ANON Community Q&A #1In the spirit of transparency and our promise to you, our community, the ANON Development and Administrative Teams have collaborated to answer challenging questions that have been asked throughout our socials in recent weeks.
We would like to thank the Dev team for taking a rare moment away from coding to make themselves available and further engage with our community. This is indicative of the interactive community dynamic that we are all so proud of.
HUGE Thanks to the Admin team for their work in managing the growing community, addressing questions at all hours, and drafting this FAQ.
*If you would like to get your question on our next FAQ, bring it to an admin’s attention either by PM or in general chat*Are there any plans to list on advertising sites such as ‘masternodes.pro’?Yes, we plan on listing ANON on various advertising sites as we get closer to September 10th. These listing fees have already been factored into our marketing budget.
Has the treasury fund been set up as per WhitePaper?Yes, 100k USD worth of ZCL has been deposited into the address below at a valuation of 9.00$ per ZCL. We have both of our ZClassic and Bitcoin addresses publicly visible for the community to monitor (and donate to if they wish).
ZCL: t1cuaDF4AdJV6NzREz4gpuVASqCbcPWWDPA
BTC: 1Nn6ayGS8YK1o5TdCf545TdGTeJQmkyXnJ
In terms of future partnerships: can we also look into integrating Anonymous Bitcoin with collateralized loan service providers, like celsius or salt etc.?We have this noted, and are actively exploring partnerships and options.
Can we have the website updated to include Ran as an advisor? Can we also include the new translations that have been completed?We have added Ran Neuner as an official advisor on our website, as well as our new Korean advisor, Dr. Lee Jang Woo. We have also added translations for 7 new languages, and also a website run by the ANON Admin ‘BradPat’ (for the German Speaking Community). Please, take a look! →
http://anonymousbitcoin.de/Is there talk about switching to zk-STARKs in the future?ZK-SNARKs or (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge) allows for shielded transactions to be fully encrypted in the blockchain, but still have the ability to be verified by the network conesus rules by using zk-SNARKs proofs. ZK-STARKs improved on this and includes the ability to have a trustless solution in the blockchain. This new protocol promises to be cheaper, faster, more scalable, and more secure than its predecessor, zk-SNARKS.
We are currently looking into this protocol in depth. We will consider implementing this feature if we get enough interest from the community (we are here for the community after all). We will keep our community completely up to date regarding the zk-STARKS.
Does the reward per block also mirror BTC (12.5 per)?Block reward detail TBA soon along with masternode financial models currently being prepared by lead dev Sam Abbassi.
How will treasury funds be decided upon and used?Treasury funds will be solely decided upon by masternode votes. We have made the trust public as a check from our community. Chris was tasked with finding the best way for masternode governance to occur, and he decided upon using Dash’s governance. Any holder of ANON will be able to submit a proposal to the network at a fee, which is high enough to prevent spam but low enough that anyone is able to submit a proposal. This will propagate through the gossip protocol, all masternodes will then be able to submit their vote at no charge.
Obviously we have all heard about these new equihash ASICs and all of us GPU miners are praying for a fork asap! Snowgem has recently switch algo to equihash 144_5. Has the anon team decided on a new algo or talked with the Snowgem team to use the same algo?
We have been in talks with both BTCz and BTG, and have decided to coordinate a change in Equihash parameters that will be the same as the 144, 5 adjustment.
“We decided on changing the algorithm to 144,5, which makes it ASIC resistant. When dealing with the Equihash parameters, there are two variables that you can change, N and K. We changed the parameters where it basically requires more RAM, which will be extremely capital intensive for ASIC producers to change their ASICS to incorporate this additional RAM needed. These parameters were changed alongside BTCZ and BTG. It’s hard to predict the universality of ASICS, so ANON will be ASIC-resistant into the foreseeable future.”
