The ProblemAs our beloved Bitcoin increases in popularity and value, we find ourselves in a situation where block sizes seem to be too small, transactions too expensive, and confirmation times too slow. These symptoms have essentially destroyed the ability to send a Bitcoin micropayment. Sure, there are other alt-coins you can use to send a smaller amount, but you are always subjected to their volatility.
What if there was an alt-coin that is directly tied to the price of BTC, but completely removed transaction fees? How would you be able to maintain it's value? Could this be done without a fork of Bitcoin itself?
This is what SatoshiCoin will (hopefully) be built to do.
The MindsetI have had numerous people try to accuse me of attempting to scam people (how can this even be possible when this is simply a concept design?).
Frankly, I understand why people would be skeptical of the idea. I am not asking you to put your trust in me, I am simply pitching an idea. If it manifests, it is up to YOU to audit the code to ensure it is legitimate before using it. If it is created like I intend, it's reputation and adaptability, along with numerous code audits will speak for itself. You won't have to trust me, just like you don't have to trust Satoshi Nakamoto to trust the Bitcoin network.
Anyway, I will try to break this down as simply as I possibly can. Think of the SatoshiCoin network in terms of traditional gold banking. People bring their gold to the bank to deposit into the vault, and in exchange they get a gold certificate that is more flexible, and easier to break down into smaller denominations. The gold certificate has value because anyone who has it knows they can go back to the bank and exchange it 1:1 for actual gold. This is EXACTLY what the SatoshiCoin network will be aimed to do, only more decentralized.
Instead of the owner of the bank having the key to the vault,
the network would be designed so that NOBODY has access to the vault (even the developers). The only way to take BTC out of the vault would be to exchange your SatoshiCoin (BTC certificates) in for an equal amount of BTC.
Also, with traditional banking there is always the risk that the bank prints up more certificates than gold held in reserve. The network will also be designed to eliminate this possible point of failure, because the USER will create the certificates when they deposit their BTC, as well as destroy them when they withdraw.
I do believe that this modernized method of traditional banking can be the way to add new features to Bitcoin, without actually creating a competing alt-coin that is subjected to its own volatility, or forking the original blockchain. Adoption of this theoretical SatoshiCoin will actually aid in the growth of BTC, not try to get people use an alternative (because SatoshiCoin is by nature, a representation of BTC).
How Will It Function?The SatoshiCoin network will be built to focus on transactions. Nodes will play the most important role in the network as they will collectively pass along every transaction for free. Since there are no transaction fees or mining blocks, transactions won't be passed along based on the size of the fee, but the order they are created. This will also solve the problem of trying to send payments that are smaller than the fee itself.
Of course, there will always have to be an incentive to run a node or nobody would do it. I will discuss the withdraw fee and how nodes get paid further down.
How are SatoshiCoins Created?First off, SatoshiCoins are not mined, nor are they purchased on an exchange (
they CAN be, but the amount of SatoshiCoins in existence is fixed to the amount of BTC in reserve).
To obtain SatoshiCoins natively, you will import the private keys of your BTC wallet into your SatoshiCoin wallet
(THIS IS A CONCEPT! IF THERE IS A MORE SECURE WAY TO DO THIS, I AM OPEN TO IT!!!). Depending on how much BTC you import, is the amount of SatoshiCoin that will be created. 1 BTC = 100,000,000 SatoshiCoin (1 satoshi = 1 SatoshiCoin). Once your BTC keys are imported to SatoshiCoin wallet, they will be unusable. The Bitcoin you imported will be taken out of circulation and put into the vault, and you will have instant access to an equal amount of SatoshiCoins.
The minimum amount of BTC you can import/export will be .001 BTC (100,000 satoshi/SatoshiCoin). Once your SatoshiCoin is available, you can send them to other SatoshiCoin addresses with no transaction fee. This will allow users to finally send true micro BTC payments once again. You will also be able to divide a SatoshiCoin down to .00000001 of a Satoshi (which seems useless now, but as Bitcoin increases in value in the future it might be meaningful).
The same way SatoshiCoins are created, they can also be destroyed. Once someone obtains 100,000 SatoshiCoin, they will be able to export their private keys from their SatoshiCoin wallet and access their BTC once again. Once they do this, the SatoshiCoin associated with their BTC is destroyed. This will maintain the 1:1 satoshi to SatoshiCoin ratio. The important thing to remember is there will
NEVER be more or less SatoshiCoin in the network than the amount of BTC imported. It will be written into the code this way so that every SatoshiCoin is always backed, and there could never be a theoretical "run on the bank". Every single BTC can theoretically be taken out of the network and leave a SatoshiCoin volume of 0. This would not effect the network in any way, it will continue to function as normal until somebody decided to deposit more BTC into the vault, in which more SatoshiCoin would be created.
What Incentives Are There to Run a Node?Since there is no mining/transaction fees, full nodes will be the most important part of the network to ensure transactions are pushed through quickly. Every time someone decides to cash out their SatoshiCoin back into BTC, they will be charged a tiny withdraw fee (probably .1% of the total withdraw amount). This fee will be automatically distributed to the nodes (and an even smaller % of that distributed to developers).
This will also ensure that more BTC is imported into the network than exported, thus protecting the integrity and strength of the network over time.
Also, there could be the possibility for nodes that pass along X transactions to get the status of uber-node (or master-node, or something similar) and they gain the ability to skip the withdraw fee.
What is the theoretical maximum amount of SatoshiCoin?Bitcoin was designed to utilize small numbers so that humans can actually comprehend them. The theoretical maximum amount of satoshi on the Bitcoin blockchain is 21,000,000,000,000,000 or 21 Quadrillion. This would also be the theoretical maximum amount of SatoshiCoins, but that would mean that all 21 million Bitcoins were imported into the SatoshiCoin network.
It would get some time getting used to the values, but this would be a great math lesson for a lot of people, as well as get more people used to calculating the value of Bitcoin.
The MINIMUM amount of SatoshiCoin someone can have would be .00000001 SatoshiCoin. This would translate to 1, ten-quadrillioth of a Bitcoin (please correct me if my math is off).
Why Would I Want to Trade in BTC for a BTC Certificate?As stated above, the reason anybody would want a representation of an asset instead of the actual asset itself is for flexibility, and the adoption of new features.
- Transactions with no fees
- The ability to send BTC micro-payments (without fees)
- The ability to break BTC down smaller than 1 satoshi (the current smallest denomination of a BTC)
- Possibly base it off Monero code so that you can anonymize your BTC transactions?
- The ability to earn a small amount of BTC for running a node, rather than mining.
- An alt-coin/micro-transaction that is guaranteed to be backed by real BTC, not just the market value at the time.
This Sounds Great, So What's Next?Well, as stated in the title, this is just a concept right now. I truly believe it can be something great that will aid Bitcoin over time, rather than compete with it. Of course, it's not just another fiat alt-coin, the network itself actually holds Bitcoin in reserve to maintain a 1 satoshi to 1 SatoshiCoin ratio. And because the node would also act as an exchange, it will eliminate the accessibility factor that would create an artificial markup that every exchange generally has.
I am looking for a trustworthy and experienced programmer who wants to work with me to manifest this vision. If executed properly, it could be the next step in the Bitcoin Revolution. It could make Bitcoin accessible to people who never had access to it before, bring true micro-payments back to BTC, and compensate all the development team in a transparent way for their efforts in the process. If you have any questions or are interested in jumping on board, contact me.
Oh also, the name is not set in stone. I just used "SatoshiCoin" for an explanation because I thought it was appropriate since the base value of the coin = 1 satoshi.