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I like to think of bitcoin as solving the sybil problem via proof of work. Because if you just gave every "account" coins, then somebody could just make multipl

I like to think of bitcoin as solving the sybil problem via proof of work. Because if you just gave every "account" coins, then somebody could just make multiple "accounts" and get more than they are entitled to. (I know bitcoin doesn't have "accounts" but bear with me.) By it's very nature it is wasteful. Question: Has anybody tried to replace proof of work with social proof? Let every participant create their own fiat or scrip out of thin air. The different kind of scrips are not fungible with each other. Often scrip would be used like a voucher. You acquire it on the market and then return it to its emitter for goods and services. I can imagine digital companies or successful streamers to have their own scrip, but also local and national governments, or banks. If Joe normal emits their own scrip, well then it is at first worthless. Same as if you make your own shitcoin. BUT the twist here would be that you can endow other scrip with your scrip's value. If you are a celebrity with a lot of value, you can put a little bit of your coins in the coins of, say, an environmentalist project you want to support. Suddenly their printed money can buy things they need. In a way, it is the anti-bitcoin. Bitcoins are hard to generate, and the algorithm is strict with no room for negotiation. If somebody has a lot of coin but the majority doesn't like what they are doing with it, tough luck. Social scrip would be trivial to generate, and it's value is due to the services I provide to others, or the value transferred by others to my scrip, so a part of it is permanently up to negotiation. Probably it is a crazy idea. I'm still thinking about how to make the "imbueing" work exactly while keeping the value stable (the current idea is some kind of page-rank algorithm). I'm also not sure how to incentivize people to keep the ledger running if there is no mining. But maybe somebody is already further along with this idea.

rojeee 5y ago
Not a crazy idea! I think this is the only decentralised system that can work long term. I’ve spent a long time thinking about it. Figuring out how to manage reputation is key, which you allude to with your comment about needing a page rank type algorithm.
- captainmuon 5y ago
  For reputation + value, I was hoping to piggyback on external exchanges. Your coin is just worth what people are willing to trade for it. If you mint more coins, you have to sell them for something real, or they are not worth anything. The hard part is the reputation transfer (or voting, or embuing). If you have 30 A coins and B puts 10% "juice" in them, does this mean you can use them like 3 B coins? Or can you convert them somehow? What happens when C puts "juice" in B? Or A puts "juice" in C? The potentially recusive nature reminded me a lot of Pagerank, but basically you will end up with coins that are a mixture of different coins, and you have to find an algorithm that converges. I also think the economics are going to be really funny because suddenly price does not depend just on supply and demand, but your coins are going to be better or worse for certain purposes depending on how the emitters vote. (They are basically giving out vouchers to a bit of their surplus depending on what you buy.)

rojeee 5y ago

Not a crazy idea! I think this is the only decentralised system that can work long term. I’ve spent a long time thinking about it. Figuring out how to manage reputation is key, which you allude to with your comment about needing a page rank type algorithm.

captainmuon 5y ago
For reputation + value, I was hoping to piggyback on external exchanges. Your coin is just worth what people are willing to trade for it. If you mint more coins, you have to sell them for something real, or they are not worth anything. The hard part is the reputation transfer (or voting, or embuing). If you have 30 A coins and B puts 10% "juice" in them, does this mean you can use them like 3 B coins? Or can you convert them somehow? What happens when C puts "juice" in B? Or A puts "juice" in C? The potentially recusive nature reminded me a lot of Pagerank, but basically you will end up with coins that are a mixture of different coins, and you have to find an algorithm that converges. I also think the economics are going to be really funny because suddenly price does not depend just on supply and demand, but your coins are going to be better or worse for certain purposes depending on how the emitters vote. (They are basically giving out vouchers to a bit of their surplus depending on what you buy.)