[ANN][NOTE]DNotes - Celebrating DNotes 3rd Birthday - Forum Now Open

[CosmicHQ]

Yeah that is what I am seeing with CRISP and which is actually something I have thought about regarding digital currencies and using it to compound interest. There is a lot to talk about indeed 

[RJF]

I look forward to details of how this 'on-da-street' crypto-coining fares, particularly whether a range of strategies can be amalgamated.

m

With the flyers? Yeah, me too. It will be interesting to see.

I think, even in the digital age, there is something to be said for the old ways. If I'm wrong, not much invested but, even one or two new users is worth the time.

[RJF]

Yeah that is what I am seeing with CRISP and which is actually something I have thought about regarding digital currencies and using it to compound interest. There is a lot to talk about indeed 

Welcome to DNotes!

You have certainly come to the right place to integrate crypto into your mission. I've been on your site a few times and I have to say you are doing important work. We all need to insure the digital revolution doesn't pass over those who can benefit the most like many new technologies have. You will find everyone here ready and willing to assist...

RJF
Director of CRISP for Retirement

[DNotes]

Yeah that is what I am seeing with CRISP and which is actually something I have thought about regarding digital currencies and using it to compound interest. There is a lot to talk about indeed 

Welcome to DNotes!

You have certainly come to the right place to integrate crypto into your mission. I've been on your site a few times and I have to say you are doing important work. We all need to insure the digital revolution doesn't pass over those who can benefit the most like many new technologies have. You will find everyone here ready and willing to assist...

RJF
Director of CRISP for Retirement

Welcome to the forum CosmicHQ!

Great site, it looks like you are involved in quite a bit. Please feel free to share your thoughts, we look forward to hearing them.

[infovortice2013]

Hi everyone. My name is Daniel Chavez. I work for Cosmic HQ        CosmicHQ.com

I was just talking to Alan Yong and he told me to join the forum so here I am, willing to listen to what is happening with CRISP and anything else.

I mentioned to him that Cosmic HQ is has contacts in areas of the world where I think CRISP would fit in and we are planning to and are executing this plan of entering into Africa as well as India and are working on other countries at the moment. We are growing every day and everyday our goals are met which forward one of the overall purposes of Cosmic HQ which is to bring the developing countries into communication with already developed countries and societies in regards to technology.

I hope to be in a lot of conversations here and I hope you interact with me as my intentions are quite pure.

you are wellcome !  India market is a great space to grow. Good luck !

[TeeGee]

Here are lessons learned:

Coindesk:
Pete Rizzo (@pete_rizzo_) | Published on April 15, 2015 at 17:27 BST

Buttercoin CEO Reveals 'Tactical Mistake' that Lead to Company Closure

One week after his startup's abrupt closure, Buttercoin CEO Cedric Dahl says the wider community should be careful to learn from his experience at the helm of the US bitcoin marketplace.

Despite accruing an impressive list of investors, including Google Ventures, Centralway Ventures and Y Combinator, Dahl suggested that it was Buttercoin's affiliation with larger investment firms that ultimately left it less able to adapt in a changing bitcoin ecosystem.

He told CoinDesk:

"The big lesson is that you cannot rely on venture. You have to make a product that is self sustaining."

Founded in 2013, Buttercoin raised $1.3m in funding, capital that helped make the startup 'one to watch' in a crowded market. However, in hindsight Dahl wouldn't have tried to raise venture funds at all, he said, calling the decision a "tactical mistake".

"There's much more seed money out there. It's much easier to raise, whereas with venture, if you're not able to get it, the funding is over. With seed and angel money, you can keep going," he continued.

Since the move, some of the company's more high-profile customers have already reported switching marketplace providers, with MegaBigPower's Dave Carlson entering a business relationship with Boost VC-backed startup Hedgy.

Buttercoin's last full day of operations was 10th April, with employees scheduled to depart at close of business on 15th April.

Supply and demand

In interview, Dahl talked at length about his regret that he didn't bootstrap the company, instead trying to raise "a significant amount" early on.

"What I should've done is really start with a fraction of what I would actually need and once you have enough demand, raise more," Dahl said.

