after perusing the trainwreck of a catcoin thread after the currency's first pump-and-dump, i noticed a pattern begin to emerge in the comments, specifically negative comments about crypto miners and mining in general.
As a disclaimer, i'm a miner. and i'm an investor. and i am a speculator.
Let me also say that the attitude of the catcoin community towards mining is mixed. i am only focusing on misunderstandings people have about miners and mining in general.
from what i have seen, for those who did not follow the catcoin drama (i don't blame you!), the coin was hyped, posted on cryptsy, the catcoin supporters manipulated the currency to open at 0.001btc, and people started mining like crazy. when the pump-and-dump occurred (it is an altcoin, after all), miners left in droves when the price plummeted. now, catcoin is about to be forked becuase people holding worthless catcoins can't stand to sell at a loss. One of the interesting side-effects are the mixed attitudes towards mining and cryptominers in general.
as a sample,
"many miners/pools will take whatever price they can get whereas investors are not going to dump their coins."..."Being the best coin for miners is not a benefit, it is a curse."...The problem is the oscillation with the inherent temporary high hash power combined with dumping of the cheaply mined coins, at the expense of loyal miners...Lowering the diff MAY get the pumpndump miners back, but nobody's committed to mining with or without the fork..."Can you miners do me a favor and exit the pools until next week please, daddy wants a new yacht."..."Multicoin Miners are not HOLDING onto them. Multicoin Miners want fiat. There is no POINT for twitchy miners to MINE a STUCK coin. They are NOT INVESTORS."...Proportional allows pool hoppers to 'steal' from non-hopping miners and thus honest people get less...etc..
i've noticed two things:
1. the majority of the community does value miners.
2. the worse catcoin valuation got, the more fingerpointing singled out miners. specifically, miners that use auto-switching pools were singled out by a few vocal people as the main cause of the catcoin crash.
As a miner, I feel miners are being scapegoated for things that are not in their control. However, are there miners that feel there are any ethical guidelines for mining? are auto-switching pools unethical?
I'm just throwing this on the wall to see if it sticks. If you are a miner, what are your moral obligations (if any) to a coin you've already mined? Have you experienced this type of attitude towards your mining? If you are not a miner, what role do you see miners play in the currency trade? If you are speculator, do you believe you are 'wrecking' a coin if you are after nothing but profit? and if you straddle multiple categories, where does the balance lie?
