Decred,
Why 5000 airdrop participants only?
The 5k hard cap on participants stem from a few places: (1) include as many contributors to the project as possible so as to spread Decred's network as far and wide as possible from day 1, (2) have everyone receive more than 100 coins no matter how many people join the project (~168 at 5k participants), (3) keep the logistical challenge of reviewing each application individually under control, so the project can deliver what it has put forward in reasonable time with as few delays as possible. Point (1) can be viewed as a balance against the realities of the cost of developing Decred (since April, 2014) - you don't pay for the devs' effort, it's their cross to bear, which is why they are made to pay for any coins they get and you get them for free.
What if there are 5059 GOOD applicants? What process do you have to eject 59 GOOD, (but not needed) applicants?
The process is first-come, first-served - assuming you are approved as an applicant. No approved applicant will be excluded at the expense of new participants. The only exception to this is if it's discovered an approved participant was fraudulent in their application. Every effort is made to circumvent this, which is also why each application receives individual attention.
How many applicants do you have now?
This project is about openness and transparency. However, it also has a duty of care and responsibility toward those who have put faith in it by submitting an application to join this effort. Many people have applied and are interested in what's being proposed here, but cannot necessarily have public association with Decred - that is understood and will be upheld.
The only reason a number hasn't been made public yet is to be principled in communication about the airdrop participants. It sets a standard of privacy that the project will uphold about its participants. Having said that, it does not set a good standard to have information about the number of airdrop participants scattered all over different platforms at different points in time - this will lead to misinformation and misreporting in the future. There will be a single release of information once airdrop has concluded and once the information has been compiled properly. It will be in the form of general statistical information about the number of participants. What has been said, so it is repeated here, is that participants have come from over 100 different countries to date.
What effect will a lack of successful applicants have on the c0 centralisation effect, and PoS rewards, amongst other things?
The number of airdrop participants relate to the number of participants in the network from mainnet launch, who may not necessarily contribute through PoW mining - it's an opportunity for anyone to have a voice and be part of the project regardless of their standing (so long as they are contributors). The more people involved in a constructive way, the easier it becomes to keep things in check. Please see
this post for detailed information regarding c0/devs' role in the network under various scenarios (please also see the attached spreadsheet in that post for detailed subsidy projections).
Under what circumstance will less than 5000 applicants be included in the airdrop?
If less than 5k people are approved and generate their addresses, less than 5k participants will join the network from the airdrop. All approved participants will be included so long as the cap isn't reached.
How can the (presumed) 5000 successful applicant be verified by us to be real individuals? Do we have to trust you to tell us the truth on that?
Individual participant information will never be made available. That is a complete violation of privacy. You have to judge the project by its actions. There are reasonable compromises that must be made. If the project asked for your money to be part of the airdrop, it would be reasonable for you to burn each person responsible for getting this off the ground at the stake. All that is asked of you is some time, a contributory and constructive (but critical) mindset, and an interest in building something together that the project and many that have joined feel can be improved on as a collective. Since the project will not violate individual privacy, it is a reasonable compromise to trust - if you are so inclined - that every reasonable effort is made to verify each applicant and include them accordingly if they are valid and contributory.