Still, Dahl warned that having traction in the marketplace isn't everything, as he believes Buttercoin was able to achieve an active user base despite opening to the public roughly five months ago.

"At the end of the day, we built a great product that had real growth that was growing between 10–25% per week," Dahl said.

Dahl also suggested the decline in the price of bitcoin was a factor in funding, noting that his initial fundraising took place when the price of bitcoin was at or near $1,000, compared to its current value of $220 at press time.

Consolidation to continue

Dahl also discussed the need for bitcoin industry executives to strike a balance between "reality and perception," noting that both are equally important when dealing with potential investors.

"Perception is important," Dahl continued, adding that he expects companies to raise funds without introducing products because of this factor.

The most likely targets for this funding, he suggested, would be first-time bitcoin investors or firms looking to capitalize on the big opportunities in the space. Further, he said that investment is likely to be split between large venture rounds and smaller seed investments, though all in line with an overall trend of consolidation.

"If you look at the money this year, 50% has gone to two companies. That's a rough figure and I think you'll continue to see this distribution where fewer companies get more."

Dahl went so far as to predict an environment where the number of bitcoin wallet providers is whittled down to a handful of well-capitalized winners.

"I think that you'll find there's going to be a really big consolidation in the space," he added.

'Moonshot' option on table

Despite the formal announcement, Dahl suggested that he wasn't ruling out a last-minute bid to save the company or secure an exit for investors.

"We're trying to do the best we can by our team and our investors, we're pursuing every option possible to get compensation," he said.

Overall, Dahl expressed his thanks to his team which he commended for handling both the scaling up, and subsequent winding down, of Buttercoin professionally. Going forward, Dahl indicated he would also seek to make himself available as a resource to aspiring bitcoin entrepreneurs.

Dahl concluded:

"At the end of the day, I'm super proud of the team we put together and the product we've built."

Yes. Most VC firms are control freaks. It's rare when you can find one willing to buy in and then sit back and let you run things without their input. When I was in business, we turned down an offer of investment for that very reason. Creative people, the very ones needing capital investment, don't mesh well with those who would control them. It's rare when this relationship works and rarer yet when it prospers.

You are exactly right, RJF. They (VCs) are never shy to bring up the "Golden Rule". And that is "He who holds the gold, makes the rule". There are many good reasons why the DNotes team has been digging deep in their pockets and not depended on VC or other funding to take DNotes and its ecosystem this far. We are  so certain that we have the most viable business model to make this a big success that we would rather dig in for our last $ before involving VC funding. Now that the foundation has been built and the cement is set, the table has been turned. Soon we will be the one holding the gold. We are the average wage owners should all be very proud of what our whole team, community and our stakeholders have accomplished. Long live CryptoMoms! Happy Birthday.

I was just thinking before about the "Golden Rule" brought up by RJF and DYNA. It was a term e-mailed to me a month or so ago and I had not heard it before, although the subsequent quote makes it's meaning certain. I revisited the thought after seeing this article online: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2015/03/16/no-entrepreneurs-most-of-you-dont-need-angel-investors-or-venture-capitalists/

Kauffman’s researchers discovered that roughly two-thirds of the companies were financed by either personal savings, investments by friends and family or traditional loans. Only one in 10 obtained funding from venture firms or angel investors (individual start-up backers). In fact, credit cards – among the most expensive mechanisms of financing – was used more commonly by start-ups than either angel or venture funding.

The most common sources of funding for high-growth companies - only 7.7 percent of the fastest-growing companies took money from angel investors, while even fewer are backed by venture capitalists (6%). Once again, personal savings and bank loans are far away the most commonly used source of funding.

