Mints

[enet]

I'd like to propose a new type of DAC I call a mint. A mint is an advanced launch platform for Cryptocurrency and Cryptoassets projects. It would facilitate the launch by providing a discussion forum, expert advise (technical, management, legal and otherwise), maybe some initial funding, contacts to exchanges, and so on. It would be mostly currency agnostic and/or use mostly Bitcoin for funding (possibly ColoredCoins also).

The mint would be somewhat similar to a startup accelerator, in that it would help a project in an early phase and receive some compensation in return (possible equity or a fixed price to cover cost). Also the launch via a mint could be a stamp of approval for later stage investors. The goal would be lower the barrier to entry for good projects, but also to get higher quality launches in one place (rather than many pointless launches). The Cryptocurrency community could build out this underlying infrastructure for the projects.

A lot of this is already happening in this sub-forum, but Bitcointalk is not really dedicated to alternative Cryptocurrencies. Reputation systems and assurance contracts could facilitate these kinds of transactions. I think in the various sub-communities there are often interesting developments, but they are not necessarily are visible to everyone.

A more formal way to think about a mint would be in the sense of "up-chain" (a formal transfer function from one chain to another, such as ICO or similar means). Pure Proof-of-stake systems e.g. are upchains (not side-chains since there is no risk-free transfer). In the traditional system exchanges, auditors and rating agencies perform similar functions. A mint would more of a self-regulatory DAC, e.g. by prohibiting certain launches by requiring a small payment the quality of the launches would approve.

This is currently more of an idea, but I'm working on some elements of this. One particular issue is that asset sales by companies usually are legally quite complicated and generally prohibitively costly depending on the precise structure.

[monsterer]

I'd like to propose a new type of DAC I call a mint. A mint is an advanced launch platform for Cryptocurrency and Cryptoassets projects. It would facilitate the launch by providing a discussion forum, expert advise (technical, management, legal and otherwise), maybe some initial funding, contacts to exchanges, and so on. It would be mostly currency agnostic and/or use mostly Bitcoin for funding (possibly ColoredCoins also).

This is a great idea - personally, I would love to have a forum which had a technical discussion area for cryptocurrency design topics; this subforum is full of spam, and the other technical development subforum is only for bitcoin.

[enet]

Thanks for the feedback. I think the Cryptocurrency/Altcoin community is very vibrant, but it doesn't always fully show in this forum (one reason there is basically only this sub-forum and announcements, and much is focused on price fluctuations). Discourse could be used and maybe also Slack.  I think with some basic features the forum could already be quite useful in itself. More advanced features could build on top of that. I could set some things up if there is enough interest.

I'd see the following categories

* projects (i.e. Announcements)
* technical discussion
* trading/investing
* news (associated subreddit)

The question is what features would be needed to make it useful enough for the purposes of developers and investors, so that it has some traction. The platform could first be a hub for discussion and links to projects and grow from there.

[Fuserleer]

Id be happy to join a more technical discussion focused forum/group if one was to be set up.

BTCTalk is ok as you state, but you have to cut through all the chaff if you want to find any good tech discussions going on.

[st0at]

So basically jl777's SuperNET but hoping to entice more participation from more serious developers, and covering areas he has been weak in such as writing specifications, legal structure, etc..

So then you can invite AnnoyMint over there so it doesn't pesker us with your endless gyrations of technical spam. We here are interested in speculative pumps. We are not interested in all those unpolished details. Bring us the product when it has a good slogan is ready for us to pumpchaching. Altcoins are not heirlooms. We are not here for long-term investments.

I doubt it will have traction though if you can't make it also a speculative get-rich-quick scheme. Very few here are interested in slogging though endless technical and legal jargon. We are here to get-rich-quick with our lunch money. The fun is that this is game of chance, hope, and a healthy dose of aversion to needless "fundamentals".

[enet]

So basically jl777's SuperNET but hoping to entice more participation from more serious developers, and covering areas he has been weak in such as writing specifications, legal structure, etc..

