This interview was posted on March 30th 2014 for the Cannacoin launch. If you like it, please check it out at the website and tip the author http://coinjoint.info/cannacoin-interview-new-cryptocurrency-contender-cannabis-market/
Cannacoin Interview: A new cryptocurrency contender for the cannabis marketPosted by: Bobby (ironhammer5) in Interviews March 30, 2014
The cannabis market is becoming a hotly contended one when it comes to industry-specific cryptocurrencies. The latest is Cannacoin (CCN), and I was eager to find out more about the new altcoin when I got the chance to speak with Cannacoin’s creator and lead developer.
Could you start by introducing yourself and what your role is in Cannacoin?My name is Josh, I’m 27 and currently operate as co-owner of NWGreenthumb, Washington states largest online medical cannabis community. I am also the lead developer and creator of Cannacoin.
How and when did you first get involved in cryptocurrency, and what led you to making your own coin?
I first heard about crypto currencies sometime in 2012 when an older brother of mine saw an article in I believe it was popular science. He knew of my technical background and mentioned Bitcoin as a potential investment. After doing some more research, it was clear that crypto currencies weren’t just an investment but a complete game changer. Since that day I’ve found myself glued to the ideas of decentralization, cryptography and liberation.
The decision that led me to create Cannacoin has been a lifelong sequence of events that I think started as a kid tearing apart my mothers computers. I grew up learning to program at a young age and In my later years became apart of NWGreenthumb and the cannabis movement here in Washington with my twin brother. NWGT quickly became a staple resource for the cannabis community here in Washington and after witnessing the rise of Bitcoin and the cannabis industry almost simultaneously it didn’t take a long to conceptualize the idea of combining the two ideas to create Cannacoin.
Can you tell us a bit about Cannacoin’s specs?
We’ve structured Cannacoin off the success of Litecoin and Bitcoin and attempted to improve on some of the smaller details such as block time and difficulty retargeting. Our intentions are to create a balanced coin with intrinsic value that is not easily inflated by an extreme supply of coins. You can also try to look at it like this:
Reward: 1/2 BTC reward (12.5 CCN) happening every 1 minute (BTC = 10 Min, LTC 2.5 Min). Block Time: 10x faster BTC, 2.5x faster LTC. Total Supply: 13,140,000 (Just over 1/2 BTC total supply, designed to be an industry specific coin not an end all be all currency). Halving Rate: A yearly expectation for miners (leads to a 5-7 year rollout plan for a majority of CCN). Difficulty Retargeting: Kimoto Gravity Well, retargets difficulty every 1 block while BTC/LTC happens every 2016 Blocks.
What’s your overarching aim for this coin?Cannacoin is developed to be the future currency of the Cannabis industry. The team and I not only feel that Cannacoin will provide an excellent well balanced transactional currency for cannabis users and supporters around the globe but, we plan to be a leaders in the crypto space by pioneering real world application of Cannacoin locally here at the heart of the cannabis movement in Washington state. Backed by our community of over 16,000 members at nwgreenthumb.com we have a strong feeling that an organized and educated cannabis user base might just might be what is needed to make this coin succeed in the cannabis space.
There’s already a few coins taking on the cannabis market, what are you doing to differentiate?We all love the idea of a coin for the cannabis industry but the reality is is that the developers of these other coins have almost comical configurations and no true backing or experience in the cannabis industry. Not only have we strategized the key elements within Cannacoin but, we’ve have both the local and online community and plans to roll out POS, online merchant services, tipbots, forum tips, patient to patient donation and other critical services to help expand Cannacoin and the cannabis community as a whole.
Do you feel these coins will co-exist peacefully? Or do you feel one will eventually dominate this particular market?
The idea of a cannabis/marijuana/weed/ganja/dope/pot coin is so relatively new that It may take time but eventually I feel there will be one coin that will separates itself from the rest. In my eyes the deciding factors will be a user base, development, and real world application. In the end we’re all fighting for the same cause, I just feel things need to be taken more seriously and realistic if any coin is to be accepted as a currency for an industry setting.
You’re very close to the March 28th launch, how is everything coming along? Have you got everything in place?Things are going well, right now I feel we have everything in place for the smoothest possible launch. This includes clients available for Mac, Windows and Linux along with a wide array of services like block explorers and paper wallets ready to go.
What do you plan to tackle after the launch?One thing we plan to tackle after launch will be a POS system for our local cannabis farmers markets and collectives(eventually recreational stores) here in Washington. We are currently working to organize a POS team and I will likely be taking quite a bit of time to work on this project myself. If anyone is interested in joining please contact
team@cannacoin.cc
What linked services/products do you feel the coin needs most to be successful?This is somewhat of a difficult question to answer because I feel that some of the most essential tools are still being developed however, here’s a list of some generic services/products I think every coin needs to be successful; education material (wiki etc.), online wallet (with API’s for merchants), exchange, block explorers, available mining/P2P pools, community (forums, Subreddit, IRC), paper wallets (Spread the love or back-em-up).
Like I said this list a bit generic but realistically its the heart of all transactions from mining and spending to exchange and merchant services.
Lastly I want to thank CoinJoint.info for reaching out to do this interview, while I wish I had more time to answer some of these questions more thoroughly it has been a pleasure during my downtime to answer some of these for the people. If anyone has any questions they’d like to ask me personally you can contact me at
Josh@Cannacoin.cc or try one of the other many resources (reddit, IRC, forums etc).
Let the Cannacoin wave begin!
