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More specifically, the fact that changed here is the network hashrate, which has gone from 5MH/s to as much as 100MH/s.
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I rather suspect the pitchforks and cudgels would be brought out if DERO's price had continued its downward trajectory, but fortunately for all it seems to have not only stopped declining, but reversed smartly to the upside, and so the community is merely upset, rather than furious. But again, the facts have changed, --Serena-- and CaptDero; will you change your minds, or stubbornly continue on the same path?
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I think that you and I are generally of a like mind, not just where DERO is concerned but also regarding other projects in which we have a mutual interest, but I don't agree with you 100% on this one.
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The DERO developers however are getting that real life stress test that I talked about earlier, and they're getting it for free. The network has been attacked, the attacks have failed. The hash rate is 10x what it was pre-ASICs and yet everything continues to run smoothly. Heck, just look at the number of Alpha releases that came one after the other in response to the attacks and network surge. The devs were clearly learning, and learning fast, not just from what was happening to DERO but to other projects too. You simply cannot buy that kind of data about how a blockchain will respond to suddenly changing conditions and / or attacks of various amplitudes.
With that in mind, I'm not at all convinced that an immediate hard fork to ward off the evil ASICs is (or was) necessarily in the best long term interests of the DERO project, its supporters, and its investors. Nothing is learned that way. And when new ASICs come out that can mine v7, Lite, Heavy etc the projects that swept network / security issues under the rug with a simple algo change will find themselves in the same situation again.
Likewise, I agree with you almost, but not quite, 100%. Where I differ with you is that I see the DERO network as having already passed the stress test, more or less, and so it now seems reasonable to divert some effort into forking off the ASICs. I want to emphasize that I would rather DERO continue on with its core development plan for the same reasons as you: it's best for the long term success of the coin, and I am also mining XMR to buy DERO, so the presence of ASICs is mainly an annoyance, rather than something that totally incapacitates my ability to acquire more DERO from mining. And since anyone who wants to mine DERO can also mine [insert whatever coin] then sell it to buy DERO, too, there really isn't a
rational argument to press for forking...
..however, humans aren't entirely rational, and so forking off the ASICs will almost certainly generate much good will.
Furthermore, changing the PoW algo would also give the DERO team valuable and relevant real-world experience, much as the massive hashrate increase and hack attempts of the last few weeks have provided. In fact, I rather suspect all coins are going to have to be a bit more proactive with changing their PoW algos on a regular basis because the rollout of CN ASICs proved that "ASIC-resistant" does not equal "ASIC-proof". It looks like an arms race between coin devs and ASIC manufacturers is all but certain now, so might as well take the fork in the road, to paraphrase the late, great Yogi Berra.
P.S. Wanted to add some quick math since I know you love it as much as I do. Pre-ASICs my 10KH/s was mining ~25-30 DERO per day, and by mining XMR then exchanging it for DERO I can currently buy ~20 DERO per day. Worst case scenario, it's costing me 10 DERO per day. Let's say that DERO doesn't implement a new algo for 2 months - 60 days. The total cost to me is 600 DERO, or at the current price about $540. Will I trade that for all of the lessons that are being learned and put into practice by the devs? Every day, and twice on Sundays. If DERO takes off as we all hope it will, it's well worth that to me to avoid the pains that the ETH network experienced.
Hah, yes, I admit I was playing a bit fast and loose with my approach to estimating whether a coin is fairly priced based on network difficult, but I think it has some value in a relative sense, if not an absolute one. I also try to keep the same perspective as you with your hypothetical approach outlined above, which is why I not only switched over to mining XMR to buy DERO, but also outright bought a bunch of DERO just to kickstart the process (and I should note I rarely buy any coins with cash).