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Patrick Collison here. I think that Stellar's governance is going to be one of its strong suits. (And something that we thought was lacking in other efforts.)

by pc 12y ago

Patrick Collison here. I think that Stellar's governance is going to be one of its strong suits. (And something that we thought was lacking in other efforts.) Stellar is a nonprofit organization and will have public financials and governance documents. It will also hold just 5% of the stellars -- 95% is being given away as quickly as possible. The board is composed of Jed, Keith Rabois, and me. A number of other advisors (http://stellar.org/about http://stellar.org/about) are ensuring that everything is run well and fairly.

lnanek2 12y ago
The 5% number seems a little strange to me. The post also said there are 1% more Stellars every year. So that is the same as the ruling central organization giving itself infinite money. I guess the 5% is kind of vanity metric to make people feel safe without much meaning.
- pc 12y ago
  The inflation doesn't go to the foundation. The mechanism is described at https://www.stellar.org/about/mandate/ https://www.stellar.org/about/mandate/. (Search for "inflation".)
jxf 12y ago
Thanks for responding, Patrick. I appreciate you engaging in discussion on this matter. I'm not sure that this actually answers my questions, though. You seem to have more or less restated what I said without specifically addressing anything. For instance, I said, "Jed is also on the Stellar board, too, one of only three members -- and so wields a considerable amount of influence." Then you said that "the board is composed of Jed, Keith Rabois, and me". I'm not sure how that allays any concerns that Jed, who was specifically criticized in a number of Ripple-related efforts, is now on a similar organization. All it does is restate what I earlier said -- that Jed is on a small board, and apparently has an equal vote, and apparently wields a lot of influence. In any case, I'm more interested in hearing about how Stellar is or isn't like Ripple. Is it essentially the same technology with a different governance structure on top of it? If not, in what way(s) is it different?
- pc 12y ago
  > For instance, I said, "Jed is also on the Stellar board, too, one of only three members -- and so wields a considerable amount of influence." Then you said that "the board is composed of Jed, Keith Rabois, and me". Sorry, mostly I was just alluding to the fact that most of the board is composed of external members. > In any case, I'm more interested in hearing about how Stellar is or isn't like Ripple. Is it essentially the same technology with a different governance structure on top of it? If not, in what way(s) is it different? There are technical differences (like the inflation), and they'll diverge more over time, but I think the technical differences are of secondary importance relative to the issues around coin distribution and governance. If a distributed financial network is going to succeed, I believe that it has to be run by an impartial organization.
  - blake8086 12y ago
    How can you ensure that a financial network is impartial?
    - ivanca 12y ago
      You can't, that's why bitcoin is build by trust on an algorithm, not on humans.
  - spacefight 12y ago
    Why should there inflation be built-in at all? Or prohibited at all?
  - lowglow 12y ago
    > If a distributed financial network is going to succeed, I believe that it has to be run by an impartial organization.
- kordless 12y ago
  I'm not sure anyone in a high profile position can guarantee exclusion from being criticized. Having said that, I don't think it's fair to come in here an parrot some vague negative statement and then use it to question their motives. If you've got a specific beef with him, then you should just say what you mean instead of saying something that only serves to lay blame without rational. 95% of the coin is being given away and the effort is decentralized in nature. A 5% fee for the continued development of this platform and a fair amount of control over it's direction seems overly reasonable to me. Clearly Jed and his team care about creating something that is beneficial to everyone. I'd rather see speculation about the possible benefits than a rathole over something someone got bent about during the Ripple deal.
simonebrunozzi 12y ago
Patrick, nice effort, and I wish you and your team all the best. I am writing a book on Bitcoin and I'd like to have a chance to discuss your initiative in person. My email is easy to find.

by pc 12y ago

lnanek2 12y ago

The 5% number seems a little strange to me. The post also said there are 1% more Stellars every year. So that is the same as the ruling central organization giving itself infinite money. I guess the 5% is kind of vanity metric to make people feel safe without much meaning.

pc 12y ago
The inflation doesn't go to the foundation. The mechanism is described at https://www.stellar.org/about/mandate/ https://www.stellar.org/about/mandate/. (Search for "inflation".)

jxf 12y ago

Thanks for responding, Patrick. I appreciate you engaging in discussion on this matter. I'm not sure that this actually answers my questions, though. You seem to have more or less restated what I said without specifically addressing anything. For instance, I said, "Jed is also on the Stellar board, too, one of only three members -- and so wields a considerable amount of influence." Then you said that "the board is composed of Jed, Keith Rabois, and me". I'm not sure how that allays any concerns that Jed, who was specifically criticized in a number of Ripple-related efforts, is now on a similar organization. All it does is restate what I earlier said -- that Jed is on a small board, and apparently has an equal vote, and apparently wields a lot of influence. In any case, I'm more interested in hearing about how Stellar is or isn't like Ripple. Is it essentially the same technology with a different governance structure on top of it? If not, in what way(s) is it different?

pc 12y ago
> For instance, I said, "Jed is also on the Stellar board, too, one of only three members -- and so wields a considerable amount of influence." Then you said that "the board is composed of Jed, Keith Rabois, and me". Sorry, mostly I was just alluding to the fact that most of the board is composed of external members. > In any case, I'm more interested in hearing about how Stellar is or isn't like Ripple. Is it essentially the same technology with a different governance structure on top of it? If not, in what way(s) is it different? There are technical differences (like the inflation), and they'll diverge more over time, but I think the technical differences are of secondary importance relative to the issues around coin distribution and governance. If a distributed financial network is going to succeed, I believe that it has to be run by an impartial organization.
- blake8086 12y ago
  How can you ensure that a financial network is impartial?
  - ivanca 12y ago
    You can't, that's why bitcoin is build by trust on an algorithm, not on humans.
- spacefight 12y ago
  Why should there inflation be built-in at all? Or prohibited at all?
- lowglow 12y ago
  > If a distributed financial network is going to succeed, I believe that it has to be run by an impartial organization.
kordless 12y ago
I'm not sure anyone in a high profile position can guarantee exclusion from being criticized. Having said that, I don't think it's fair to come in here an parrot some vague negative statement and then use it to question their motives. If you've got a specific beef with him, then you should just say what you mean instead of saying something that only serves to lay blame without rational. 95% of the coin is being given away and the effort is decentralized in nature. A 5% fee for the continued development of this platform and a fair amount of control over it's direction seems overly reasonable to me. Clearly Jed and his team care about creating something that is beneficial to everyone. I'd rather see speculation about the possible benefits than a rathole over something someone got bent about during the Ripple deal.

simonebrunozzi 12y ago

Patrick, nice effort, and I wish you and your team all the best. I am writing a book on Bitcoin and I'd like to have a chance to discuss your initiative in person. My email is easy to find.