How Can We Communicate That Decred Isn't Another Pump And Dump?

Discussion in 'Questions' started by pkothbauer, Jan 4, 2016.

  1. 2017/12/15 - Decred v1.1.2 released! → Release Notes  → Downloads
  1. pkothbauer

    pkothbauer New Member

    Dec 16, 2015
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    Disclaimer 1: I'm not a Decred dev and I have nothing to do with the project (other than being excited about it).
    Disclaimer 2: I'm pretty pressed for time and english isn't my first language - so please excuse
    the poor wording of this post.


    We all know that the number of scam pump and dump altcoins is quite large.
    Unfortunately these scam coins undermine the general trust in altcoins.

    I think it would be of value to gather some forum thoughts on what people think can be done
    to gain the trust of early adoptors - to give them good reasons to believe that Decred isn't another
    pump and dump scam coin.

    Personally I think that it would be nice elaborate the possibility of a 'pledge'-document - a document
    where the creators of the coin pledge to refrain from the typical scammy acts we've seen in a number
    of scam coins. This pledge-document could then be signed, hashed and included in an early tx
    (with the actual doc on Github).

    Cryptocurrencies do not have a backing issuer in the form of a state or government
    and that's great - but having seen all these pump and dump scams, with early adoptors being hurt
    in the process - I think that it would be nice if Decred was backed by the 'word of sincerity' of it's creators.

    Please share your experiences and any ideas about what you think would help Decred gain peoples
    trust in a space filled with scams and abandonned projects.

    Cheers!
     
    Michael, 418Sec, tacotime and 2 others like this.
  2. jy-p

    jy-p Sr. Member
    Organizer

    Jan 2, 2016
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    Hi there, pkothbauer!

    I'm the majority owner of Company 0 and have a substantial stake in the c0+dev premine coins. I think that what you propose is a fine idea, and I have no problem with it because I have no intention of engaging in any pump-and-dump activities. I am completely uninterested in taking advantage of Decred users for my own short-term gain by manipulating exchange rates, and I consider such behavior from someone in my position as unethical.

    While I recognize that many people are interested in accumulating value of one kind or another for their own personal gain, I am primarily interested in using Decred as a platform to develop new technology in the context of cryptocurrency and governance and sharing it with the public. I have been funding development of btcsuite since early 2013 and have done so because I consider the technology from Bitcoin fundamentally important to human technological advancement as a whole. You can expect this process to continue with Decred, and when I spend my decred, it will be on developing new technology that I will share with the public.

    Regards,
    Jake
     
    anondran, Dezryth, DonnyM and 10 others like this.
  3. Johnshpon3

    Johnshpon3 Member

    Dec 25, 2015
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    How I see this...Nobody asked money from me to rise funds for starting or for some other purposes. I'm happy with that. My intention is to run small mining farm and if I would spent some money for electricity and cover it from my pocket, I'm happy with that also. To contribute to this community I would like to run full node on my expenses and I can cover it with smile.
    Maybe one day this would be an awsome coin, I'm 100% sure, and during thiss process I will learn many new things, I'm happy again.
    But if by some unlikely event this coin will fail, well I will loose some small money, but will gain much more new knowledge. So in my eyes this is win-win situation. I'm staying very optimistic, crypto is future as I see it.
    Best regards.
     
    Dezryth and Michael like this.
  4. mechanical

    mechanical New Member

    Dec 28, 2015
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    If dev's start to sell pre-mine or stake before 12 months,decred could be considered half-scam.
    Is like if you are a developer and don't think your coin could grow so much, so you start so sell little by little covering cost cause you're afraid that project could collapse soon.
    If dev's know that project is strong and acquire value over years(as bitcoin does), there is no sense to sell theyr decred before a couple of years.
     
    Michael likes this.
  5. Blizzy

    Blizzy Full Member

    Jan 4, 2016
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    easy answer:

    this coin still has not come out yet and you can see how many people are interested and innovations that brings.

    All the pump and dump coin don't have any community,or have fake one, they are oriented only to "buy cheap sell high".

    I think it is quite clear the difference!
     
    Michael likes this.
  6. mechanical

    mechanical New Member

    Dec 28, 2015
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    It's only a no-sense to sell even 1% of pre-mine if they know that decred is a long tem coin,specially cause mining stand for years. So, they know that value will grow after 2-3 years and they will not sell nothing before.

    If they start to sell.......you know my point of view.
     
    Michael likes this.
  7. Blizzy

    Blizzy Full Member

    Jan 4, 2016
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    if you are a DEV and you sell the material you are studying ... you are not a DEV! :):)
     
    Michael and mechanical like this.
  8. mechanical

    mechanical New Member

    Dec 28, 2015
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    Totally agree.
     