More like the Altcoin board in Bitcointalk, but with less noise. Supernet is an exchange. Mints would be more like a marketplace, but without any auctions. Different exchanges could just be partners and have access to high quality launches (most Bitcoin fiat exchanges list Altcoins only very selectively, but that is how potentially the Altcoin market can grow by orders of magnitude).

Very few here are interested in slogging though endless technical and legal details. We are here to get-rich-quick with our lunch money. The fun is that this is game of chance, hope, and a healthy dose of aversion to needless "fundamentals".

Indeed, my concept is the opposite. Get high quality people and launches, have a subsection for trading and then filter spam. I'm pretty sure those who put their money in will benefit, since they have to read less and focus on factors that matter, and the quality of assets will be greater. If the Cryptocurrency grows by 10-100x, then there will be demand for people who want to put in serious money, but also would be more interested in some framework which makes sense in the longterm. Somebody who wants to launch a serious project doesn't need any army of people who want to double their 100$, he needs knowledge and capital. And there are people like that on this board. With regards to marketing securities, that's another topic. A mint might provide sensible self-regulation by decision of its members. Yes, currently at BTT anything goes, but the noise level is too high, so that people who know they are doing might have interest in a different format. Perhaps mint is not an ideal name. I mean mostly a forum for discussion and marketplace for related projects and activity. One thing a mint could do is issue an index on all the securities, so people can buy in into a number of high quality launches at once, similar to an index fund.

[enet]

Id be happy to join a more technical discussion focused forum/group if one was to be set up.

BTCTalk is ok as you state, but you have to cut through all the chaff if you want to find any good tech discussions going on.

It would be great if you and monsterer, and others, would consider joining such an effort. A discourse forum and slack I could set up, if there is enough interest and private some initial small funding (only hosting + domain at the beginning). Participants could be developers and also potentially investors, who might have interest putting capital to work. It wouldn't be related to "blockchain projects", but projects where end-users and investors can buy tokens. The platform itself would likely not be involved in marketing securities itself.

[st0at]

Others have tried and failed. The only compelling reason for a forum about crypto assets, is the get-rich-quick with lunch money scheme.

The number of people interested in serious technical and legal jargon is quite small.

Those who are very serious and capable, won't be sharing with a public group. Example Steve Jobs.

[monsterer]

It would be great if you and monsterer, and others, would consider joining such an effort. A discourse forum and slack I could set up, if there is enough interest and private some initial small funding (only hosting + domain at the beginning). Participants could be developers and also potentially investors, who might have interest putting capital to work. It wouldn't be related to "blockchain projects", but projects where end-users and investors can buy tokens. The platform itself would likely not be involved in marketing securities itself.

I'd be happy to join such a group.

[enet]

I opened up https://cryptocurrencygroup.slack.com - anyone feel free to join, it's free of charge.  I'm not sure how to allow signup from all email addresses, so to signup send me a PM with the email and I'll send an invite.

The focus of the slack group is technical development, discussion of Cryptocurrencies, rather than only price speculation. Bitcoinclassic and Bitcoin-core are now successfully using Slack, so it seems to be working quite well also for larger groups.

[enet]

We had some very interesting discussions on slack how to potentially structure this. A downside of slack is that it is not open.

I think to be successful there would need to be more clear concept than was outlined in the first post. I will be working on this and any input is appreciated.

* the funding model is something for later. better to focus on communications only first.
* a key question about sustainable growth. the platform should attract talented researchers and developers and then slowly open up. productivity will help everyone. the basic goal is something that works better than the current Altcoin venues for qualified individuals.
* a challenge is natural bias with regards to any solutions (PoW vs PoS vs ...). the platform should be agnostic.
* there is a great opportunity to move forward with this and also bridge a gap to institutional investors (some partnerships would be very helpful).

Some points to focus on:

* how to present the value of research in consensus and cryptocurrency systems
* how to find synergies between different projects
* the technical aspects of the platform (forum, news, perhaps reputation)
* gather expertise in structuring of DAC's and teams
* probably a kind of proper brand would be needed