The idea isn't to build something that is fancier than it needs to be. But the idea is to innovate and keep pesky asics off the network in a way that shows everyone the dero team's technical ability. If making a new algo for each block is unreasonable/crazy then the team doesn't need to spend months banging their head up against the wall trying something they cant make happen. But if we can differentiate dero, before smart contracts are launched, from other cryptonote coins that says a lot about the Captains ability to make new tech. He has already proved he has insane ability. Re-writing a protocol in a new language from scratch is not easy. But if he can make a new protocol before smart contracts, at that point I would need to sell the farm to go all-in.
PS:
anyone who thinks this isn't that big of a feat, go back to the monero hydra we forked from originally and try to understand the code. Dependencies on dependencies on dependencies, you have to understand blockchain, cryptography, bitwise operators, cryptonote public/private key schemes which are very complex. This guy re-wrote everything in a short amount of time, he can make computers do crazy things. He can also make a blockchain however he damn pleases
I can bet many feel the same like you and captain is awesome. His team blockchain and cryptographic skills are amazing. He may be next blockchain expert with complete understanding on subject matter. I believe someone discussed captain has worked on cryptographic projects in mid 2000s. We are accepting and acknowledging their expertise. But like many other I would like to see smart contract on cryptonote protocol. Smart contracts will be real breakthrough not any asic resist pow change....
Dero should make a algorithm that randomly generates a new algorithm each block. It sounds crazy but I have faith in the Captain's abillity to code. He was able to re-write an entire protocol in a new language in 3 months. This guy is an expert in cryptography and algorithms so creating something totally unique isn't a question of can, its a question of will or won't.
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While I do agree that DERO would be seen as a trailblazer for coming up with a truly ASIC-proof algo, I also agree with @cpmcgrat that this would be a major distraction versus pursuing smart/private contracts. Also it would invalidate all the work that CaptDero just did on rewriting DERO in golang, and I rather suspect that would be difficult for him to toss out. Hence I still think that either going with CryptoNight Heavy or following Monero's lead are the least-risky courses to choose from.