First I would like to say that I'm quite new on the "Crypto" world, I got hooked couple of months ago and since then I have started to research about different coins. As most of newbies I started with the "famous" ones, BTC, ETH and LTC, mostly due to the fact that coinbase only lists these 3 coins and in a matter of days I started to be introduced to other coins after watching many youtube videos and joining Telegram groups.
So before I go ahead I would like to make it clear that I'm far from been an expert on Cryptocurrencies, I still have a very long journey to learn about the technical aspects, so this is my view as a newbie, which I think is extremely important at this point. If you think about it, the early adopters of cryptos are tech savvy people however now we are moving to new waves of "customers" who are starting to get hooked about this technology, and my perception of coins will probably reflect their perception too, so on this new run for the coins in the next months and years, the newbies are the ones who will determine which coins will have a big increase on the marketcap.
Going back to my crypto journey, after learning about different coins there was a particular one that really got my attention, Bitshares. I was really amazed with the potential of BTS and how this could be a potential game changer for many industries.
For those of you who are not very familiar with BTS I will try to explain it from a newbie perspective and why I think this particular coin is different from all others..
1- The first point is in relation of the speed in which transactions can be processed.. BTS can process 100,000 transactions per second and to give you some perspective, Bitcoin can process only 7 tps and Ether should be able to process around 26 tps.. So imagine if BTC achieve mass adoption and you would like to use it to buy a coca-cola on a regular shop, how would it work? You would have to wait minutes or hours to get your transaction processed, so it is not practicable... BTS on the other hand would be able to handle this easily, if you dont know, 100.000 per second is more than processing power of Visa and MasterCard combined.. So that says all right?
2- Fees : The transaction fees for BTS are much much lower than BTC and many other coins, the average transaction fee for BTC is over 3 USD, so if you were going to by a can of coke which costs 1 USD, the transaction fee for that transaction would be actually higher than the product itself, which does not make sense at all.. BTS in the other hand has a avg fee of 0.03USD which is much more plausible for this type of transactions and in addition if you pay the lifetime membership you get back 80% of the fees paid for your transactions..
3- This for me is the greatest differential of BTS in relation to the other coins.. The ability to transfer assets via cryptocurrencies. I will spend a little bit more time explaining this point.. The BTS itself is a share that you have of the Bitshares, is like having a stock of a public company, it will also giving you voting rights to decide the directions in which the BTS will go. Based on these shares, we can have UIA's (User Issued Assets) such BitUSD, BitGold, BitCNY, etc..
Let's take BitUSD as an example, when a BitUSD is created, it will always follow the price of 1 USD, so 1 BitUSD should be always equal to 1 USD, but how is that possible? So basically in order for you to do that, you would put the equivalent amount of 1USD in Bitshares as collateral to 1 BitUSD.. Let's see an example:
Imagine this scenario (I will use fictional prices to illustrate it):
1 BTS = 0.10USD
If you were going to have 1 BitUSD today, you would need to have 10 BTS (10x $0.10) to make the BitUSD amount equal to
1USD. If the BTS price increases to $0.50, than the necessary amount of BTS needed as collateral for the BitUSD will be 2
BTS (2 x $0.50) instead of 10.. So each BitUSD will have an amount of BTS's needed as collateral to pair the real value of
that asset.
*Actually the amount of collateral needed for each Bitasset is more than 100% to protect it against volatility, but I will not
get into details here to make it simple..
This means that with Bitshares could issue many "virtual" assets which would follow the market price for the same.. So let's imagine if we could have BitOil, BitIron, BitSteel, Bitthis and Bitthat... Today when Oil traders have to trade oil, despite the fact that they might be in different countries, they will probably trade it in USD, and for that they will always have the FX risks as the USD value could fluctuate against their local currency so they end up hedging these transaction which implicate in higher costs for them.. Now imagine if they could start trading Oil using BitOil? When they agree to buy and sell 10 barrels of Oil they would be sure that when the transaction is completed, they would receive the payment of 10 BitOils which would be equivalent value of 10 barrels of Oil at that present moment..
The potential of this is huge, not only for commodity trades but also for FX payments and any other assets transactions in the future.. (I hope you can see the big picture here!)
