Quote from: cunicula on July 16, 2011, 04:01:11 AM

Quote from: MoonShadow on July 07, 2011, 02:41:56 AM

Such a proposal would be subject to manipulation, which disqualifies it for consideration. However, if you insist that your idea is better, start your own blockchain and change the name of your currency. We will let the market decide.

I don't like aspects of the idea (e.g. the hypothesized voluntarily mining at a loss is absurd), but I hate responses like MoonShadow's one hundred times more.

The bitcoin status quo will have an advantage due to network effects. To say let the market decide is akin to saying let the market decide if microsoft makes the world's best OS. What the market really decides is whether some other OS is so much better than Windows that that it can overcome microsoft's network effect. This is a much much bigger hurdle than simply delivering a better OS. The long-run inefficiency associated with these hurdles is one of the main reasons we have antitrust laws in place.

Thank you cunicula, I too very much dislike those counterproductive comments.

But I am not suggesting that anyone would be mining at a direct loss ever (no one would ever have their bitcoins destroyed for mining.) Of course the loss will be real in that electricity costs money and miners might just turn off their rigs to save energy if transaction fees are not high enough. That is indeed a problem, but that same problem will also arise with the current bitcoin when no more coins can be mined. Actually that sounds like a real danger for today's bitcoin, since a lot of rigs will be turned off, leaving the network so much more vulnerable to the "51% attack".
As for a solution (under my system) maybe miners could be promised some of their returns to be delivered in the future, at what ever the rate is at that time? Like, you will get 25% of what the rate is today right now, then you will get 25% of what the rate is next month, at next months rate, then you will get 25% in two months at that times rate and finally the last 25% in three months at whatever the rate is at that time. It will take some time to get all the coins (length of time can of course be adjusted and should be decided by the miners themselves).

I think you raised a valid concern there, if you see other problems or things you dislike, please post them

Quote from: markm on July 16, 2011, 04:46:35 AM

Quote from: Stuffe on July 16, 2011, 03:17:33 AM

Quote from: Babylon on July 15, 2011, 05:18:44 PM

build it Stuffe, the source code is there. If it is actually better than bitcoin it will replace it.

Would love to, but unfortunately im not a coder, just an economist. Sad

Not necessarily an insurmountable problem. What exactly is the formula to be used to determine the number of coins a specified block number should mint? This must of course be a figure that can be computed by a client that is downloading the blockchain for the first time, checking each block as it goes to make sure the cirrect number of coins were minted in that block.

How many servers can you deploy to listen on a port for people running a client for your new currency? Or what bounty will be py people to set these up for you? (Unthinkingbit offered one bitcoin each for five miners to do so, and has not yet five miners doing so I don't think, so you might like to offer a little more than that?)

Once we have at least a small network running your new coin, I can also add it to the repertoire of my trading bots, the more blockchain-based currencies they are able to deal in the better.

-MarkM-

Are you saying you would help me build it? I would be willing to write a very thorough specification if yes

Quote from: cunicula on July 16, 2011, 06:48:32 AM

The objection to the transaction tax is that it would decrease the value of bitcoin and could thus augment rather than counter inflationary pressure.. This is easy to solve. Keep the tax rate on transactions constant., but change tax revenue distribution rules. If there is inflation destroy the tax revenue. If there is deflation distribute the tax revenue to miners.

Another good point. I don't really like the idea of a forced tax though, it is hard to say if it would have enough impact, but the transaction fees could be taxed. And as inflation causes more and larger transactions, the amount of total transaction fees would therefore also increase. Still as transaction fees are voluntary that means people can always transact for free if they want to. What do you think?