Ideally you want developers who really believe in what Mastercoin can become rather than speculators who just want a quick buck. I think it should be MSC or fiat for developers but not BTC, not LTC, or PTS. Imagine how awkward it is if the Bitcoin foundation paid people in Litecoins.
Even if a company pays its employees in stock options, it doesn't pay its employees exclusively in stock options...
I have not seen anyone take issue with JR's decision to keep his full-time job until he is able to make a certain profit on his Mastercoin, presumably because he has a family to support. If we are looking to hire developers full-time, then we ought to allow for the possibility that they too have families to support, and I can't understand how we could hold them to a more rigorous standard of commitment to the Mastercoin project, than the creator of Mastercoin.
Regardless of whether one is for or against exchanging the majority of the fund's Bitcoins for Mastercoins, I think it can be agreed that this is a less urgent debate than whether we should hire full-time developers. I urge the board to hire full-time developers as soon as possible; contact a head-hunting agency, and, for a relatively small fee, they will find us potential future Mastercoin developers.
Hire full-time developers now!