Index of importance simply explained
One month ago, Dan Larimer @dan, a man for whom we have great respect, published an explanation of consensus algorithms using radio stations as an example. Here's the quote:
A blockchain can be viewed as a radio station that everyone in the world subscribes to and records. On this radio station, anyone can broadcast cryptographic statements and everyone will process these statements via a deterministic state machine to arrive at consensus.
Dan’s metaphor likens blockchain protocol to the airwaves, with different protocols having different models for who gets to broadcast.
To recap: In PoW, everyone buys airtime from the radio stations which are both on the air more often and who have loudest transmitters.
In PoS, however, everyone buys airtime from those who have more money and have the hardware to broadcast 24/7 as and when their turn comes.
In DPoS, the system is a bit more complex. Here, the audience votes with their stake to elect those who operate transmitters. Having the largest stake, however, is not enough to get elected and going against wishes of the voters may remove or reduce one’s ability to transmit. On the other hand, the weight of the participant's vote directly depends on the amount of money in his/her account. So, by and large, those who have more money have more sway in terms of who gets to broadcast.
While we agree that DPoS is the fairest and most logically sound of those three systems, we believe that it is possible to improve upon it.
One week ago we have published the first document (Blueprint) of the Gravity Protocol blockchain, where introduced a few new definitions to the crypto-economic vocabulary, such as:
- Delegated Proof of Importance
- Gravity Index of Importance
- Dynamic Emission
They were explained with the formulas and calculations done by the Russian mathematician Alexey Prokopov but since not everyone is familiar with advanced mathematics, it is best to instead use simple examples to explain how those concepts work.
Let’s start with the Index of Importance and DPoI:
Index of Importance (or Gravity Index) is a score of each Gravity network account, considering the account’s stake and (here is the main difference with PoS/DPoS) the account’s ACTIVITY.
To make it simple: Importance = Activity + Stake
(All respective calculations can be found in Gravity’s Blueprint.)
To a certain extent, this idea correlates with the NEM blockchain, though there is a significant difference in formulas calculating the index as well as the idea of dynamic emission that we have introduced.
Index of Importance has various impacts on the blockchain. Firstly, protocol’s emission is spread among all active network users depending on their Index of Importance. Secondly, Index of Importance modifies the weight during the vote, so the more active an account is, the higher their voting weight. Therefore, Index of Importance indirectly addresses the problem of DPoS Voter Apathy. Users that are deeply engaged with the network, are more weight of vote than the ones who hold passive stakes.
Another problem addressed by Index of Importance is the fact that there is no incentive for the economic use of cryptocurrencies. This is due to the fact that most of them are deflationary in nature and there are no costs associated with holding them indefinitely (as opposed to other currencies and assets, which either have associated storage costs or inflation). Gravity’s Importance Index is based on economic factors, such as the number of financial transactions in the system, thus the creation of market multiplier.
Let us return to the radio station example. In Delegated Proof of Importance more weight is given to people who actually use the radio. In the case where the stake is equal, higher usage will result in greater Index of Importance value, and thus the user gains more weight in the system.
Since Index of Importance also affects dynamic emission, those who are more active on the network will over time accrue more influence, thus incentivizing economic usage of the network and fostering organic growth. Further view of this topic will be discussed in a future publication.
by Yuri Parsamov
See the previous articles
Gravity Protocol Intro
Gravity Protocol Roadmap
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I actually really like this idea, inflation was one of my major concerns here. This could end up being a powerful buffer.
I agree with you.
Thank you for your attention to our project. Follow the news. The next article will be very interesting.
I'm from Venezuela, and one of the serious problems here is inflation. the salary does not even reach for an egg carton. The president only worries about paying bonuses so that people forget about the crisis we are living through.
That's they point. If the emission happens when the economy does not grow, it brings inflation and money devaluation. If it follows the growth of the financial activity it drives the whole ecosystem. That's why the Algorithm emission in Gravity Protocol happens only when the network grows and is suspended when it does not
I agree with you. Not all inflationary things is bad for the system itself. By holding a stake and earning it is giving a value to it. There is a video I have seen before about it on Youtube created by Alex Fortin
That's right: inflation and constant value redistribution are the pillars of wholesome economic system. As I wrote in a comment below we utilize some elements of Steemit economic model to a certain extent.