4- Protection against coins volatility: The same BitAssets structure that I have described above, would allow you to protect yourself against the crazy fluctuation rollercoaster that we see today in Cryptocurrencies.. One of the main fear of investing in BTC for example is the fact that last week it was quoted approx $1800 and today it is reaching $2900.. Not everyone would like to be exposed to these fluctuations, so if you want to have part of your investments in Crypto but would like to take a break and move your money to a stable currency, you could buy BitUSD for the time being..
All these points drove me crazy when I started to learn more about Bitshares and I became more active on Telegram groups to learn and understand better this coin.. And one question has been on my mind since then.. Why is this coin so undervalued in comparison to others? Why it is not even on the top 10 coins in terms of marketcap? As soon I started getting more involved on the Telegram groups, I started to get the answers for it (at least from my perspective).
The reason why the title of this post is "Bitshares - A Lambo parked in a Farm Barn" describes exactly my views of BTS today.. The team has created a Lambo, a great machine with a stunning design, however today it is seating on a Farm Barn and been driven on dirty sandy roads... A car like a Lambo was not designed for this type of roads, to achieve it's full potential it needs to be moved to streets like in Monaco or German Autoban's, and in my view the BTS team is falling a little bit on that, they are super focused on build the best mechanics but is forgetting to move it to city centers.. (The "Sovereign Hero" project lead by Stan Larimer and Michael will help that a lot, but I don't think BTS should be 100% depending on that.)
Why is that? I think it is because of the DPOS (Delegated proof of stake) governance model.. Bitshares is a completely decentralized system, does not have a owner or a CEO.. Each BTS holder owns the Bitshares and everything is done via a voting system, so instead of "miners" you have "witness" which is a group of people voted by BTS holders to validate the transactions.. If an improvement on the system is needed, we have a "worker" proposal which is voted by the BTS holders.. This concept is amazing as the BTS holders have complete control of the future and directions that BTS will take however there is a big problem there (in my view)..
Every boat needs someone steering the wheel otherwise there will be many winds blowing in different directions and to bring that boat to it's final destination will be a challenge.. I hear everyday many great suggestions on the Telegram group about marketing, UX improvements, Commercialization, etc however there is not a person or group of persons in charge of those areas and as the end result everyone end up waiting someone to do something about it and no results are achieved..
Most of the committee members, workers, proxys and witness are very strong tech people, but as I mentioned earlier their focus is more on building a great machine (which they are doing a great job by the way) however we also need people with different areas of expertise to look after these other areas which are essential to bring BTS to the next level..
In my view, Bitshare should create roles like Marketing Manager, Commercial Manager, CEO, etc (to be elected by the BTS holders) so they could focus their efforts and coordinate these initiatives.. Today I think BTS is missing a "face" as other coins have... EOS has Dan Larimer, ETH has Vitalik.. They have different governance models, but in my view DPOS could easily follow the governance model of many public listed companies today..
I'm still very bullish and optimistic about Bitshares futures, even if the governance model is not changed I'm sure this coin have a bright future ahead, however the most important question is how long it will take for this coin to go to the moon? A new Gov model would expedite that significantly..
In order to wrap up this article I would like to point out some key items that is needed (in my view) to make Bitshares even better, so these are my 2 cents contribution:
Create other roles for different areas in order to have someone accountable and responsible to drive and coordinate certain initiatives : Marketing, Commercial, User Experience, Public Relation, Strategy and CEO.
Improve urgently the user experience of Bitshares exchange to make it more friendly to newbies like me.. We need to understand that regular Joe's have no experience in trading or dealing with Crypto's, so we should have something very simple, clear and intuitive so they feel comfortable using it.
Create a simple app to allow users to buy and sell BTS's and BitUSD
Increase the number of BitAssets.. Today we have only few of them (BitUSD, BitCNY, BitEUR, BitGold, BitSilver, and maybe few other more). We should have a Bit asset for many more currencies and also a Bit asset for the major commodities.
List BTS on all major exchanges.. People should have easy access to buy and sell BTS to give it more liquidity.
List more coins on Bitshares Exchange.. The other way around of point 5.. If I decide to use Bitshares as my main exchange and wallet, I should be able to buy most of the coins (at least all top 20) without having to leave Bitshares platform.
