A Modest Proposal

[1up]

As many of you know, there have been much development in the alternative cryptocurrency market since Bitcoin with recent advent of i0coin, ixcoin, and etc (along with existing alternative like namecoin). One of the current issues with Bitcoin is that there may be too much mining and its supporting market (merchants who accept bitcoin, silk road, and other good and service) is not growing fast enough. With more and more people generating Bitcoins and not enough exchange for the value of bitcoin to grow, mining of Bitcoin will soon become unprofitable due to greater difficulty and rising energy costs. While some may argue that this may increase the value of Bitcoin because less is being generated, if this happens too soon (especially before there is a good support market to buffer its effect) it will be devastating for Bitcoin. Do not understand the finicky nature of people, if this scenario were to happen people will lose interest in Bitcoin which would be the worst thing to happen for the market. The growing interest of bitcoin as well as speculation of its future worth is essentially what it is keeping Bitcoin at its current value today but the growth of bitcoin needs to be maintained at a relatively steady pace.

So here is my proposal:

I would like developers knowledgeable in cryptocurrency to create new alternative cryptocurrency (call it iacoin, scamcoin, crapcoin, or whatever you like) and introduce it to the market along with supporting currency exchanges with bitcoin (like mt gox, ruxum, and tradehill). Of course, people should NOT release new cryptocurrencies often but maybe roll out the new currencies every 2 or 3 months in order to allow time for people to generate interest & hype, fueled by speculation as well as greed to make some quick money by being an early adopter to mining the new currency. People will proceed to mine the new currency until it becomes unprofitable or lose interest and move on to the next shiny new thing.

What's the benefit?
The biggest benefit is that it will slow down the new generation of Bitcoin. Early adopters of the new currency will use their mining power to generate new currencies as oppose to flooding the saturated pools of bitcoin mining. This is huge because slowing down bitcoin generation gives time for the market to grow: giving time for merchants to consider accepting Bitcoins for goods and services, allowing late adopters a chance to get into the bitcoin market , and giving time for graphic card hardware manufacturers to create new more powerful/efficient gpus to support the growing difficulty of mining.

The 2nd benefit is that the new currencies will essentially be a commodity supporting the bitcoin market by what really amount to printing money to grow the economy. By having safe currencies exchanges like mt gox, ruxum and tradehill support the exchange "new currency" to BTC, there will allows be a constant exchange of buying and selling as oppose to miners hoarding Bitcoin with the idea that it may hypothetically grow in value despite the fact that there need to be a buyer willing to pay that high price for a bitcoin. Its like game fuel by speculation and greed in which new adopters believe the "new currency" will surpass Bitcoin in the future and they want to hoard as much of it as they can when the price is still low. In reality, many of the new currency will die out as people lose interest and/or realize their "new currency" is worthless. I kinda view it like investing my money in stocks of a new company: you many get an APPLE, or a ENRON.

So how would it benefit developers? Well, they could be unscrupulous and before official release mine the first 1000 blocks for themselves or do it to support bitcoin. It doesn't really matter.

Conclusion
So there's my proposal. Why write this? I did it to mock the ridiculous recent release of currencies like i0coin and ixcoin and the growing buzz around them. However, I don't think this is such a crazy idea. After all, do not underestimate the stupidity of people. Let me know what you think in the comments.

 "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein

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[miscreanity]

I would like developers knowledgeable in cryptocurrency to create new alternative cryptocurrency (call it iacoin, scamcoin, crapcoin, or whatever you like) and introduce it to the market along with supporting currency exchanges with bitcoin (like mt gox, ruxum, and tradehill). Of course, people should NOT release new cryptocurrencies often but maybe roll out the new currencies every 2 or 3 months in order to allow time for people to generate interest & hype, fueled by speculation as well as greed to make some quick money by being an early adopter to mining the new currency. People will proceed to mine the new currency until it becomes unprofitable or lose interest and move on to the next shiny new thing.

Why the fear? The world is running along dandy with multiple currencies. This is growth; it will be turbulent. Arbitrary rules are rarely effective - let the markets discover appropriate practices.

[1up]

Why the fear? The world is running along dandy with multiple currencies. This is growth; it will be turbulent. Arbitrary rules are rarely effective - let the markets discover appropriate practices.

Since when did I set or even ask for arbitrary rules? I'm not the one who is making the "new currencies", the developers are and they are free to choose when they want to release their creation. It was merely a suggestion if the developer want to gain the most from what is essentially a scam. After all, I fully expect the new alternative cryptocurrencies  created from forks of Bitcoin code to fail when these alternative offer little or no improvement to the original Bitcoin (like i0coin & ixcoin).

[The Script]

The biggest benefit is that it will slow down the new generation of Bitcoin. Early adopters of the new currency will use their mining power to generate new currencies as oppose to flooding the saturated pools of bitcoin mining. This is huge because slowing down bitcoin generation gives time for the market to grow: giving time for merchants to consider accepting Bitcoins for goods and services, allowing late adopters a chance to get into the bitcoin market , and giving time for graphic card hardware manufacturers to create new more powerful/efficient gpus to support the growing difficulty of mining.

You can't slow down the bitcoin generation in the long run.  If miners leave the difficulty will adjust to ensure the same number of bitcoins are being generated.  This is by design.

