I’m a huge fan of Stephen Colbert. I feel that with the current trend in Alt-coins being announced that try to emulate Dogecoin’s popularity, that it was inevitable that someone in the near future would announce a Colbert Coin.EDIT: I've spent the past several days writing and gathering my thoughts about the direction a Colbert Coin should take, during that time, I failed to notice that a ColbertCoin has been announced here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=398018.0 My goal in writing this plea to the Bitcoin community is to promote the development of a Colbert Coin (or other possible Alternate Coins) that both encourages public awareness and understanding of Bitcoin and Crypto-currencies in general AND DOES NOT use Stephen Colbert’s fame and influence to take advantage of newcomers (The Colbert Nation) to Crypto-currencies through a pump-and-dump. I am aware that anyone can create their own Coin rather easily, but I feel a project such as this needs much more of a professional development and level of dedication than what is currently being given to many of the Alt-coins being announced daily.
The idea behind Crypto-currencies is very compelling
I believe in Bitcoin. Whether Bitcoin succeeds or fails, the idea of Crypto-currencies is here to stay. From this point on in Human History, there will always be Crypto-currencies. I feel that anyone who gains a greater understanding of Bitcoin will recognize that this is the truth. Media stories about Bitcoin are often written very lazily, most likely the majority of the sources the writer is using when putting their piece together are other news sources. That’s just a fact of the current state of media reporting, where they try and get out stories that are as sensational as possible, as quickly as possible, without any sort of fact-checking. They are ripe with mis-information, inaccuracies, and a fundamental misunderstanding of how Bitcoin functions. Chief among these is the perception by media that the Bitcoin mining process is a waste of energy does nothing but create new bitcoins out of thin air, thereby having no value, completely ignoring the role mining plays in forming and securing the network.
Bitcoin adoption will increase as public awareness and understanding increase.
The potential of Bitcoin is enormous, and I feel that as the public’s understanding of it increases, they will see just how compelling it actually is. Unfortunately, current media coverage isn’t giving the public a fair chance to be properly informed about Bitcoin. It’s the media’s responsibility to properly inform their readers and provide enough unbiased information to enable to let their readers form their own opinion.
Instead, most stories just focus on the current Mt.Gox price followed up by commentary from some financial expert or pundit stating that Bitcoin is in a speculative bubble on the verge of popping, rather than any meaningful examination of the technology behind Bitcoin.
There seems to be a consensus that this coming year will show an increased involvement in Bitcoin by the financial sector, whether it be in Bitcoin services or in Bitcoin itself. The number of businesses that will accept Bitcoin as payment can only increase. The growing impact of both of these factors will inevitably lead to an increased awareness and understanding of Bitcoin by the general public and a recognition of its potential.
Another method of increasing the public’s understanding of how Bitcoin works would be by using Alternate-Cryptocurrencies targeted at a specific audience to get them interested and involved in that particular Alt-Coin. This has been increasing seen in the past few weeks, as more and more new Alt-Coins are released using this thought. Unfortunately their motivation springs solely from the hope that the coin will be huge solely based on the name of coin.
This is where the recent popularity of Dogecoin comes in... Dogecoin was introduced as a joke to poke some fun at all of the endless Alt-Coins announcing themselves as being superior to all other coins. Dogecoin attracted users solely on the basis that it was silly and just for fun.
Regardless of what your feelings towards Dogecoin might have been, the fact remains that Dogecoin introduced thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, to the concept of Crypto-currency. Many of these people had no prior contact or understanding of Bitcoin. Dogecoin was able to achieve this because it was able to target a specific audience and was able to get these people to be actively involved in Dogecoin itself. It allowed these newcomers to gain a thorough understanding in the role mining plays in the network, the importance of the blockchain, how to setup wallet clients, how to send and receive coins, etc.
This involvement was able to provide these people with a much better understanding of Crypto-currency than any media coverage has been able to accomplish to-date and in the foreseeable future. There will be an avalanche in the coming weeks and months of Alt-coins targeting specific audiences, with their sole motivation for the most part being a basic pump-and-dump. The negative aspect of this will very well be a perception by the Media that anyone can make their own coins, but I feel that these incoming coins will inevitably lead to a better understanding of Bitcoin, and is therefore of great benefit to Bitcoin.
