What happens if all forum users exhaust their Smerits?

[Adams0001]

Joining the forum in early March of this year was one of the most significant accomplishments I believe I've accomplished in my life. Prior to then, I knew very little about cryptocurrencies and couldn't tell the difference between bitcoin and cryptocurrency. I look for other coins online and on exchanges, and I register with them and purchase different coins in the hopes that my earnings would increase quickly.

However, after joining this forum, I've been able to tell them apart. I've learned a lot about security and privacy, and I can confidently explain the concepts of private and public keys, centralised and decentralised exchanges, online and offline wallets, and so on.

The forum has been a valuable tool in expanding my knowledge of cryptocurrency, something I will always be grateful for. I was able to learn more about the forum when I first joined it and have continued to do so to this day. I learned a lot about the forum, including the ranks, activity, and do's and don'ts. But because no one knows everything, it is sometimes necessary to ask questions in order to gain more clarity. According to my understanding, the merit can be offered to you by anyone who has Smerits.

Smerits are obtained when a user merits you and you receive half of that merit as Smerit, which you can also send out.  If that is how merit and Smerit function, what happens when everyone in the forum distributes all of their Smerits? Because, as a result of this process, the Smerits will one day be exhausted by everyone. But the merit distribution system continues to function; how is this possible?

[1714910423]

1714910423

[Cantsay]

We have merit sources that have smerit that are generated automatically which means smerit will never get exhausted. Before the merit system was introduced all these must have been thought of and as long as users continue to make posts that are meritable they'll keep receiving merits and so also will their smerit keep increasing the only time your theory of no smerit will work is if everyone decide not to make any post again and move on to other things but from what I can see I don't think that will be happening anytime soon.

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Smerits are obtained when a user merits you and you receive half of that merit as Smerit, which you can also send out.  If that is how merit and Smerit function, what happens when everyone in the forum distributes all of their Smerits? Because, as a result of this process, the Smerits will one day be exhausted by everyone. But the merit distribution system continues to function; how is this possible?

[Little Mouse]

There are some members called Merit Sources who can generate merits every month given by theymos. Right now, there are 109 merit sources and they can generate 33940 smerits each month. So, it's not going to be ended. Don't forget to calculate how many more smerits is going to be generated from 33940 when distributed.

Check merit stats here- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=sources

[Nwada001]

how is this possible?

That is nearly impossible, as already explained by the above members. Aside from the merits generated a month from merit sources, the Smerit gotten from other members who receive merits still generates a lot of smerit when they are being distributed. Just as you have also explained, if everyone is distributing their merit and not holding back, I believe that alone can go a long way compared to the amount that is being distributed by merit sources every now and then. It's nearly impossible, as all this possibility has been calculated in the past before the merit system was introduced.

[cryptoaddictchie]

If there are no merit resources then this could be possible in the long end of forum but thats gonna be impossible when a lot of merits can be distributed by merit sources in each day, week and months. I could run out of smerits but Im sure one day someone would give me back merits again to gain it. If its work like a token and coin with limited supply and with that burning ratio of 50% deducted per 1 merit then a shortage is possible and merits will be hard to earn and to give due to that.

[Zaguru12]

That is nearly impossible, as already explained by the above members. Aside from the merits generated a month from merit sources, the Smerit gotten from other members who receive merits still generates a lot of smerit when they are being distributed. Just as you have also explained, if everyone is distributing their merit and not holding back, I believe that alone can go a long way compared to the amount that is being distributed by merit sources every now and then. It's nearly impossible, as all this possibility has been calculated in the past before the merit system was introduced.

I think without merit source being refilled with smerits, there is certainly a possibility of it been exhausted. Let take for example that only 100 smerits is available without any thing like merit source getting refilled then when this smerits is shared out only 50% of it will begets another Smerits  (just like what cryptoadditchie said), in this case 50 left. If the circle continues like that just like halving we would eventually exhaust everything. So the merit from merit sources are actually what is keeping the whole thing from not getting any exhausted

[Adams0001]

There are some members called Merit Sources who can generate merits every month given by theymos. Right now, there are 109 merit sources and they can generate 33940 smerits each month. So, it's not going to be ended. Don't forget to calculate how many more smerits is going to be generated from 33940 when distributed.

Check merit stats here- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=sources

Thank you for telling me how Smerit perform. Wow, that is very big amount of Smerits been distributed to the merit sources every month, and if they distribute all, that means they will be enough Smerit to share around the forum, but what will happen if they don't share all the Smerit within the one month, will the Smerit collected back or it will get exhausted? what will happen to the Smerit?

[acroman08]

I feel like the posts above are enough to answer your question.

anyway, just so you know members of the forum can apply to become merit sources themselves, and if you are curious what the requirements are, check this thread. just a note that just because you applied and are an established member of the forum, does not mean that you'll be chosen to become a merit source.

[Little Mouse]

but what will happen if they don't share all the Smerit within the one month, will the Smerit collected back or it will get exhausted? what will happen to the Smerit?

If any merit sources get failed to distribute all the smerits they was assigned to, after the 30 days interval, their source merit will be reset and will be given allocation for new months. Theymos can assign merit source any time and can replace them if someone is inactive.
You should use the search option more frequently as this answers can be found easily, there are many discussions regarding this.

[jrrsparkles]

but what will happen if they don't share all the Smerit within the one month, will the Smerit collected back or it will get exhausted? what will happen to the Smerit?

