes to you.  However, rather than blame others, I took responsibility and evaluated how I could improve and even profit from the same or like scenarios in the future. 

Lesson 1: Software is never released on time.

I do.

I've cost-averaged into a large long position as fundamentals have dictated.  As technicals tell me downturns are imminent, I take short positions to hedge my position and close those as price action improves all the while lowering my cost basis.

It's not rocket science.

Actually, it's your incompetence as a trader/investor.  It's pretty easy to setup a hedge to protect yourself against moves contrary to your primary position.

Early venture capitalists and investors know the value of companies that perform innovative, useful functions with information.

"[Our] mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful."

Source

Smart VC's and investors see similar potential in Factom.

I appreciate the weak hands providing such a buying opportunity.


Not much.  There is plenty of room for multiple players in this space.  I like the approach Factom is taking by employing an altcoin.  It opens up a world of possibilities that aren't possible with Tierion.

In fact, this price drop allowed me to accumulate enough Factoids that I feel comfortable elaborating on why I'm so excited about Factom.  In the past, many forms of currency were BACKED by something valuable such as gold or silver.  Today, fiat currency isn't backed by anything.  Factoids are backed by data.

Factoids are backed by something much more valuable than even gold.  Information.  And one could argue that it works both ways in that Factom also backs data.  Factom is backed by data and backs data.  

Remember, the creators of Factom want 1 Entry Credit to cost the same and back a specific amount of data.

What is the definition of Gold Standard?  "A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold."

What could the Factom Standard be?  "A Factom standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account (Entry Credit) is based on a fixed quantity of data."

Bitcoin is backed by an ever-decreasing number of mining operations.  Factoids are backed by and back an ever-increasing amount of data looking to be verified, secured, and easily auditable.

What do you forsee the future global currency being backed by?  Nothing?  Gold?  Silver?  Electricity?  Or information.  We ARE in the Information Age after all.  Maybe it's time for our currency to join the times.

That is simply tied to financial results for Fast Forward Innovations.  They announced their investment in Factom back in October: http://fstfwd.co/uploads/documents/article/14-10-15-kuala-announcement-investment-in-factom.pdf

Github showing some good progress.  Keep up the good work Team Factom

Yep.  Excellent price action right now.  I like what I'm seeing.

Market is looking a bit unhealthy.  I suspect we'll be dropping below $1.00/FCT short term.  Long term I'm of course bullish.