When Bitcoin was first launched in 2009, it only had three functions: send, receive, and mine. Mining is the means of validating, and securing the network. This results in new coins being created, and given to the miner who created the next block. As it says in the white paper, it was intended to be peer-to-peer cash. Libertarians like me grabbed hold of this program with a zeal that believed this decentralized network would replace the dollar, and make the banks obsolete. Well, it's been ten years, and it's time to take inventory on that vision because the banks haven't budged, much less been "removed, and cast into the sea."
Because Bitcoin is an open source program, others have either forked off the original blockchain to create an alternative crytocurrency, or started a new blockchain with its respective token altogether. This activity, coupled with the fact that work is involved in producing Bitcoin, made a place for exchanges to come into being. Mind you, an exchange is a third party application and not part of the original Bitcoin program because Bitcoin wasn't meant to be exchanged for something else. It was meant to be peer-to-peer cash.
As the cryptocurrency market continued to grow in the following years, the price of Bitcoin consistently made all time highs in price, peaking around $20,000 in December of 2017. Along the way, debates occurred about Bitcoin's ability to scale in the wake of increasing volume of transactions. It was also during this time that the market was making it clear that Bitcoin's utility is better served as a store of value (peer-to-peer gold) that operates as a speculative instrument rather than a form of payment. Others were insistent on keeping Bitcoin a payment network, and that resulted in the hard fork that produced Bitcoin Cash, and subsequently Bitcoin SV. Regardless of how righteous their argument is, the fact remains that none of these projects have gone viral enough to make crytocurrency a force to be reckoned with.
The reason the banks are still running the show is because cryptocurrencies are essentially a three wheeled Lamborghini. They are missing the one component that the banks offer their users to attract their INTEREST. They give people free money in the form of INTEREST. Interest is not part of the Bitcoin program probably because Bitcoin was meant to be peer-to-peer cash, and interest isn't usually involved when you are transacting with your peers. If one desired to earn interest on their Bitcoin holdings, they would have to trust it to a third party that claimed to have a mining operation, or would use it to play the market, and give you a cut of the profit. I trusted some of my Bitcoin with two such operations, and didn't get so much as one satoshi in return before they disappeared. I also lost all of my Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Dogecoin too. This was not because I am naive or gullible. I wanted to put my crytocurrency to work by using it to earn interest in order to supplement my occupational income so I could free my time up to do other things, and I was willing to risk those holdings that I've acquired since 2011 in order to accomplish that. At the same time, getting burned on multiple occasions has left me with an urge to do something that would preferably not involve hurting people.
Fortunately, something has come to my attention that will allow me to direct that energy in a way that will not only help people, but also meet my original goal. It is a new cryptocurrency that is still in the process of being developed, and is based on a principle called trustless interest. How this works is similar to a certificate of deposit (CD) that one would open at their bank. At the appointed time after the program is audited, and goes online, a snapshot will be taken of the Bitcoin blockchain (ledger). Over the following fifty weeks, Bitcoin holders will be able to claim their share of this token without having to send their Bitcoin anywhere. All that is required is to have your BTC in a wallet that can send a signed message to the smart contract driving this program to prove you are the holder of that BTC address, and its respective coins in the snapshot. From there, you will be given your share of these tokens which you will have to choose how long you want to stake them. Like a CD, the more and the longer you stake, the more interest your stake will earn. And if you don't keep your word, and withdraw early, you will be penalized, just like you would in the real world.
At this point one may ask, what will give this new token any value? The same question could be asked about Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency. The answer is in the fact that all of these coins can increase in price, and when they reach a certain point, they can be dumped back onto the market at a profit to those who are shrewd traders. Essentially all cryptocurrencies are pump and dumps except this new one (and Steem since it has a platform that utilizes it) because there are penalties that are built into the program for dumping it (along with other penalties to protect stakeholders). And since this coin will be the first of its kind to offer interest, there is an incentive to pump it. And when one considers this project will be launched during a bear market, and that whoever doesn't claim their share will have their tokens redistributed to the other stake holders, you have the ideal game theory for enormous growth.
So, if you have Bitcoin, and you're interested in getting some free money that can earn interest, click on the image below, and you will be taken to the website of this project.
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I don't currently have any bitcoin but I sure did like your lamborghini analogy!
You may want to consider acquiring some so you can make a stake. After the snapshot, you can re-sell the BTC if you need the money. Your stake will still be active.
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Oooo he sucked. SP sorry
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I don't think interest needs to be built into the blockchain for it to serve a market function. The cost of risk, time preference and fluctuating availability of stored wealth need to be managed by market actors, not an algorithm.