PhoneCoin (aka FoneCoin, BellCoin, SmartCoin, NetCoin, MeshCoin)

[ozboom]

I believe we need a phone-based virtual currency with low-power mining.
It could spread new coins & fees randomly among users/miners.
Miners would be identified by a hash of their phone number + IMEI code (one phone = one vote).
New miners would enter the "pool" by friending existing miners (phone-to-phone).
Basic phones with SMS capability could be used to divert mining towards a computer client.
Guaranteed, fair and easy mining profits would cause fast adoption.
The algorithm could actively fend off non-human users (see specs below).
Apart from mining, it could be used on any machine just like BitCoin.

PhoneCoin specs
- Proof-of-work: basic, low power transaction processing
- Proof-of-friend: friending by phone-2-phone interaction (mutual consent)
- Random/uniform allocation of new coins and transaction fees
- One percent (1%) flat transaction fee
  > less transaction spamming
  > long-term rewarding of miners
  > as users are miners, they eventually get their fees back
- Countering strategy for "botnet" mining :
  > 10 friends needed to connect as a miner
  > friending focused on human interaction
  > connections start to "die out" randomly after 10 weeks and need to be renewed by friending
  > algorithm prunes off large, loosely attached network branches
  > identification by hash of phone#+IMEI with first 5 digits clear (country+telco) & network stats
- Per country+telco code (5 digits), 10 ambassador miners can publish their full phone# on the network during 10 days each for network priming by friending, FIFO waiting list for ambassador candidates
- 10¹⁰ coins (10 billion) on the long run ~ one per human
- After 10 years, non-spending ("dead") wallets lose 10% of their value per year:
  > recycling of lost or orphaned coins to maintain the monetary base on the long run
  > dead wallets get fully reclaimed after 20 years
- Low-power/memory phone node (use SCIP - Secure Computational Integrity and Privacy)
- Off-phone mining for low-end phones and frugal users:
  > mining on a computer client by diverting ID# & friending credits
  > mining services can be offered by entrepreneurs or Telcos
- Multi-level identification/security:
  > phone number (SIM card)
  > IMEI number (phone hardware)
  > phoneCoin client password (wallet encryption)
  > existing phone protections (including biometrics)
- Ready for meshworking to cut dependence on the Internet
- Possibly crowd-tweaking of network parameters through the mining client
- Computer client with full node, network stats, P2P multi-coin exchange (Metalair), anonymizer (ZeroCoin/DarkWallet) and paper-wallet/brain-wallet manager

I am no coder, but if there is enough interest in such a concept, we can get it crowdfunded.

[rigel]

Why we  need this?

[ozboom]

Why?

• It would allow profitable mining on any mobile telephone.
• It would save loads of resources (electricity and machines).
• It would be 51% attack-free.
• It would be truly democratic: one phone = one vote.
• It would provide easy access to virtual currency - no fiat gateways needed.
• It would implement a soft redistribution: although everybody is rewarded equally, low spenders would feel a greater benefit. For countries where pennies are worth dollars, this could become an important factor of change.
• It would allow innovative Telcos to offer mining services and charge in PhoneCoins - free calls anyone?
• It would improve on the Kenyan M-Pesa system - which is a huge success:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa
   But M-Pesa has high transfer fees, is limited to Kenya, and is not giving away free credits...
• It would effectively put money into everybody's pocket and facilitate an inviting, participatory economy.
• It would promote collaboration, sharing and community building over hardware wars, energy wasting and mining centralization.