Congratulations friend! That looks pretty good. Keep it up. I invite you to read my publications and leave your comment or vote.
Success is on your side. Happy Thursday!💖💛🇻🇪💃🏻
Very interesting concept regarding DPOI. I think it could be a very interesting metric to show peoples worth to the network. Showing that time is money.
Unfortunately as we can see by you having to buy votes to have this information seen proves that the present DPOS System leaves alot to be desired.
Hopefully EOS will make some improvements and may implement some kind of proof of importance. Looking forward to future developments.
EOS has its own philosophy and we respect it. The main idea of Gravity is the dynamic emission that happens when the network grows. EOS had already created enormous emission for the ICO distribution, so I don't think they be able to switch to this model
Thanks for your response. Wishing you luck with the development.
We will launch the main network this summer. About EOS this is a question for Daniel Larimer)
Dan the MAN! Keep up the great work!!
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thank you for the information :)
good info
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Good info is not a 27 cent comment
Amazing content.
I would like to know where you found the interview, i just enjoy whaever that guy says.
Voted.
D.
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Any source for the interview?
hehe, well, if not, no worries.
D.
The one where Dan Larimer says what you source.. article or interview.
If its a problem, nevermind.
d.
I don't know what a link you want? This is an article, not an interview.
good post
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I do not agree with these statements.
Do you have any arguments?
I had previously watched this video and quite like the allusion to the radio. I think I will use it to explain the blockchain to non technical people. I also like the focus on non currency. Interesting that the 2 most used blockchains are not primarily just financial.
Yes, this allusion makes a lot of sense. Thanx for Dan Larimer)
How can you ensure that activity is not faked from creating artificial activities ? E.g. Bots ? Or many low value transactions between a circle of accounts ?
I've got the same question. Bots are already gaming the STEEM blockchain pretty hard. From what I read in this article, it almost sounds like people will be forced to automate their accounts if they want to optimize their investment.
I mean if we both invest $10 into our accounts, my account will be more powerful if I run a bot while I sleep, and you don't.
I'll be interested to see how this plays out. The gravity index is an intriguing concept.
Fake activity will cost more than the profit one gets from the emission
Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.
Yeah, but what does that have to do with our topic?
Great explanation of a better implementation of intranetwork valuation. I will look forward to more.
Thanks!
Edit: I must note your use of votebots, which I only became aware of after I began reading comments. While I intend to follow you and consider your posts carefully, I will refrain to upvote any posts you make in the future that purchase votes from votebots.
I do not denigrate you as a person or organization for doing so. I recognize there is much room for disagreement on the issue, but I feel personally that votebots degrade Steemit, and that I should no longer incentivize their use by adding my vote to posts that utilize them. Please do recognize that my decision does not reflect on your content, but is my response to the proliferation of vote-buying, against which I have no other recourse to my knowledge.
We use votebots here to get the information to the community. Are you know another way?
I rely, as I always have, on the value of my speech to interest folks in what I say.
Given the number of votes you have received, I suspect that your posts, like @ned's and @dan's, do not require buying votes.
You can easily see if this is true by making a post and not buying votes.
If that is unpalatable, I am sure you will not miss my insubstantial upvotes.
@freebornangel has proposed that folks that maintain, as you are here, that purchasing votes is only done to advertise the content to potential viewers can decline payout, in order to not draw down the rewards pool.
That would strongly indicate to me, and probably many others, that your intention was indeed to simply make your content more visible, rather than extract rewards from the pool intended to incentivize creation of quality content.
@ned and @dan typically do this when they post. I have not observed them purchasing votes either.
Thanks for asking!
I had never thought about it, but indeed blockchains behave very much like radio stations.
Blockchains are being added value by the more people who start using them.
People get much more confidence on the cryptos too by that, thus increasing its price as a general.
It works similarly to some advertisement principles.
Exactly. In more general terms it is described by the Metcalf's law: the network's value is proportional to the square of the number of connected users
Just what I was thinking.
There has been one problem though with this principle and it is that it is made to do what masses want, but masses in general are dumb!