[julz]

The biggest benefit is that it will slow down the new generation of Bitcoin. Early adopters of the new currency will use their mining power to generate new currencies as oppose to flooding the saturated pools of bitcoin mining. This is huge because slowing down bitcoin generation gives time for the market to grow: giving time for merchants to consider accepting Bitcoins for goods and services, allowing late adopters a chance to get into the bitcoin market , and giving time for graphic card hardware manufacturers to create new more powerful/efficient gpus to support the growing difficulty of mining.

You can't slow down the bitcoin generation in the long run.  If miners leave the difficulty will adjust to ensure the same number of bitcoins are being generated.  This is by design.

^THIS^
How do people not get this by now???

Also.. promoting alternative chains to allow those with experience in cryptocurrencies to rip out a few dollars from some starry eyed newbies is a nasty idea which provides ammunition for bitcoin naysayers and skeptics.

Alternative currencies as experiments for particular technical and/or economic features may well be interesting.. and I've no particular concern with some people speculating/gambling on those provided they understand the risks...   but to promote this sort of gambling because as you say we should not 'underestimate the stupidity of people' does not do bitcoin any good.

[miscreanity]

Since when did I set or even ask for arbitrary rules?

... people should NOT release new cryptocurrencies often but maybe roll out the new currencies every 2 or 3 months...

Arbitrary.

[1up]

Since when did I set or even ask for arbitrary rules?

... people should NOT release new cryptocurrencies often but maybe roll out the new currencies every 2 or 3 months...

Arbitrary.

Learn to read the OP with context. As I stated, I'm not the one who is making the "new currencies", the developers are and they are free to choose when they want to release their creation. Nor am I god, king, or bitcoin czar who has the power to create and enforce arbitrary rules of when people can release "new currencies" on the Internet. Give me a break, if this "arbitrary rule" was the only thing you have a problem with my crazy idea, then I must have done pretty well.

[1up]

The biggest benefit is that it will slow down the new generation of Bitcoin. Early adopters of the new currency will use their mining power to generate new currencies as oppose to flooding the saturated pools of bitcoin mining. This is huge because slowing down bitcoin generation gives time for the market to grow: giving time for merchants to consider accepting Bitcoins for goods and services, allowing late adopters a chance to get into the bitcoin market , and giving time for graphic card hardware manufacturers to create new more powerful/efficient gpus to support the growing difficulty of mining.

You can't slow down the bitcoin generation in the long run.  If miners leave the difficulty will adjust to ensure the same number of bitcoins are being generated.  This is by design.

^THIS^
How do people not get this by now???

Also.. promoting alternative chains to allow those with experience in cryptocurrencies to rip out a few dollars from some starry eyed newbies is a nasty idea which provides ammunition for bitcoin naysayers and skeptics.

Alternative currencies as experiments for particular technical and/or economic features may well be interesting.. and I've no particular concern with some people speculating/gambling on those provided they understand the risks...   but to promote this sort of gambling because as you say we should not 'underestimate the stupidity of people' does not do bitcoin any good.

Sorry to say but "investing" in Bitcoin (and any other cryptocurrency) itself is gambling. To me, it's a social experiment to test people their perception of value particularly for a virtual item. Right now I'm mining bitcoins with electricity included in my rent and I'll continue mining until I become bored of the Bitcoin experiment or I have to play for electric. Whatever bitcoin I gain, I sell immediately because people right now are willing to give good money for a what amounts to a virtual item that is worth nothing to me. Unlike stocks which would make me part owner of a company, the value of a bitcoin based on speculation and its perceived value. Maybe it may change in the future where Bitcoin becomes universal but I'm not counting on it. I much prefer USD which is near universal and I can buy food with.

[miscreanity]

Nor am I god, king, or bitcoin czar who has the power to create and enforce arbitrary rules of when people can release "new currencies" on the Internet. Give me a break, if this "arbitrary rule" was the only thing you have a problem with my crazy idea, then I must have done pretty well.

In part, the proposal would be more sensible with an introduction of testnet testing for such new systems before live release; i.e. standardization. Beyond that, the most serious issue is blanket assumption of unproven assertions from a clearly biased viewpoint with no empirical backing - opinion declared as fact. It's one thing to offer an idea, another to do so with dictatorial undertones.

Your initial response was not related to the topic or proposal, but geared toward defending personal credibility and reassertion of opinion. The emotional fervor and reactionary defensiveness only detract from your stance; who's to say that such irrationality didn't influence the thinking behind the ideas? In other words: calm down and discuss the ideas, not your ego.

Sorry to say but "investing" in Bitcoin (and any other cryptocurrency) itself is gambling.

Understandable; to each his own.

Whatever bitcoin I gain, I sell immediately because people right now are willing to give good money for a what amounts to a virtual item that is worth nothing to me. Unlike stocks which would make me part owner of a company, the value of a bitcoin based on speculation and its perceived value. Maybe it may change in the future where Bitcoin becomes universal but I'm not counting on it.

Worth nothing to you. The rest suggests unawareness of what the Bitcoin crypto-currency system is and its deeper implications. Explore the reason for what others see in Bitcoin and how the system compares to historical concepts. Proposing ideas and asking questions goes far, but leave the personal issues alone.

I much prefer USD which is near universal and I can buy food with.

A critical point, relative to the moment. What of its future? There is a reason that the short-sighted suffer; the system must be understood to predict its likely progress whether it be the US dollar system or Bitcoin - again, opinion is not necessarily factual.