Enable hard wallets like Trezor for Bitshares.. Newbies are still very scared about having their coins sitting on the web... Specially after the recent hacking incidents involving ETH..
Make partnership with commercial establishments so they can accept BTS or HERO as payment method..
Before I end this post, I would like to emphasize that I'm not criticizing Bitshares at all.. I think this is an amazing coin which will definitely go to the moon! I'm just trying to contribute with some feedback from a newbie perspective to help to expedite this process..
I also would like to congrat some of the people that I had a opportunity to meet on Telegram group during the last couple of months as they are doing a great job! Bitshares has an amazing team of passionate and incredibly knowledgeable people like Stan, Michael, Fav, Oldman, Tony and many others!!
JP
Everything on your list is on our roadmap, but you must understand that we have to do this without causing centralization around Cryptonomex. We worked very hard to hand off the leadership roles to the next generations of entrepreneurs and it has been working nicely.
That said, the more successful BTS becomes the more such leaders will find it worthwhile to emerge and take risks and, well, lead!
So we aren't about to announce that we are personally going to do everything we all know needs to be done. We are going to change the conditions so that there will be a FLOOD of new talent competing to do several versions of them!
We will be putting the BitShares platform on the map in the following way:
Doing all this will scale not only the billion-hero-prize, but our own war chests and those of the entrepreneurs we want to attract. It will also scale the size of the BitShares Reserve which will be worth many billions.
And all the while, we are doing it without directly taking charge of what the community and its leaders should be doing for themselves.
And THAT's why we're not publishing our own plan to do all that you suggest. We are going to STIMULATE it to get done and stay out of any leadership role ourselves.
This Revolution will be decentralized.
That is Brilliant Stan - the epitome of reason :)
How cool is to have the BTS godfather itself replying to my post??? :) :) :)
Thanks a lot for your response Stan! I'm looking forward to see the plan mentioned above getting in Motion! Lets go to the moon!!!!
I buy $50 per month of crypto's on payday based on a month of research. This month will all be BitShares.
Seems to have real potential to be the standout currency in the long term when the currencies settle down and the most useful rise to the top.
Thanks for the comment answerblack! Welcome to the BTS clan! :)
Excellent! As I read the marchesejp's post, the area that made me uneasy with his assessment was wanting to centralise roles and titles. I thought that the old hierarchical model of organisation was what Bitshares was created to overcome. Concepts as stigmergy as explained by Heather Marsh's "Binding Chaos" come to mind. Applications like Loomio are also moving along the concept lines Stan et al have developed.
Heather opened my mind to stigmergy and Stan's ideas and the decentralised Bitshares vehicle operating along those principles have helped me unlearn the supposed "education" grad schools crank out of the cookie cutter models of yesteryear. On ya, Stan.
I do share marchesejp's observations that Bitshares is like a Lambo in a Farm Yard(ish). I, too, was daunted by the learning curve Bitshares presented. Supporting the HERO the first time cost me a chunk of BTS - which does motivate one to do adequate homework before venturing into the playground. Got that sorted out now and using the HERO margin system and will buy HERO for hodling at a good price point. I'm also of the opinion Bitshares is an elegant and totally undervalued - for the immediate present - concept.
I recall a film, "Field of Dreams," where the protagonist firmly believed, "Build it and they will come." I think Stan called the HERO a Dreamcoin initially. Way to go, Stan et al! We're coming. More and more are coming daily and fortunately, you made an arena capable of holding a global population. Stan, You're The Man!
Thanks for your comments Tasmansee, I agree with you that in theory this concept is much better than the existing one and I really hope that it will work.. My proposal of having "centralized" roles is to help BTS to achieve it's full potential sooner, as I really don't get why BTS is under the radar in comparison to other coins while it has much better technology.. So I think it might need a temporary push to make some things to move faster...
I really like your quote about field of dreams, I actually thought about including it on the article.. so I think we are on the same tune... And I couldn't agree more that Stan is the Man! Correction, Stan and Dan are! I once asked Stan what water they used to drink at home to have a family of geniuses! :)
The more I read about BTS the more I like it, and I have so much to learn. But aren't you concerned that by trying to make it so many things at once, it may not become really good at anyone thing? I agree with creating the environment that will give rise to the necessary leaders and their roles, is there a concern that the massive scope will also generate massive blindspots? I really like this, I'm looking for the right time or fit for me to jump fully in.
