Quote from: Cassius on October 16, 2014, 10:34:40 AM

Right. There is some super-cool stuff (no pun intended this time) going on behind the scenes, as anyone able to get even the gist of James' coding updates will realise. I'm pretty sure that no system like this privacy network exists anywhere in crypto, and possibly anywhere, full stop - feel free to comment if you know more about what's out there. (One of the reasons I suspect this is because James, possibly as a punishment for something unpleasant I did to him in a previous life, has asked me to write up his new ideas on sending messages anonymously. This breaks new ground - it's like sending someone a letter without knowing their name or address. This anonymity will be built into BTCD's communications, within the client.) Anyway.

There remains some ongoing confusion over the relationship between BTCD and SuperNET, as well as the overall development process, timetable and so on. That's understandable, and is mainly just a result of the decentralisation on which all crypto is based; decentralisation has its cons as well as pros. In any case, it's worth addressing to the extent that is possible, especially in the light of recent price slides. These could be due to any number of reasons unrelated to the progress of the tech and as far as I am concerned are no big deal, but it gives trolls a foothold to spread their FUD within the community and cause various problems. The best lies, after all, are close to the truth.

There are regular updates in the SuperNET newsletter. We will be making a point of filling in some of the background as well as detailing the tech updates. Please sign up for these at http://thesupernet.org/, and get over to the SuperNET forum (https://forum.thesupernet.org/index.php) for more information. In the meantime, here's a sneak peek from the draft of this week's SuperNET newsletter. Hopefully it will be useful.

BTCD and SuperNET

Analogies are often more powerful than explanations. Imagine a new country, spread out in front of you. Scattered around the landscape is everything you might need or want. Stores, selling anything you could ever hope to buy. Casinos and other entertainment centres. Exchanges, financial services and trading posts. News and information outlets. These are like the services offered by SuperNET. Incredibly, though the cryptocurrency world offers so many remarkable businesses, no one has thought to link them together before. They are just a set of isolated organisations, either competing with each other or just operating independently.

BTCD is the highway that connects everything. The infrastructure it provides will enable communication between you and all of the different services, through what it shaping up to be one of the most secure communication links ever developed. Its like a network of roads, tunnels and bridges that enables you to go anywhere and do anything.

To complete the analogy, NXT is the sophisticated engine that gets you around this network of roads and the services you can find there. Its a 2.0 car thats designed to do far more than drive from A to B. NXT doesnt just allow you to transact; it houses the Asset Exchange and many of the other services that will allow you to interact meaningfully with others on your way around SuperNET - the whole Super Network of integrated coins and services.

So how might it look in practice? (Thanks to mackowski for this concept)

Youll need the new BTCD wallet that longzai is working on to access SuperNET. The good news is, thats it: everything is housed inside it. Thats the whole point of SuperNET - unity.

Youll click a tab in the BTCD client and it will open SuperNET. From there, youll directly be able to access SuperNETs functionality. You can send cash anonymously, using Teleport (James new anonymity protocol). If youre particularly concerned about privacy, you can pass it through a Boolberry exchange first to make absolutely sure, layering Teleport with BBRs ring signature technology. Perhaps you play neoDice for a while - that will be built into the client. You check your portfolio of assets, which include SuperNET itself; youve been paid dividends, which include both NXT and shares in a new company that has recently joined SuperNET.

You may want to exchange some NXT for BTC, which you can do through the peer-to-peer instant exchange, InstantDEX. Maybe you also need some to spend in the real world, so you cash some coins out to your SuperNET card - the anon card offered by Coinomat. Then you decide to browse FreeMarket for a while to see whether anything interesting is for sale. Lastly, you message a friend about a joint project youre working on. All of this happens completely securely, because privacy is built into every transaction that takes place with BTCD.

What I don't understand is why oh why would I want to hold any actual BTCD token? That is great that it is providing the highway but when I already own Nxt and Bitcoin, both will be able to use this highway no problem, I cannot understand the benefit of owning any BTCD. The risk/reward just doesn't seem to be there for me to bother making such a purchase.