Hey Killiz (et al)!
Time to come out of the shadows a little, I agree. I don't spend a great deal of time posting here as a rule, but if you guys prefer to use this is a contact/discussion point, then I'm happy to do the same. I've spoken to a few of you guys already, but to those I haven't had the pleasure of talking to yet - 'hello'
We're still busy with the new release and taking care of some housekeeping jobs in relation to the website and the block-explorer. Elambert has recently purchased a new VPS package, which we're also planning to use to host an additional CGB/CBX seed node. Lots of stuff up in the air at the moment, while we re-arrange things and get everything in order to compliment the new release, so please bear with us while we get this sorted. It also looks like Crypto Bullion (CBX) is the favourite name for the proposed CGB re-branding, which I'm personally very happy with. It's much more succinct and will make typing the daemon name easier too
I'm sure some of you are curious as to who this 'raizor' guy is, so let's cover a little of my background. I'm Joe, 38 years old and from the UK. I'm a developer by trade and have spent the majority of my adult life in the IT industry, getting my feet wet with graphic design and web-development as a teenager before moving fulling into software development. I started my career in London, working in the advertising industry, heading up a team of developers. I got a little disillusioned with the commercial world and decided to return to study and gain a CS degree with a view to becoming a college and eventually university lecturer (following in my Father's footsteps). After gaining my degree, I was offered an interesting opportunity working commercially for a international company in the private sector. I stayed in this role for the best of 10 years, until the company was sold to a competitor and I decided it was time to thinking about leaving my Chief Architect role and spread my wings again, in a different field.
I joined the cryptocurrency party a little late after finally reading Satoshi's Bitcoin whitepaper last year. This led to me devouring any technical information I could find on Bitcoin and related currencies and I've been in love with the idea of cryptocurrency ever since. The mooted potential of blockchain technology struck a real chord with me and I truly believe that it can provide a solution to some of the most pressing problems of our age. The dream of empowering individuals (both financially and otherwise) and clawing back some of the power that has become concentrated in the hands of large corporations and the existing financial institutions really resonates with my core beliefs. CGB was the first coin I invested in and I'd been following its progress closely for some time before approaching Elambert with a view to getting involved and taking CGB forward. My experience of the core CGB team had been very positive and it struck me as a coin with a lot of potential for the future. The ride so far has been very fun and I've met some great people, many of whom I'm sure will remain close friends for life.
As you're aware, we're getting close to having the new release finished, which I must admit has taken a little longer than I'd like. This is primarily due to the sheer number of patches and new features we've been incorporating into this release to support coin control, multi-sig transactions and of course the plethora of fixes from the Bitcoin codebase to address transaction malleability and other issues. We're nearly there though
In terms of the future, I would very much like to involve the community in taking CBX forward. A coin is nothing without a solid community and a solid development team. In these crazy pioneering days, scams are everywhere and most people end up with their toes scolded as they take their first tentative dip into the cryptocurrency waters. I would like CBX to stand tall and legitimate, and introduce some truly unique features and functionality in future. We have been discussing a number of exciting ideas, which we'll start to share once the current release is complete. It's my hope that we can decide together on the future path for CBX and create a unique and precious asset that helps empower people (whether they live in the city, the desert or on the moon).
I'm also involved in something called the 'demoscene', which some of you may be familiar with. It's essentially a global creative movement, primarily focussed on realtime graphics. I very much enjoy 3D/OpenGL shader programming as a creative outlet, in addition to my love of crypto. I'm also a bit a fitness nut, and try and squeeze in a run or some martial arts whenever I can
Feel free to ping me a message on here or on Reddit (I'm 'raizor' there too), if you need to get in touch or ask a question. If your question is likely to be a common one, please post it publicly if possible, so that others may also benefit from the answer.
In terms of BlockNET, It's not something I've given any serious thought to for CGB. In my talks with others in the crypto-sphere, the jury seems to be still out on that one. Smart Contracts have got my attention though, and CIYAM looks very interesting in that regard. I have been in touch with with Ian Knowles (the CIYAM developer) briefly with a view to incorporating the automated transaction functionality of CIYAM for CBX in future. For the moment though, getting the current release finished and out in the wild remains our priority.
I should probably point out that I see myself here for the long-haul too. My primary motivation is helping to lay the rail-road tracks in the crypto sphere and to ensure CBX continues to grow. I'm something of a hippy nerd at heart and my primary motivation has always been making the world a better place, as opposed to chasing riches. So, to the future and to Crypto Bullion! *raises glass*
raizor