    Michael and Blizzy like this.
  9. Freedom2Choose

    Freedom2Choose Full Member
    Designer

    Dec 17, 2015
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    I dont necessarily think that if the devs sell off coin that you are not a dev or that the coin is a scam. If I had been working on any project for any amount of time and was told that that on a certain date I would be paid in a currency that may or may not have any value, I might have to sell some to pay for bills. Honestly I would believe more in a developer that sold 20% of his share at lets say $1.00 knowing that the coin has potential to hit lets say $10.00. Now if all dev liquidate all holdings that would be another thing entirely. On the flip side it could end up being worthless so its all here-say.
     
    RegenX and Michael like this.
  10. Blizzy

    Blizzy Full Member

    Jan 4, 2016
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  11. Freedom2Choose

    Freedom2Choose Full Member
    Designer

    Dec 17, 2015
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    USA
    Hehe, I think I spent $6,000 on shipping once upon a time.
     
    Blizzy likes this.
  12. Blizzy

    Blizzy Full Member

    Jan 4, 2016
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    i have buyed an LP for 12 BTC..good times!! :):)
     
  13. Costin

    Costin Member
    Advocate (Twitter)

    Dec 28, 2015
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    About 30.000 $ on games and got the rest out when they were 20 bucks.
     
  14. ArtyD42

    ArtyD42 New Member

    Dec 29, 2015
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    I've been buying games since the mid 1980's. I still have my copy of Battletoads and a working NES to play it on. The amount of money I've spent on video games is very likely in the 6 digit range.

    Now if I start selling games does this make me a bad gamer? Or does it make me someone who's only in it for the money?

    Lets set realism on this. What makes a coin a pump and dump? The answer is quite simple. People looking only to get another currency out of it in a greater format. If the creators are the ones doing this then it's a scam. It is all based purely on how much is sold and how quickly. With nothing being bought or sold at this time we can neither say it's a pump and dump or a scam. We need more data and without it we are merely observers of a thing that may or may not be worth.
     
  15. Costin

    Costin Member
    Advocate (Twitter)

    Dec 28, 2015
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    Have you seen anything of the code from github? Have you seen how much work is going trough? Just for a scam? I believe not. You can't know for certain before release, only after.
     
  16. anvoice

    anvoice Member

    Dec 22, 2015
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    #16 anvoice, Jan 5, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2016
    I think this is where "actions are louder than words" applies unequivocally. It doesn't matter what arguments are made from the start, only some time down the line will it be possible to tell that the premise is genuine. Certainly, there are many more ways to break trust than earn it, but it's not an impossible task.

    The foundation has been laid. If Decred was developed in good faith with a sound technological basis, that's half of it. If the hybridized PoW/PoS system successfully deters unethical actions and the community governance aspect works, that's the rest of the story. It will certainly take time, but that is the key.
     
    jinlei likes this.
  17. kirigi

    kirigi Jr. Member

    Dec 29, 2015
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    Yes, the developers need to showcase the trust factor, by not selling the premined coins and letting the airdrops and miners, take the currency in the stronger direction. Letting the community take the decision would be the best part.i have been studying the Pow/PoS decred technicals in detail and everything seems correct. if developers become greedy, then decred will definitely become pump and dump scheme. However, if the developers act in a mature/stable behaviour, i can see BTC = DECRED in around 2 years time. There are around 6-7 developers and they seem be stable and coherent at-least in the communications (forums/IRC). so let's wait and watch further.
     
    raahi likes this.
  18. jiecut

    jiecut New Member

    Jan 3, 2016
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    ehhh, I don't see BTC=DECRED happening, lets not get ahead of ourselves.
     
  19. anondran

    anondran Full Member
    Advocate (Reddit)

    Jan 13, 2016
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    I do not think Decred is a scam or a pump n dump. Let us just wait for 6-12 months
     
  20. pkothbauer

    pkothbauer New Member

    Dec 16, 2015
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    Nice to see some thoughts on this thread.

    I was mostly curious about technical/innovative - non subjective ways (in the coin protocol) to clearly separate 'honest' coins from scam coins.

    For example - would it be possible, again in the protocol, to echo the regulatory lock-up period which prohibits company founders from unloading all of their shares at the IPO?:
    https://www.quora.com/Can-you-sell-all-your-shares-at-once-as-a-founder-when-you-go-public-IPO

    Just to be clear - I'm not saying that we should introduce self-imposed regulations into the cryptocurrency space just for the sake of it - but I do think that the IPO lock-up mechanism has some merit to it:
    http://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/07/ipo_lockup.asp

    Question is - would it make sense to have something similar for an ICO?
    How could this mechanism be enforced in the protocol?
    Would this kind of mechanism help communicate that a coin is not a pump and dump - and in a way become an expected and verifiable quality in a new coin/protocol?

    I hope people don't take this the wrong way - I'm not suspicious about Decred - on the contrary I'm very exited about Decred - but I do think this is an interesting question on both a technical and philosophical level.

    Cheers!
     
    Renato Abreu, tacotime and jy-p like this.

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