I think however that could be tackled down by a community like Steemit. There is a lot of interest for making this a smart area where good content is rewarded. Hopefully I am right.
Yes, it is a little bit like Steemit. Here the posting activity is rewarded by inflational emission, in Gravity Protocol the business acitivity will be incentivized in the same way.
Welcome to steemit. I hope you have a good day. I give you my vote I hope yours, go through my channel when you can ... may God enlighten you
Assuming transactions contribute to activity.
If transactions will be free as those on the Steem blockchain, won't users be motivated to clog the blockchain with transactions of little to no value?
They will not be free. They be as low as it is reasonable to protect the network from attacks, spam and Index of Importance imitation.
They will be low and flexible (i.e. payable in custom tokens as well)
Your gravity index is an interesting idea, for sure.
Forgive me if this has been covered before, but won't bots simply be active for 24/7 and raise their index weight? I mean, I could invest in my own account and be active for a few hours a day, or I could automate my account to run 24/7 and make it more powerful.
Seeing all of the bots on this platform, I'm curious about what your stance will be. How will you keep humans, instead of wealthy bot-masters, in the most influential positions?
We use cluster analysis to identify botnets. We're going to support the real activity, not fake.
So much to learn. So many concepts that are totally new and foreign to me. However, I have a strong willingness to study and learn. Hence, I appreciate posts such as this that breaks the information down in to more digestible bits. Thank you @gravity-protocol
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Hello Friend Greetings! What I find most interesting about your project, is the purpose of growing organically on the Steemit platform, for users who have educational and original content, it is difficult to share our articles with readers, since we are invisible and this is neither fair nor Equitable, it also demotivates. Thank you, I follow you for the networks you shared and I will be attentive to your publications.
Thank you!
Good post!
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A very useful post for us to know blockchain
Thanx!
Nice post! where I can find the interview?
See next post)
'Importance = Activity + Stake'
Thanks!
Good)
Welcome to steemit. I hope you have a good day. I give you my vote I hope yours, go through my channel when you can ... may God enlighten you
very useful post for us to know blockchain
and thank for your post it..
Thanx!
Welcome to steemit. I hope you have a good day. I give you my vote I hope yours, go through my channel when you can ... may God enlighten you
I'm very much interested in getting to know more about this.... Look forward to future post
The next post will be very interesting!
I'm looking forward to it
Interesting proposal, but wouldn't giving more weight to active accounts encourage even more spam?
To find the spam, we when calculating the Index of Importance use the cluster analysis. Spam will not pass)
Well, that's not about Steemit, it's about transactional network. Spam transactions is a type of attack we keep in mind and we make sure that the value from getting rewarded for the activity will be less than the transactions fee spent
A good way to explain why this protocol will be the future of humanity. He compared it to a radio station commanding the world, but it could be also be compared to a train that at a certain moment pass by your city and you have to decide if you take it or let it go. Now that we have the controversy and uncertainty about the dollar and its value, anything that gives us value in this protocol, including EOS and Steemit, makes sense.
Valuable comment, I agree with you. Thanx!
really nice work ;-) i just followed your blog, please follow me
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Esto se ve interesante...
Thanx!
complex concept to understand ..
seems to be complex, but the basis is easy: active network users are prioritized in terms of governance and rewards
What precisely difficult?
Follow us)
very useful post for us to know blockchain
thanks
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muy bueno tu articulo segue asi
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Thanks for sharing this!
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Good Post
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You have a good blog, I followed you. I hope that you follow me, let's develop Steemit together and develop even…
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pretty Interesting ..i just looking for your next post
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Upvote for you
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Blockchain will change the world.. Crypto is future
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Read later
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Totally agree with this post...Help and support each other and the world as a whole--a better place...
creative job @gravity-protocol , thank you for sharing.
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Nice and descriptive content. Thanks for sharing on steemit platform.
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Great bro.
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Interesting read, good work!
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most informative and collective. Awsome post.
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Sleepless nights just to come out with a good post, so much appreciate.will be glad if u vote in any of my post @princezico
Good, thanks for share, inflation is a big deal today.....
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Congratulations @gravity-protocol!
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Nice
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