Founders of Factom: Release of Whitepaper, FAQ, pre-alpha API. AMA

[AlanX]

See the AMA over on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/search?q=factom&sort=new

If you don't have a Reddit account, we will watch this thread and answer questions in both places, no problem.

Factom creates a distributed autonomous layer over Bitcoin to hold all the meta
information many distributed applications need, but Bitcoin isn't well suited to hold.
Unlike Counterparty, Colored Coins, MasterCoin, and other protocols that run on top of
Bitcoin, Factom isn't aimed at managing transactions.  Instead, it is about creating lists
of entries that can be distributed via a DHT (torrent protocol) and a P2P network.

Learn more by checking out our documentation:

• Factom Website: https://github.com/factomproject
• Version 1.0 of the Whitepaper -- https://github.com/FactomProject/FactomDocs/raw/master/Factom_Whitepaper.pdf
• Version 1.0 of the FAQ -- https://github.com/FactomProject/FactomDocs/raw/master/Factom_FAQ.pdf
• Version 0.5 of the API -- https://github.com/FactomProject/FactomDocs/raw/master/FactomAPI.pdf
• Wall St. Journal Money Beat: "Factom Touts Blockchain Tool for Keeping Record-Keepers Honest" -- http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/11/05/bitbeat-factom-touts-blockchain-tool-for-keeping-record-keepers-honest/
• CoinTelegraph: "This is How Factom Can Solve Blockchain’s Bloat AND Scalability Issues" -- http://cointelegraph.com/news/112917/this-is-how-factom-can-solve-blockchains-bloat-and-scalability-issues

[justusranvier]

Was any of the funding for APICoin used in the development of this project?

[AlanX]

No.  We are not related to the API Network in any way.  We received support from a number of folks from the Bitcoin community and the DApps Fund.

[S.Boxx]

Let me guess, you want us to buy some FactomCoins or some type of tokens (other than Bitcoin) to make (you ritch), I mean make it all work? This all sounds REAL familiar....

[AlanX]

Let me guess, you want us to buy some FactomCoins or some type of tokens (other than Bitcoin) to make (you ritch), I mean make it all work? This all sounds REAL familiar....

Sure, absolutely.

There is no doubt that I would like to insure the development of Factom
is funded, provides a reward to those that participate and contribute.  And
there is no doubt that we have constructed this project to insure we have
funding to support the project.  That includes making sure that nobody
starves.  

But it is also true that the project, once launched has no inside track for
anybody, including us.  And it is also true that the Factoids, the token used
in Factom, is designed such that it NEVER has to leave the protocol and
the the servers it pays.  That is because we created an architecture where
servers can provide access for other pay (like cash or bitcoin) and return
the Factoids they receive to the protocol.

Protocol pays Servers Factoid.

Servers use Factoids to create Entry Credits and assign the EC to users.  
Factoids are returned to the protocol.  That's how Entry Credits are created.   

Users use Entry Credits to place Entries into Factom.  That releases the
Factoids back out of the Protocol to the Server.

rinse and repeat.  Note that nobody HAS to trade Factoids out of the system
to make this work.

There is no need for anyone to touch a Factoid to use Factom.  And the
servers get paid.  But Factoids can be traded, so they will be.  But the key
is that they do not have to be.

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

Everything sounds so catchy in Factom. Factom chains, Factom layers, Factom blocks... now the tokens are called Factoids?

[vanbex]

factoids = provable

[AlanX]

Everything sounds so catchy in Factom. Factom chains, Factom layers, Factom blocks... now the tokens are called Factoids?

We have Factom chains, but the new whitepaper dropped the Factom layer completely.  That was
dated because the design actually integrated the implementation layers such that they no longer formed
independent protocol layers.

Factom blocks are now Directory blocks.  Using Factom everywhere was making things confusing.

Jay Berg is to blame for "Factoids".  We were talking at Money 20/20 and he kept calling our coin
"Factoids" and we just kinda fell for it.

[S.Boxx]

Are there any comments by gmaxwell/nullc on this altcoin system?

[tetrac]

He hasn't reviewed it to my knowledge. Are you looking for a technical review?

[S.Boxx]

Just one from gmaxwell/nullc. I feel his review would be the best. Thanks

[AlanX]

Are there any comments by gmaxwell/nullc on this altcoin system?

We have some reviews.  Adam Stradling, Shawn Wilkinson, Jeremy Kandah, Dexx,
Marv Schneider, Steven Sprague, Andrew Yashchuk, Vitalik Buterin, Luke Dashjr,
Ed Eykholt, Ryan Singer, Ron Gross, J.R. Willett, Dustin Byington

[AlanX]

The motivation of Factom is to provide a distributed ledger that can be used by many distributed applications for keeping records and creating audit trails that might be used to coordinate increasingly more complicated and distributed applications.

Without audit trails, voting systems, digital representations of assets, etc. then solutions trend towards centralized control.  Of course some people really don't like government because, as a centralized system of control, government is often oppressive.  And violent.

Decentralized applications rely on incentives that reward people for participation.  Of course Bitcoin is the most successful of these. 

My hope for Factom is to increase the influence of Bitcoin in the world.  To create more decentralized processes.  To inject honesty into existing systems.  Immutable ledgers are powerful tools in the promotion of honesty.

[Gleb Gamow]

Everything sounds so catchy in Factom. Factom chains, Factom layers, Factom blocks... now the tokens are called Factoids?

Just a little branding verbiage is all. I've employed the same, coining about a dozen terms on my nascent crypto-commodity brand.

Personally, I would have gone with Factoim(s) or Factoom(s) instead of a utilizing a word already in the mainstream.

[AlanX]

Everything sounds so catchy in Factom. Factom chains, Factom layers, Factom blocks... now the tokens are called Factoids?

Just a little branding verbiage is all. I've employed the same, coining about a dozen terms on my nascent crypto-commodity brand.

Personally, I would have gone with Factoim(s) or Factoom(s) instead of a utilizing a word already in the mainstream.

We used to be NotaryChains.  That was my fault.  Factom isn't an actual word (the real world being Factum).  It happens to play into Factoids, which might be a bit cute. 

I'm an engineer rather than a marketing guy.  Those with more marketing skills liked Factom.  I think it is worked out okay so far...

[AlanX]

Conversations with some long time Bitcoin people led to this observation: 

Factom is really an implementation of a general Data layer over Bitcoin.

It shares the same immutable history characteristics, i.e. unique (forks are
obvious and detectable), can't be changed, distributed, ordered,
enumerable, etc.  Only Factom is for general data, not strictly transactions.

[coin@coin]

Great to see Factom progress!