I've noticed that with many recent applications in social media (GEMS - crypto social network), decentralised governments (bitnation.io), and mobile applications, that bootstrapping business has become common. Digital Currency VC funding is growing rapidly (250m for Q1 2015), but most of this funding is going to well established businesses with a product already on offer. Bootstrap businesses in the crypto world are producing minimum viability products at bare minimum cost, then hoping to rely on future cashflow to further develop the product. How many failed coins did you see this happen with in the last year? One of my favourite coins a year ago was XCurrency or 'XC'. Their developer seemed very competent at programming, and I recall reading his comments on the forums about his 90 hour weeks, taking time off to keep his wife happy, and the excitement and massive workload ahead of him. The dev. followed a stock-standard model of promoting his coin - he released a wallet, client, forum and started a community. Unfortunately, he expanded too fast thanks to 'promising the world'. The excitement at the exchanges caused the price of XC to go up many hundreds of fold, and the dev hadn't even released a working version of 'anonymous' send - the cause of all the hype. The exact same thing happened to DarkCoin or "DRK" - now known as Dash? I remember waiting months to see the proof of concept / execution of their claims, and the price of DRK at one stage exceeded $10 USD, for no other reason than a promise!? If a dev wanted price stability, their gameplan was the worst way to do it. DRK is now worth a tenth of what it used to, and XC is as good as dead.

These dev's planned on doing as much work as they could themselves, and then probably planned on expanding their development using the profit from the currency they had created (or run away). What I don't think they expected, was that in the crypto world, without substance and infrastructure behind your currency, it's price can skyrocket and then drop 90% in a week. The early exposure that XC and DRK created for themselves gave them only a matter of weeks to develop and implement an entire currency infrastructure, anonymous sending innovation, and active community! Traders ride the price bubbles, investors look at a long-term picture and are the biggest protection against price speculation. Investors require convincing, and don't separate with their money easily. No investor will part money for a project where the price is convoluted by speculative trading. XC and many other coins died before even getting off the mark.

When you consider the scope of the mission DNotes plans to achieve (currency of the future - now), and that it is financed by a select few main stakeholders, it is a remarkable achievement within one year. It's interesting to think how different this coins implementation has been. The dev purposefully, and publicly stated that DNotes plan was to fly under the radar, and not be concerned with prices at the exchange while an infrastructure to attract long term DNotes holders was created. Creating an environment that attracts long-term holders, I think, is the best hedge against price fluctuations.

And with that I think I'll head to bed! some of you may have realised that I've been posting my thoughts here a bit lately - they are essentially drafts for another thread I'm to make when I've got enough "DNotes differences" that have been 'peer-reviewed' by everybody here. I am sharing my crypto experiences at the same time. I'd be VERY happy if community members posted what they saw happen with other coins that looked promising, but didn't quite make it (*glances at LTC*), with the inclusion of thoughts as to why.

[Chase]

Hi Daniel and welcome to DNotes!

I checked out CosmicHQ.com and I'm very impressed with everything your team has accomplished.   I especially found the OodiaBaba projects inspiring and I encourage everyone to check out this site.

I do not have a background in technology, but I became intrigued with the financial side of cryptocurrency in 2013.  It was the potential it held for massive wealth transfer and it's ability to level the playing field for everyone in the world that finally made me commit to it.  As I began researching issues relating to women for CryptoMoms, I discovered some very disturbing facts such as:  70% of the world's poor are women, most women have no retirement savings, and the list goes on and on.  The quote that was used in the last press release sums up exactly how I feel about the power of digital currency / DNotes:

“With cryptocurrency, we have the opportunity to reach women from all walks of life and from every corner of the world. It has the power to help women by addressing poverty, providing economic inclusion, and allowing them to participate in the massive job and wealth creation of a new industry. Cryptocurrency has the potential to provide women with a secure financial future that otherwise may be unattainable. It also allows woman to start and operate a business in locations around the world that have no banking access.”

The beauty of the CRISP program, is that combined with DNotesVault, anyone from anywhere in the world, can start a DNotes savings plan with nothing more than an email address and occasional internet access.  To start off, it is possible for them to accumulate small amounts of DNotes from free faucets and giveaways.

The CRISP For Students and CRISP For Retirement will be extremely beneficial in the locations that you are serving.  There is also CRISP For Kids, operating through CryptoMoms, which allows parents, grandparents, or any other caring adult to start a savings plan for a child.  This can be used to pay for the child's education or just to give the child a more stable financial future.

