Quote from: Tachikoma on September 25, 2013, 10:21:30 PM

Just a work-in-progress update on my (thin) Mastercoin client.

I've been working on a Mastercoin client that uses a combination of the Mastercoin ruby library and Mastercoin-explorer in order to create a thin-client implementation for Mastercoin. This means that you don't need a local synchronised Bitcoind instance in order to make Mastercoin payments. Right now this is a very centralised solution but once the Alpha version is out I will create a Mastercoin-server project that will enable users to setup their own Mastercoin servers which clients can connect to; think Electrum.

All the client requires is a private key of a Mastercoin address and enough Bitcoin balance to create a valid transaction. I just send my first valid multi-sig Mastercoin transaction so I figured this is as good as time as any to show some early wip screenies.

The first real transaction can be found on Mastercoin-explorer and Blockchain.info

There is still a lot of work to do but at least we are getting somewhere. I hope somebody else can send some multisig transactions soon so we can finalise the spec and start working on the next feature

This will be my last post for a while as I will be leaving the country and be without internet for a few days. See you all on monday

Great work Tachikoma you are spearheading this thing and single-handedly inspiring development in mastercoin. keep doing what you are doing!!!

Quote from: dacoinminster on September 25, 2013, 04:20:35 PM

Quote from: Loozik on September 25, 2013, 12:55:57 PM

Dacoinmaster,

Would it be possible to create a short video (and post it on YT) that would explain in simple English what your project is about? My gut feeling is telling me it is something big, but I can't conceptualize it. Pictures would be welcome explaining how e.g. this decentralized exchange would work. Seeing a picture will help understand your project more than words. Pictures stay in brain for a longer time.

The reason I ask for this that I am neither a good speaker of English (which is a minor problem), but I am also a non-techie (which is a bigger problem).

Let me give you an example of a non-techie level: when you speak that Mastercoin protocol is a higher level protocol built upon Bitcoin protocol and you give the example of http built upon tcp/ip, then I neither have a clue of tcp/ip is nor have knowledge what http is (except for I use http everyday - but I have no clue what it is - it is too abstract).

Thanks

It is possible to understand the potential of this project without understanding the technology, but you DO have to have a pretty good grasp of how markets work to understand the explosive potential of MasterCoin. You also need to be able to understand the limitations of bitcoin as it is today.

Putting on my marketing hat for a moment:

Somebody with a background in trading stocks and other assets will immediately grasp how groundbreaking it is to have distributed, unregulated exchange between assets, and the ability to pseudo-anonymously (as anonymous as bitcoin can get) place bets on real-world assets. There is an UNBELIEVABLE amount of money waiting for something like this, and only ~600k MasterCoins.

If, on top of all that, the escrow-backed currencies work as I expect, the real-world applications for distributed currencies with stable values would make MasterCoins yet another order of magnitude more valuable.

The difficulty of understanding the potential of MasterCoin is not a limitation of technical understanding, but a limitation of understanding how markets work (and how freakishly big they are), and a limitation of imagination.

Our ~600k MasterCoins are worth about 12000 BTC at current prices (about $1.5M). MasterCoins don't have a huge market cap right now because there are also a lot of risks. A TON of very real risks from numerous sources (potential competitors, technical risks, security risks, etc). However, I believe we are on track so far to overcome those risks.

Can anybody else add to that marketing pitch?

You pretty much nailed it but to add my 2 satoshi's...Mastercoin is a layer on top of bitcoin allowing creation or trades of escrow backed currencies and commodity without the licensing or regulatory limitation. It mimics the functionality of wall street or "the city" (London equivalent) virtually in a decentralized manner. Brief digestible information is given here at: http://wiki.mastercoin.org/index.php/FAQ...I still think that other newbies looking in should have an introductory video to summarize and explain Mastercoin and its potential without taken too much time...like how its done for colored coin here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmFjmvwPGKU a competing idea.

Quote from: Loozik on September 26, 2013, 10:37:01 AM

Quote from: maxmint on September 26, 2013, 10:26:26 AM

All the info is in the first posting of this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=265488.msg2841328#msg2841328
The address you're talking about is called the "Exodus address": http://blockchain.info/address/1EXoDusjGwvnjZUyKkxZ4UHEf77z6A5S4P

Thanks.

The address received 4,740 BTC, paid out 411 BTC, final balance 4,329 BTC.

One of the pay outs was to gmaxwell. He is a programmer I think. Do I understand it well that BTCs deposited in exodus address are used / will be used for programming and development of the system. How much of the remaining 4,329 BTC will be used this way?

Yes this is correct, all funds are towards the hiring/ development of mastercoin features. The process of awards has been quite diplomatic thus far