— Sam Abbasi, Lead Developer, Anonymous Bitcoin
Will there will be an opportunity to volunteer / mine the testnet.Yes, there will be an opportunity for all community members to volunteer / mine the testnet. We will also be making all code public via our github,
https://github.com/anonymousbitcoin, by the time of the testnet release.
In short, we are officially opening up the testnet to the public on August 10th, and we have had a private testnet up for quite some time already. We have been testing on an alpha testnet around the clock for the past few weeks, and will continue to do so up until August 10th, which is the launch of the public testnet.
We will have an open testnet for 30 days where we will be able to accumulate bugs and failures and fix them on the spot before our live launch on September 10th. We have had 2 major testnets up for the past 45 days on two different ports and networks, which are both completely stable.
— Chris Agrello, Lead Developer, Anonymous Bitcoin
How can people participate in the testnet?We will write up instructions on how to download, run, and compile the testnet very soon. If we do get a lot of excitement and people interested in using the testnet, we could possibly look into building and releasing signed executables and beta wallets where you can go through the entire experience early.
Is it possible to add testnet and exchange listing announcement date to ‘Coinmarketcal’?According to Coinmarketcal’s listing requirements, we must be on at least 1 exchange before we are allowed to be hosted on their website. Due to this being impossible until post fork, we will not be on their website until post-September 10, 2018. We have, however, added the fork event onto the BTC and ZCL calendar on Coinmarketcal. We will add all additional events accordingly as soon as we meet this requirement!
What is the block height where the fork occurs?We will determine the block height closer to actual fork date. The block height will be a block that falls on Sept 10, 2018 (TBD at a future date).
How is this different from other ZCL/BTC forks?We have implemented Masternodes. Masternodes perform regular node services to the ANON network, and additionally:
Masternodes are allowed to vote on network proposals/governance
Masternodes will be compensated through 35% coinbase of each block
Community governance. We have no board dictating direction.
We have a completely different equihash algorithm (144,5).making our network more secure vs 51% attacks.
No pre-mine
A coin burn to remove unclaimed supply.
Privately funded project — not reliant on a community pool.
We will announce secured exchange listings and support pre-launch.
We support, and engage with the future development teams of ZCL — and have actively assisted in restoring some social assets to ZCL community control.
We have also implemented a robust bounty program for our community with over 5,500 ZCL.
Anonymous Bitcoin believes that the wider cryptocurrency community would benefit greatly from a spirit of cooperation and friendly rivalry as a modus operandi.
Our team is uniquely equipped and experienced, and we are dedicated to the ideals of decentralization. The intangible purpose, drive, innovation, community focus, and interpersonal relationships within ANON itself marks our project as different.
Will ANON masternodes have penalties, and if so how will these work?Yes, ANON masternodes will have penalties. Masternodes must always hold (N) collateral at all times and consistently be online, 24/7. The penalty for violating this condition would be dropping to the bottom of the block reward list.
Can we have a video of Sam demonstrating how to do the set-up for ANON masternode?Sam was thrilled to have been asked by the community to make a video showing how to set-up an ANON masternode, and has agreed to make one. We will also be releasing a written step-by-step guide on how to set-up your masternode.
Will there be supernodes on the roadmap like ZenCash?We will consider changes to all code through our governance system (Masternodes), but at this time we are not considering future node hierarchy. All nodes are created equal.
We intentionally did not want any type of node hierarchy, like how other coins have masternodes set up, I just personally don’t think it’s a good model. If the community comes back and they submit a proposal to have different types of masternodes, then we will comply
Do we have an ETA on when the Anonymous Bitcoin wallet will be released?We feel that it is vital to provide our community with a wallet that is not only efficient, but also embraces ease of use. Because of this we started working on the wallet early on, and have recently dedicated a member of the development team (Yo, Kevin!) to solely working on the wallet. We plan on releasing it to the public shortly after the snapshot date.
Which platforms are supported for Anonymous Bitcoin Wallet? (Windows, IOS, Linux, …)After launch we will have Linux, MacOS and Windows wallets available.