The next to launch is the CRISP For Employees, followed by the CRISP For Charity.  Through DNotesVault, I can donate a certain amount of DNotes to your charity and select a timed-send payout so the donation is released to you in equal instalments weekly, monthly, or yearly.  This allows the donor to make a larger gift of DNotes while the price is low, as well as an appreciated value in your hands at time of payout.  It also provides an incredible boost to the long term sustainability of charities as a multitude of timed-send donations go on for years.

There are many ways a CRISP could be customized to meet individual needs. 

Let us know what we can do to help. 

Chase

[DNotes]

I was just thinking before about the "Golden Rule" brought up by RJF and DYNA. It was a term e-mailed to me a month or so ago and I had not heard it before, although the subsequent quote makes it's meaning certain. I revisited the thought after seeing this article online: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2015/03/16/no-entrepreneurs-most-of-you-dont-need-angel-investors-or-venture-capitalists/

Kauffman’s researchers discovered that roughly two-thirds of the companies were financed by either personal savings, investments by friends and family or traditional loans. Only one in 10 obtained funding from venture firms or angel investors (individual start-up backers). In fact, credit cards – among the most expensive mechanisms of financing – was used more commonly by start-ups than either angel or venture funding.

The most common sources of funding for high-growth companies - only 7.7 percent of the fastest-growing companies took money from angel investors, while even fewer are backed by venture capitalists (6%). Once again, personal savings and bank loans are far away the most commonly used source of funding.

I've noticed that with many recent applications in social media (GEMS - crypto social network), decentralised governments (bitnation.io), and mobile applications, that bootstrapping business has become common. Digital Currency VC funding is growing rapidly (250m for Q1 2015), but most of this funding is going to well established businesses with a product already on offer. Bootstrap businesses in the crypto world are producing minimum viability products at bare minimum cost, then hoping to rely on future cashflow to further develop the product. How many failed coins did you see this happen with in the last year? One of my favourite coins a year ago was XCurrency or 'XC'. Their developer seemed very competent at programming, and I recall reading his comments on the forums about his 90 hour weeks, taking time off to keep his wife happy, and the excitement and massive workload ahead of him. The dev. followed a stock-standard model of promoting his coin - he released a wallet, client, forum and started a community. Unfortunately, he expanded too fast thanks to 'promising the world'. The excitement at the exchanges caused the price of XC to go up many hundreds of fold, and the dev hadn't even released a working version of 'anonymous' send - the cause of all the hype. The exact same thing happened to DarkCoin or "DRK" - now known as Dash? I remember waiting months to see the proof of concept / execution of their claims, and the price of DRK at one stage exceeded $10 USD, for no other reason than a promise!? If a dev wanted price stability, their gameplan was the worst way to do it. DRK is now worth a tenth of what it used to, and XC is as good as dead.

These dev's planned on doing as much work as they could themselves, and then probably planned on expanding their development using the profit from the currency they had created (or run away). What I don't think they expected, was that in the crypto world, without substance and infrastructure behind your currency, it's price can skyrocket and then drop 90% in a week. The early exposure that XC and DRK created for themselves gave them only a matter of weeks to develop and implement an entire currency infrastructure, anonymous sending innovation, and active community! Traders ride the price bubbles, investors look at a long-term picture and are the biggest protection against price speculation. Investors require convincing, and don't separate with their money easily. No investor will part money for a project where the price is convoluted by speculative trading. XC and many other coins died before even getting off the mark.

When you consider the scope of the mission DNotes plans to achieve (currency of the future - now), and that it is financed by a select few main stakeholders, it is a remarkable achievement within one year. It's interesting to think how different this coins implementation has been. The dev purposefully, and publicly stated that DNotes plan was to fly under the radar, and not be concerned with prices at the exchange while an infrastructure to attract long term DNotes holders was created. Creating an environment that attracts long-term holders, I think, is the best hedge against price fluctuations.