AFAIK, talking about the merit sources sMerits they will not be carried forward for next cycle. Whenever the new cycle begin they will get the amount filled with what they are allocated for. sMerits are just numbers it can be increased or decreased by one tap if theymos wants too and since being a merit source is a voluntary job don't expect them to spent their hours to spend their allocated quota.

[Coyster]

This is a non-issue, Smerits isn't like Bitcoin that has a capped supply, Smerits can be generated by the admin anytime he wants to do it and he can distribute it anyhow he decides to. When the merit system was introduced, it was even airdropped to users based on just their activity, thus the forum can't run out of Smerits because it is easy for Theymos to create them. That aside anyway, there are merit sources whom Theymos allocates Smerits to per 30 days, and there is no dearth of quality posts in the forum, as such the merit system is still functioning as it should and it is going to continue in that way.

[m2017]

This is a non-issue, Smerits isn't like Bitcoin that has a capped supply, Smerits can be generated by the admin anytime he wants to do it and he can distribute it anyhow he decides to. When the merit system was introduced, it was even airdropped to users based on just their activity, thus the forum can't run out of Smerits because it is easy for Theymos to create them. That aside anyway, there are merit sources whom Theymos allocates Smerits to per 30 days, and there is no dearth of quality posts in the forum, as such the merit system is still functioning as it should and it is going to continue in that way.

You made a suitable analogy with bitcoin. I would even say that Smerits has an endless emission, like fiat money or CBDC.

OP and other newcomers should not worry about the lack or shortage of Smerits. There will be enough for everyone, so try to make a feasible contribution to the forum and you will definitely be rewarded by the bitcointalk community, which will always have Smerits in stock.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

@OP, Have you not been surprised that ever since the merit system was introduced in 2018, users of the forum have never ceased receiving merit? If Smerit had been limited, then It probably would have gotten exhausted earlier than now. but it just keeps going. I believe the reason why the Smerit never gets exhausted is because of some merit sources in the forum that have been appointed by Theymos, and He (Theymos) always allocates some amount of Smerit to Those merit sources almost every month.

[Woodie]

When it comes to smerits, think of them like a tomato 🍅  in the fridge with a limited shelf life ,if these tomatoes are done(finished) then they need to be replenished for the next shelf life and be distributed and can't be gotten again before the next trip to the food store, market, farm wherever you get tomatoes from...

Otherwise, not possible for merit sources to be all done, so let's work on being reward with these for great contributions towards the forum.

[ImThour]

Check merit stats here- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=sources

Didn't know this existed, thanks for sharing this.

I knew there were people who get new merit every month and by the data on this link, this is what it comes to be:
- 109 merit sources with a total merit generation of up to 33940 sMerit per 30 days

So there are 100+ people who get almost 33,000+ Merit every month which is almost 311 sMerit per person.
That assures that merit will never be exhausted on this forum unless these 109 people stop accessing the forum and the sMerit(s) for others get's exhausted.

[Coyster]

So there are 100+ people who get almost 33,000+ Merit every month which is almost 311 sMerit per person.

Merit sources do not get equal allocation of Smerits per 30 days, it differs per merit source, some get more whilst others get less, thus your calculation of Smerit allocation per person is not accurate.

That assures that merit will never be exhausted on this forum unless these 109 people stop accessing the forum and the sMerit(s) for others get's exhausted.

Exactly, and if hypothetically this happens Theymos will basically just appoint new merit sources and allocate them Smerits for the system to continue, the point is that Smerits can't run out because it is easy for the admin to generate it how they like.

[Faisal2202]

You have asked the most common question which all newbies came to know think about. And the answer is always the same that. When at some point the merits will be no more to send anyone. Means you might not have any smerits to send then how this mechanism of giving merits will work. The answer is straight forward which is new Smerits will be given to Merit Source to distribute among the members according to there rules.

Means merit sources will distribute merit to anyone who's post they will found good. IMHO, there are almost 1 merit source in each local community and other than those. Other merit source are also exist who give merit occasionally like when you need few merits to complete your ranks etc.

[mk4]

Merit sources aside, remember that Bitcointalk is a 100% centralized platform and sMerits can be printed out of thin air at will by Theymos(Bitcointalk's owner/admin) anytime he wants to. There's literally no scarcity.

[GazetaBitcoin]

what happens when everyone in the forum distributes all of their Smerits? Because, as a result of this process, the Smerits will one day be exhausted by everyone. But the merit distribution system continues to function; how is this possible?

The forum has more than 3.5M users, from which more than 100.000 are active. Even without taking merit sources into consideration, the chance for all the forum users to run out of sMerits is extremely low. You'd probably have more chances to win the lottery than to see all forum users remaining without sMerits. Each time you will post a quality material, be sure you will receive merits. So if you will keep being a good forum contributor, don't worry, your sMerits stash will not get to 0 or, even if it gets to 0, it won't keep that value for a long time.

At same time, the current 100+ merit sources have a distribution of 30.000 merits each month. This means from start a creation of at least 15.000 sMerits each month. And this amount, combined with all the other existent sMerits makes the situation asked by OP to be highly unrealistic.

[qwertyup23]

There are these so-called "merit sources" that are granted by theymos a specific number of merits (no specific timeframe on when) to be distributed among the users. They are called sources because they have established their credibility on the forum in creating multiple helpful threads and other relevant topics/discussions.

From what I remember, every local board has at least 1-2 merit sources that distributes these merits to the users. They are also tasked to exhaust these merits in order to help and give incentive those people who are contributing greatly to the forum.

In conclusion, if all forum users exhausted their sMerits, then merit sources would be granted an additional set of sMerits which would be distributed again on the forum users.