However, I feel that it would be even more beneficial to Bitcoin if the sole motivation of these Alt-coins was to increase public awareness and understanding of Crypto-currencies. I hope that Developers for new Alt-coins read this and give it some serious consideration before they release these new Alt-coins.
An Alt-Coin that could fulfill this purpose of increasing public awareness and understanding of Bitcoin through active participation could be a coin based on the American television host of “The Colbert Report” and political satirist, Stephen Colbert.
Better Know a Crypto-currency
It is likely Stephen Colbert would be able to use “The Colbert Report” to responsibly inform his audience about how Crypto-currencies work. I think it is highly probable and likely that at some point Colbert would invite notable members of the Bitcoin community onto his show for on-air explanations of Bitcoin. I can picture the Bitcoin guest sending a transaction to Colbert’s Bitcoin address while on-air, as well as on-air demonstrations of setting up wallet clients, how to send and receive coins, etc. An in-depth demonstration of mining might be possible. A valueless Colbert Coin would serve extremely well for these demonstrations, and would allow Colbert’s audience to actively participate.
Why a Colbert Coin Pre-mine could be extremely beneficial
Pre-mine is a very dirty word, but in the case of Colbert Coin, whose sole purpose is increasing public awareness and understanding of Bitcoin, it could be extremely beneficial.
A large percentage of the total number of possible Colbert Coins could be pre-mined with the sole intent being to award them to Stephen Colbert himself. As mentioned earlier, a Bitcoin guest on “The Colbert Report” could assist Colbert in a live demonstration in setting up the Colbert Coin Wallet client. The pre-mined coins could then be sent to Stephen Colbert’s wallet, as a live, On-air demonstration. Stephen Colbert could then award his audience with Colbert Coins during various giveaways, through contests, etc. I find this to be the most likely scenario. The Colbert Nation will be extremely motivated to to learn about Crypto-currencies, since Colbert will be awarding them from his newly obtained hoard of Colbert Coins. He could even award his audience with Colbert Coins when they donate to the various charities he supports.
Colbert Coin Fair Release
There was an Alt-coin that was released recently, that had thousands of miners awaiting the launch time, readying to point their Mining clients towards this coin. From reading recent posts, it sounds like the problem that followed was that the starting difficulty was so low that new blocks were found instantaneously before block difficulty could readjust, resulting in 10-20% of the total number coins being instantly mined.
For Colbert Coin, I think it would be important that several weeks’ worth of blocks after a potential pre-mine would contain a very small number of coins, possibly just a single coin, with the full block reward only starting 2-3 weeks after Colbert Coin’s initial release. It also might be a good idea for the block rewards to gradually build up over a few weeks time until it reaches the maximum block rewards. This would allow Colbert’s fans some time in setting up their wallets and mining clients, seeing as how most of them have never had contact with Crypto-currencies. This would also prevent a pump-and-dump and buying frenzy at the expense of Stephen Colbert’s fans.
I feel that it is extremely likely that Stephen Colbert would advise his fanbase On-Air, that they should not buy or invest in Colbert Coins. I feel that this would be the most responsible course of action. Participation in Mining, Contests, Giveaways, and donating to Charities…. YES! But please do not use your hard-earned money buying Colbert Coins hoping that they will go Viral and be worth a lot like Bitcoin. Unfortunately with Dogecoin, many of the people new to Crypto-currencies spent thousands of dollars buying up the coins once they hit the exchanges in hopes Dogecoin would go viral and their coins would be worth exponentially more as the general public took notice of this emerging coin. Many of them did not realize the enormous amount of Dogecoins awarded from blocks daily (50 billion Dogecoins in the first two months after its release). I do feel sorry for these people. I hope that they did not “invest” more than they could afford to lose, and that their newly found knowledge of Crypto-currencies gives them a leg-up in the future when it comes to this emerging technology.