And with that I think I'll head to bed! some of you may have realised that I've been posting my thoughts here a bit lately - they are essentially drafts for another thread I'm to make when I've got enough "DNotes differences" that have been 'peer-reviewed' by everybody here. I am sharing my crypto experiences at the same time. I'd be VERY happy if community members posted what they saw happen with other coins that looked promising, but didn't quite make it (*glances at LTC*), with the inclusion of thoughts as to why.

Another excellent post TeeGee. You quickly recognize concepts and communicate them efficiently.

One of the biggest concerns is the sharp rise and fall that many of the coins are experiencing. If one goes in and buys ABC coin for $40 a coin, within a month the price crashes to $0.04. Odds are that person experienced a great deal of pain and will not be interested to further support that coin. Slow growth, built on a solid foundation, and not hype or promises is more sustainable.

I encourage everyone to help TeeGee, he is working on a very important project for DNotes.

[kanus1113]

For discussion:

What can a crypto community do that a group of individuals cannot?

Lets not forget that a community that rely their communication on bitcointalk is bot anonymous and fearless... trolling and bullying is their main prerogative.

It does tend to lean that way lol.

[DNotes]

For discussion:

What can a crypto community do that a group of individuals cannot?

Lets not forget that a community that rely their communication on bitcointalk is bot anonymous and fearless... trolling and bullying is their main prerogative.

It does tend to lean that way lol.

It can be tough, but I think we are doing fairly well developing our community here on bitcointalk.

[CosmicHQ]

Hey Chase, CRISP sounds so great. There is a lot than be done and a lot synergy which exists between CosmicHQ and CRISP because of what we are wanting to accomplish.

Cosmic HQ has the ability of organization and it also has the ability of programming plans so that they come into action as well having people who are capable of putting these plans into place.

One of the goals of Oodia Baba Initiative (you can read more about at oodiababa.com) is to connect developing countries to the 21st century as well as to connect them with what is else is going so that they can make up their own mind about it. The goal is to bring it about everywhere that it is needed. Because people do not want to be behind in the times and because of this being behind in the times, they actually feel pain because of it. One of the goals of Cosmic HQ is to erase this pain so that they experience pleasure and a sense of satisfaction which results from pleasing that void.

Oodia Baba recently visited India and he personally saw what life is like in Indian villages. It is something which a lot of you could not stand to live in for more than a day. Another goal which accompanies these activities is creating employment for these people. And this is being done by Cosmic HQ's KPO/BPO company Stellar Business International.

There is a lot going on and I will keep writing to you about it so that you know about us.

[CryptoBroker79]

Hey Chase, CRISP sounds so great. There is a lot than be done and a lot synergy which exists between CosmicHQ and CRISP because of what we are wanting to accomplish.

Cosmic HQ has the ability of organization and it also has the ability of programming plans so that they come into action as well having people who are capable of putting these plans into place.

One of the goals of Oodia Baba Initiative (you can read more about at oodiababa.com) is to connect developing countries to the 21st century as well as to connect them with what is else is going so that they can make up their own mind about it. The goal is to bring it about everywhere that it is needed. Because people do not want to be behind in the times and because of this being behind in the times, they actually feel pain because of it. One of the goals of Cosmic HQ is to erase this pain so that they experience pleasure and a sense of satisfaction which results from pleasing that void.

Oodia Baba recently visited India and he personally saw what life is like in Indian villages. It is something which a lot of you could not stand to live in for more than a day. Another goal which accompanies these activities is creating employment for these people. And this is being done by Cosmic HQ's KPO/BPO company Stellar Business International.

There is a lot going on and I will keep writing to you about it so that you know about us.

What an awesome initiative! I like how your team understands that it takes more than throwing money at a problem to solve it. Like the old saying goes, "Give a man a fish, you have fed him for the day; Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime". Keep up the good work.

[CosmicHQ]

Yeah that is what I'm talking about that is actually what Oodia Baba has said also.

[CosmicHQ]

And that is the idea for India and not only for that country. The idea is to increase employment so that these people can see a future and can BE in the future.

[DNotes]

And that is the idea for India and not only for that country. The idea is to increase employment so that these people can see a future and can BE in the future.

Sounds like a worthy cause CosmicHQ

[CosmicHQ]

Thank you Dnotes.