Is there a 5 year roadmap (post fork roadmap)?We are working on an extensive roadmap with corresponding time horizons.
Any mobile wallet in production? Any Api gateways for websites/merchants?These will be addressed on our aforementioned roadmap.
How about some more links referring to other social media like reddit, website, twitter, telegram and discord, under each video (just make a template for each video and copy paste it)?This is a great idea! We have decided to incorporate it into all of our future videos! Thank you for the suggestion.
How will you solve the problem of low block rewards for ANON? With so few coins left to mine after the snapshot, what incentive will miners have to secure the network?See above
How would one go about claiming the tokens?We suggest using the private key method when claiming your ANON tokens. When left on an exchange, we credit the ANON to the exchange, and it is their responsibility to credit it to you. This takes time and is out of our control.
Non-Exchange (Manual) Method:YOU MUST WAIT UNTIL THE FORK SNAPSHOT HAS PASSED. AFTERWARDS YOU WILL BE ABLE TO IMPORT YOUR PRIVATE KEYS INTO THE ANON WALLET. ***THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT***
Export private keys from BTC/ZCL wallet/node and import keys into ANON wallet.
Steps:
On Sept 10, 2018 we will take a ‘snapshot’ of the BTC and ZCL blockchains. During that snapshot you need to have your coins under your own control with your own private keys….you will not able to claim funds if your coins are not in your own personal custody (or if they are on a non-supporting exchange) at snapshot date.
After Sept 10, 2018 we will release the ANON wallet. When you have downloaded the software/wallet you will be able to import private keys (from BTC/ZCL wallet/node) into the ANON client. This is what gives you access / the ability to claim your ANON coins. Very shortly after, your balance will be updated- and you will see your ANON, and you will be very happy! You can then access your funds and: run a masternode (if you have 100 ANON), hodl, or spend them ANONYMOUSLY
Exchange / Wallet (3rd Party) Method:Hodl your ZCL or BTC on a supporting exchange or wallet (TBA). The exchange/wallet will credit your account with the corresponding amount of ANON at a time determined by the exchange/wallet themselves (beyond the ANON team’s control).
Why was 100 ANON selected as the collateral for a Masternode and wouldn’t this low requirement pose economic ROI issues given the cost of hosting a VPS per node? -
Sam Abbasi, our inhouse crypto-economist, explains:
The objective that Jake first had when he came to us (Bushido Labs) with the idea for masternodes, was a low barrier to entry that is accessible to everyone.
I am a firm believer that it does not make a difference what the collateral is (within the range we were considering) because if there are too many people on the network, people will drop out and it will simply balance out in the long run.
In economics, we talk about the short run and long run, and to me the long run is more important in this case. In the long run, the collateral amount really doesn’t make much of a difference, what is more important is the block reward, which will balance out in the end.
Due to this low barrier, early on we expect to see a high number of users prop up masternodes. But as the competition to get the reward grows because of the increased number of masternodes, and the probability they will get a block reward is lower, people will drop out.
This will consolidate itself regardless of what the masternode collateral is. If we upped the collateral, it would be targeting larger investors, which wasn’t the community run coin Jake first envisioned. After running multiple tests with different collateral amounts we saw that the long term effects would be similar.
Will there be a Masternode rewards/payout site?Directly after the fork we will be working on putting up our masternode explorers. On our masternode explorer you will be able to see how many masternodes are on the network and are currently running, the last masternode that was paid, who was paid on what block and more. We will also incorporate some statistics on the average payout in coins, per day, per month, per year.
Important Links
Youtube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU-BMMTH8z0ow0xHjWZHRUg
Whitepaper
https://www.anonymousbitcoin.io/whitepaper
Subreddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnonymousBitcoin
Discord Server
https://discordapp.com/invite/3PQ3Sgz
Website
https://www.anonymousbitcoin.io/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/ANON_WeAreANON
Telegram Server
https://t.me/anonymousbitcoin
#weareANON.
