5 ms·

I am the primary programmer behind Freicoin (and the one quoted in the article). I would be happy to answer your questions. Regarding the presence of alternati

by maaku 13y ago

I am the primary programmer behind Freicoin (and the one quoted in the article). I would be happy to answer your questions. Regarding the presence of alternatives, that is in fact the entire point. Money that you do not need liquid and at hand for cash flow purposes should be invested or spent. That keeps the monetary supply moving at a high and near-constant velocity. It also creates a marketplace for credit as people are in need of investment opportunities which do better than demurrage. It's a little confusing, but what we're trying to do is to separate the medium-of-exchange from the store-of-value: two very different purposes for money that are naturally at odds with each other.

gst 13y ago
So what do you say to the fact that for the first three "Freicoin years" 80% of the mined coins are transferred to the "Freicoin foundation"? From what I've heard about Freicoin so far it's about at the same scam level as all of those pre-mined coins. References: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_alternative_cryptocurrencies#Freicoin_.28FRC.29 https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_alternative_cryptocurrenc... http://www.freicoin.org/application-developer-best-practices-t87.html#p919 http://www.freicoin.org/application-developer-best-practices... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=134629.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=134629.0
- maaku 13y ago
  The foundation is a registered California non-profit chartered with handling the initial distribution of these coins. We have an open solicitation for ideas for how they could be spent, and there are a variety of ideas being discussed on our forums (freicoin.org). You're welcome to join.
  - tptacek 13y ago
    Being a registered non-profit really says nothing at all about the intent of the foundation.
    - fixxer 13y ago
      thank you
    - maaku 13y ago
      We'll we've discussed our intentions publicly many times - to dispense the initial distribution through community selected charitable actions.
fixxer 13y ago
Perhaps it is just my confusion... but given those free alternatives, how does Freicoin become anything more than a hot potato? Suppose for some reason I have to use Freicoin to make a purchase. Since it rots, I keep my wealth in something else (Bitcoin, for sake of example). I go into an exchange and sell some btc for Freicoin, and make my purchase. On the seller side, they've now got a bunch of rotting Freicoin. So, they go into the market and sell them for, say, bitcoin (or their preference for wealth). Why would either the buyer or seller go through the extra hop (commissions) of Freicoin when Bitcoin (or whatever non-rotting FX is liquid) serves as both a store of value and a medium-of-exchange. I challenge the claim that a medium-of-exchange is diametrically opposed to a store of wealth. You need wealth storage to maintain liquidity, do you not?
- apw 13y ago
  It's worth mentioning that the US dollar is also a "hot potato".
  - fixxer 13y ago
    Sure, not saying it isn't. But that is one of the reasons why crypto-currencies are popular. $ is the devil we know.
  - maaku 13y ago
    Perhaps, but inflation is less than the basic interest/liquidity premium, so you only need to lend out/invest some of your cash to stay ahead.
- maaku 13y ago
  > Perhaps it is just my confusion... but given those free alternatives, how does Freicoin become anything more than a hot potato? Nothing to be confused about - that's exactly what it is supposed to be: a high velocity ("hot potato") currency. > Why would either the buyer or seller go through the extra hop (commissions) of Freicoin when Bitcoin (or whatever non-rotting FX is liquid) serves as both a store of value and a medium-of-exchange. By your example you are a merchant and some customer just paid with freicoins. Now what do you do? Yes you could convert it into bitcons and take the instant 1% commission + spread loss. Or you can use parts of it to meet your current obligations and put the rest in freicoin investments. I fully expect services resembling money-market accounts to come into being fulfilling this niche. > I challenge the claim that a medium-of-exchange is diametrically opposed to a store of wealth. You need wealth storage to maintain liquidity, do you not? I'm not sure I understand your question here. Stored wealth is not on the market and therefore subtracts from liquidity. This is not a new phenomenon, rather it is exactly the situation community currencies find themselves in.

by maaku 13y ago

gst 13y ago

So what do you say to the fact that for the first three "Freicoin years" 80% of the mined coins are transferred to the "Freicoin foundation"? From what I've heard about Freicoin so far it's about at the same scam level as all of those pre-mined coins. References: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_alternative_cryptocurrencies#Freicoin_.28FRC.29 https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/List_of_alternative_cryptocurrenc... http://www.freicoin.org/application-developer-best-practices-t87.html#p919 http://www.freicoin.org/application-developer-best-practices... https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=134629.0 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=134629.0

maaku 13y ago
The foundation is a registered California non-profit chartered with handling the initial distribution of these coins. We have an open solicitation for ideas for how they could be spent, and there are a variety of ideas being discussed on our forums (freicoin.org). You're welcome to join.
- tptacek 13y ago
  Being a registered non-profit really says nothing at all about the intent of the foundation.
  - fixxer 13y ago
    thank you
  - maaku 13y ago
    We'll we've discussed our intentions publicly many times - to dispense the initial distribution through community selected charitable actions.

fixxer 13y ago

Perhaps it is just my confusion... but given those free alternatives, how does Freicoin become anything more than a hot potato? Suppose for some reason I have to use Freicoin to make a purchase. Since it rots, I keep my wealth in something else (Bitcoin, for sake of example). I go into an exchange and sell some btc for Freicoin, and make my purchase. On the seller side, they've now got a bunch of rotting Freicoin. So, they go into the market and sell them for, say, bitcoin (or their preference for wealth). Why would either the buyer or seller go through the extra hop (commissions) of Freicoin when Bitcoin (or whatever non-rotting FX is liquid) serves as both a store of value and a medium-of-exchange. I challenge the claim that a medium-of-exchange is diametrically opposed to a store of wealth. You need wealth storage to maintain liquidity, do you not?

apw 13y ago
It's worth mentioning that the US dollar is also a "hot potato".
- fixxer 13y ago
  Sure, not saying it isn't. But that is one of the reasons why crypto-currencies are popular. $ is the devil we know.
- maaku 13y ago
  Perhaps, but inflation is less than the basic interest/liquidity premium, so you only need to lend out/invest some of your cash to stay ahead.
maaku 13y ago
> Perhaps it is just my confusion... but given those free alternatives, how does Freicoin become anything more than a hot potato? Nothing to be confused about - that's exactly what it is supposed to be: a high velocity ("hot potato") currency. > Why would either the buyer or seller go through the extra hop (commissions) of Freicoin when Bitcoin (or whatever non-rotting FX is liquid) serves as both a store of value and a medium-of-exchange. By your example you are a merchant and some customer just paid with freicoins. Now what do you do? Yes you could convert it into bitcons and take the instant 1% commission + spread loss. Or you can use parts of it to meet your current obligations and put the rest in freicoin investments. I fully expect services resembling money-market accounts to come into being fulfilling this niche. > I challenge the claim that a medium-of-exchange is diametrically opposed to a store of wealth. You need wealth storage to maintain liquidity, do you not? I'm not sure I understand your question here. Stored wealth is not on the market and therefore subtracts from liquidity. This is not a new phenomenon, rather it is exactly the situation community currencies find themselves in.