The cause IS about causing an effect in that country which is going to raise the life of the individuals in that country and as the people as a whole so they reach a state of knowing that there really is hope, and if this has to be done by way of technology so be it because it is going to create a new reality for them. And by increasing their reality, OUR own life is improved because we are bring about a new state of living in our lives as well.

[CryptoBroker79]

Cash costs Americans $200 billion a year
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101103705

"Electronic payments by phone, card and computer continue to gain market share. And yet millions of Americans keep using cash."

"A new study by Tufts University, The Cost of Cash in the United States, puts that price tag at about $200 billion a year. This figure includes $55 billion in higher costs to businesses, $43 billion for U.S. households and $101 billion in missed tax revenue because of off-the books transactions. For the average American family, the cost of cash is about $1,739 a year."

[DNotes]

Thank you Dnotes.

The cause IS about causing an effect in that country which is going to raise the life of the individuals in that country and as the people as a whole so they reach a state of knowing that there really is hope, and if this has to be done by way of technology so be it because it is going to create a new reality for them. And by increasing their reality, OUR own life is improved because we are bring about a new state of living in our lives as well.

How do you envision utilizing cryptocurrency to improve the lives of the individuals in that country?

[TeeGee]

Cash costs Americans $200 billion a year
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101103705

"Electronic payments by phone, card and computer continue to gain market share. And yet millions of Americans keep using cash."

"A new study by Tufts University, The Cost of Cash in the United States, puts that price tag at about $200 billion a year. This figure includes $55 billion in higher costs to businesses, $43 billion for U.S. households and $101 billion in missed tax revenue because of off-the books transactions. For the average American family, the cost of cash is about $1,739 a year."

"The average fee to use a non-network ATM is now about $3.85 per transaction."

Wow, just wow! Here it's like $1.50 tops, but a network ATM is never more than about 200 metres / 250 yards away in the central city.

The figures touted should be a massive advertisement for Digital Currency / Cash. I didn't even know that employers still paid by checks that you had to cash in. Cash has great advantages in preventing meta-data records about your daily life etc, and also lets you track how much you have budgeted left to spend for the week, without constantly logging into your internet / mobile banking apps to see everytime you want to make a purchase.

[DNotes]

Fighting gender inequality: Crypto Moms celebrate one year of promoting bitcoin

20 April 2015   Hits: 82


Crypto Moms, an American bitcoin forum for women, celebrates its first anniversary. The forum has enjoyed some success in promoting cryptocurrency to its target audience over the past year.

As of March 20th, the forum had a total of 6,713 members, including some who had written hundreds of posts.

“Crypto Moms was launched in April 2014 with a dedicated mission to increase women’s participation in cryptocurrency. Not only has this ongoing mission been successful, Crypto Moms has grown into one of the best learning centres for everyone interested in digital currency”

The design of the forum looks suspiciously similar to the design of “mama forums” or popular forums that cater to female audiences all around the planet. It is not very clear whether this is a parody or a conscious imitation designed to attract the target audience. However, the forum form allows this popularizing website to offer many solutions that are absent on many big platforms.

For the newcomers, this forum provides blogposts with simple explanations of what some might see as a complex phenomenon. Here, for example, is how Crypto Moms prepare the audience for buying their first bitcoins:

“People assume that because the coins are in digital form, you have to be a computer genius to ever get their hands on any. But you could not be more wrong. Creating your own wallet and getting coins really could not be simpler.”

Forum moderators clearly have a talent for popularization:

“Let me introduce you to faucets. Ignore any thoughts of dripping tap water; this type of faucet drips coins. Faucets are an easy way to get some free coins.”

Crypto Moms also write about mining, run a Twitter account, and quickly respond to many events in the global bitcoin industry. They also pay special attention to the success of women in bitcoin industry. Recently, they began to follow Rand Paul’s campaign, but among their perennial favourites is the leader of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, Perianne Boring.

Roman Koritzsky

Source: http://www.coinfox.info/index.php/en/allnews/1885-fighting-gender-inequality-crypto-moms-celebrate-one-year-of-promoting-bitcoin