I have no control over what goes into the NXT core.
It is not part of NXT core, it is just a NXT asset that I made
nodecoins are NOT part of NXT core. It is not part of NXT basic structure.
It is simply an asset I created using NXT core.
anybody can do this
I have spent some more time thinking about this and have one more post to say about nodecoins in a calm, non-confrontational manner. No "this will destroy NXT" chest thumping here - just some core identity questions to think about.
It is true that nodecoins are just one more type of created asset and that it is not part of the NXT core code in Java and that soon anybody is going to be able to create their own coin and trade it on AE.
Where nodecoin becomes part of the fabric of NXT is if we as a community decides to offer it as an official ongoing reward to run a computer and support our network.
Once we do this, once we cross over this line, we can no longer call ourselves a pure Proof of Stake cryptocurrency. We will have changed the core definition of what NXT is if the NXT experience is expanded to include the awarding of nodecoin along with the forging of NXT.
Now, we are a very young cryptocurrency. We have to build a brand if we are to survive. Branding involves differentiating yourself from other brands; in our case, Bitcoin. Good branding also has to be clear and distinct and simple to understand on a gut or subconscious level without having to do a lot of reasoning or logic to figure out what the difference is with a competing brand.
The best branding NXT has come up with so far is that it is green. NXT uses far less electricity than PoW mining - megawatts less, and that's a hugely significant amount. A simple way of communicating this "green idea" is "They're PoW and use lots of power; we're PoS so we don't have to". Even at Texas Bitcoin Conference the Jane Sixpack who was sitting beside me in the panel got that idea when I expressed it and said it would resonate among the average public.
Now I am afraid - I have fear without proof - that officially structuring our product to give out nodecoins as a created-out-of-thin air reward to our users will compromise our brand. This SOUNDS like Proof of Work. In fact it is not, since the person doing it hasn't done one single thing they would not have done if the reward was not given to them. They have done no extra computations. They have burned no extra electricity. Really they have just given to NXT Proof of Existence or Proof of Participation. It's like getting a Perfect Attendance award in elementary school - a piece of paper that makes you feel good for something you should do anyway.
But now if we do this we take away significant differences between us and our competition. Now NXT officially gives out "award coins" out of thin air, just like Bitcoin. Now we WANT people to think the award coins have speculative value and will rise in value on our AE through speculation and trading, just like Bitcoin. We have created a way for people to get-rich-quick on NXT, just like Bitcoin. So - how are we different from Bitcoin?
And if we do this we also have to add caveats to our story we tell to brand ourselves. NXT is green - but their Proof of Work coins are dirty and our Proof of Work coins are clean, because they have to burn megawatts of electricity and throw away literally 15 thousand million billion perfectly good cryptographic block candidates that don't have enough zeros on the front end to win a prize to get their next block and win extra prize coins, and we give our prize coins away at the next block for doing absolutely nothing extra at all. It makes us sound as crazy as Bitcoin.
Compare that to "They're PoW and use LOTS of power; we're PoS so we don't have to".
It's not nodecoins themselves I have a problem with. The ability to create new coins on top of the NXT blockchain is a brilliant piece of work, James. I can see where that is of interest to many people and will draw many people to NXT.
It's the rationale that NXT has to give nodecoins away to help "secure the network" or "pay for the network" that I question. If people are creating their own coins and trading them on AE, won't they have their clients open and be supporting the NXT network during that time? As we become more successful and add the other services such as streaming quotes and AE candlestick charts and all the rest so AE looks more and more like an "official" exchange, isn't THIS going to keep people interested in keeping their clients open so they can follow the ever-growing action? Won't THIS support and secure the network?
I would go so far to say that instead of giving out free nodecoins on AE, we should cut NXT transaction fees to zero on AE. Won't THIS bring more people to AE - making it a TOTALLY FREE exchange with NO service fees or house cut AT ALL? Now THAT'S branding. THAT'S a product differentiator. That will bring people to NXT in droves: FREE FREE FREE. And it costs us nothing - it's just another feature in the client software, and a choice we make as a community on how to operate our coin, and an approach that DOES NOT COMPROMISE OUR STATUS AS A PURE PROOF OF STAKE COIN.
James, don't be discouraged. You have done a brilliant piece of work that will draw many people to NXT. As you say, though, this tech is so revolutionary and so disruptive that it has the potential to disrupt NXT itself. And something with that much power we have GOT to have open conversations about and decide if we want to do genetic engineering on ourselves and alter our very DNA and mutate into something new.
I say let everybody in the world create 1000 new coins and trade them with wild, crazy abandon on AE - but not NXT itself. In my opinion, NXT itself should not do this. Do not create a "special" extra NXT coin, and certainly not one that is then GIVEN AWAY. The casino runs the game, it doesn't play at the tables itself. Let the action generated by everybody else's coins being traded cause clients to be open and the NXT network supported. Don't try to generate this support by the emotional draw of a "free giveaway" that tries to pull people in by playing to their greed and raise in them hopes of get-rich-quick.
It's beyond cool keeping your eyes glued on your terminal, then seeing notifications pop up in wesley's client that you've just received nodecoins. It's fun. It's addictive. It's engaging. It pings that pleasure/reward center in the way a good game keeps you playing one more turn. It's brilliant (but I'm prone to hyperbole).
I'm buying nodecoins on the AE like I drunken sailor. I can't get enough of them. I'm using (test)NXT to buy them, btw.
Don't make NXT have a component that appeals to the problem gambler that lurks in all of us. Especially me, my name is rickyjames and I am a poker addict...
Before we pull the trigger and decide as a community if free nodecoin giveaways will be part of our brand, we should ask and answer the following questions:
1. Will AE trading alone without nodecoin giveaways pull in enough interest to keep clients open and so generate network support?
2. Will free AE trading with NO NXT fees cause more interest than a nodecoin giveaway?
3. Is there even a need for nodecoin giveaways to support the network? What is the status of the network, and what does it need in infrastructure and capital investment?
4. What is the expected moneyflow and cashflow amounts generated by a nodecoin giveaway that leads to cash payments of hallmarked nodes in a server farm?
We have time to think about and discuss all of this, and we need to. Mixing in nodecoin giveaways as part of the NXT experience will change what we are, forever. It is not a step to be taken lightly or just because we can.