The coins incoming in the future that try to emulate Dogecoin’s success have this same unfortunate goal in mind. They hope to create a coin that gets these newcomers to Crypto-currency to invest their money by buying these coins once they get dumped onto the exchanges. It is well documented that when a various cause or political candidate is brought to attention on “The Colbert Report,” it subsequently receives a massive amount of media coverage and growth in popularity. Ron Paul was one of the first interviewees to receive a major boost from “The Colbert Bump” in Republican Primary Polls following a 2007 interview on “The Colbert Report.”
Stephen Colbert has a strong fanbase. When there is a cause that promotes Stephen Colbert, no matter how silly it is, Colbert has shown time and time again that he is able to effectively mobilize his fanbase, the Colbert Nation. There are countless examples of this.
Colbert is consistently voted for and acknowledged as one of the most influential people in Media. He often uses this influence to benefit charities in need and bring awareness to many obscure yet important stories.Below are some sterling examples of Stephen Colbert’s wielding of his influence:
- In 2006, there was an online public poll run by a Ministry in Hungary to name a newly built bridge that crossed over the Danube. Colbert was able to effectively use his show to campaign his fanbase into voting for the bridge to be named after him. Colbert received the highest number of votes, however the Hungarian Ministry decided to ignore the poll and name the bridge after a historical figure instead.
- The Ice cream maker, Ben&Jerry’s named an ice cream flavor after Colbert, called “Americone Dream.” Colbert used his show to promote his flavor over other Ben&Jerry’s flavors. Proceeds from his flavor went to a charity fund.
- In the few months prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, the U.S. Speedskating team lost their major financial backer. Colbert immediately stepped up and became the Sponsor of U.S. Speedskating. Using his show, he was able to raise more than $300,000 for the speedskating team, more than making up for what the team lost when their major financial backer dropped them.
- Colbert successfully lobbied to have his own portrait inducted into the National Museum of American History. His portrait was hung right outside of the public restrooms. Every year he unveils a new Portrait to hang in his studio on “The Colbert Report,” the previous portraits are auctioned off and the proceeds go to charity.
- Colbert was able to get his viewers to vote in the online poll to decide the Saginaw Spirits’ Mascot (a minor league hockey team). Their Mascot is now Steagle Colbeagle the Eagle.
- Colbert was able to get his viewers to vote for the new International Space Station module to be named after him, and he won the Poll. NASA decided to not name the module after Colbert, instead allowing a treadmill onboard the Space Station to be named the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill (C.O.L.B.E.R.T.)
- Colbert announced his Presidency for the United States of America on October 16th, 2007 on his Television show. Doritos’ sponsored his campaign, and Colbert had extensive coverage of his own Presidential Campaign on “The Colbert Report.” Nationally, he polled above many of the lesser Candidates for both Parties.
- Colbert formed his own Super PAC “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” ahead of the 2012 Presidential Primary elections and showcased all of the steps required to form a Super PAC on his television show. This is especially noteworthy, because he was able to use his show as a platform for educating his audience on the influence Super PACs have on elections, how the money behind them can remain anonymous, and how the Donors to Super PACs can have influences over the actions the PAC makes with simple nudge-nudge-wink-winks. One of the notable commercials by “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” was the urging of voters of the Iowa Straw Poll to write-in “Rick PARRY” instead of “Rick Perry.” He dissolved his Super PAC after the 2012 elections and donated the money it raised to Charity.
There are countless other examples as well.
For the most part, Stephen Colbert always uses his influence responsibly, and will often use to benefit charities.
I would be extremely pleased to be able to do whatever I could to assist in the development of a Colbert Coin, but I must admit that while I certainly am very motivated to learn as much as I possibly can and help with whatever possible, I only have a slightly above average level when it comes to using a computer.
As I mentioned, I am a huge fan of Stephen Colbert. I would like to apologize in advance if Stephen Colbert takes offense that someone would create a coin based on his persona without his permission or blessing. The only argument I have in my defense is that I was just trying to promote a more responsible Colbert Coin than what would inevitably have been created in the following weeks and months. I hope that Stephen Colbert is able to to understand this.