It was a very good article, however regarding "governance" there is one point you need to understand:
Appointing a leader is like painting a target on them
One of the fundamental principles of crypto is decentralization, so there are no people, places or things with targets on their backs. This is why crypto avoids the problem of being shut down by an external entity.
Many don't realize the importance of the "sovereign" nature required to be a replacement for entrenched and corrupted institutions, but that is what makes crypto so powerful, that it can't be controlled or manipulated.
You are absolutely correct that the price we pay for decentralization is less efficiency in governance, but at least it will be governance achieved through non-violent cooperation rather than force and coercion, war and death.
I'll take the slower pace of consensus progress over the faster pace of tyranny any day!
Thx for your article, it was very good, and very informative, especially for "newbies" 👍
I agree, but i think this is true when we are bigger. In the meantime, i suggest we form committes tasked with individual goals - ie. The user interface, on/off ramps, building our own exchange etc. These can be disolved quickly when the task is complete.
I think JP is correct that we gave an element of paralysis. My poi t is, lets form task forces, hire the people, get it done and disolve them.
I agree with you, DPOS as a governance model is brilliant that doesn't mean it can't be reviewed and made more efficient. First the ways decision makers are elected and removed must be addressed e.g votes should be made to expire so that proxies and committee members can be accountable and only people with passion to grow bitshares are elected, this i believe with make the community more engaging as proxies and committee members will be forced to make them selves known to the community engaging and debating, sadly this is not the case. Secondly bitshares needs a management structure designed in a way nobody can be targeted, i will propose like a few people have done that committees be set up to managed every aspect of the management structure selected from proxies committee members and active community members. They will work for about 6 months and others take over so we can have fresh ideas at all times. I believe these things can be done now with the bitshares foundation coordinating. Let's imagine promoting other bitassets the way hero is going to be promted at the same time and in a short time we have 4 bitassets in the top 20. Where do you think bitshares will be. My only worry has been that if we delay or do nothing this tech that we love so much can be forked and some other persons enjoy its potentials.
I completely agree! Thanks for the comments!
FIRST .. GreaT POST @marchesejp!! - ))
(( .. can't agree more - ))
and, @full-steem-ahead .. WoW !!!!!!!! - ))
YOU've just made the "HERO" program come to LIFE .. for me !! - ))
i am a total "new-BE" - ))
WonderinG about many of the things @marchesejp has detailed in this post.
FUNnY .. how the quest for understanding, brings clarity !!
Thank YOU "BOTH" .. i feel "much" more confident in BIT SHARE'S future !! - ))
.. and, i was already felling over the MooN - ))
Any chance anyone would like to trade some BIT SHARES .. for ART ??
AN artist’S .. CALL for a MOON SHOT TICKET !! - ))
lovelovelove )))
greb'Z )
PumpeD & reSTEEMed - ))
Thanks a lot buddy! Really appreciate your comments! Hope you get hooked on BTS on the same way I got.. Very interesting coin with huge potential, as more you learned about it more you like it!
Regarding your art I dont have space at my place right now, but once BTS goes to the moon and I buy a big house I will contact you again to get some ;))) Very nice art btw! congrats!!
ha ha .. GREAT REPLY !! - ))
.. i'm dreaming UP a GIANT CANVAS for YOU NOW !!! - )))
.. thanks ALLoT !! - ))
TO the MOON !!!!!!! - ))
?? did you see this article by @stan ???
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@stan/bitcoin-united-btc-u-offers-3-second-confirmations-and-massive-throughput
FeelS like ROCKET FUAL to me !! - )))
Hahaha yes, get my giant canvas ready... By the end of the year when we see BTS increasing 100x we talk again :) :)
Yes I saw that article from Stan, great article!
Your art is beautiful man. Love the colours. I would love to get a large one to put on my living room wall. :)
So all the other coins that have active non profit foundations to market, form alliances and chart developmental course are all centralised and have been targeted for closure. What a load BS
Also some very good points
Bitshares needs to hire business development, marketing and PR people asap. The tech is mature enough for the big time but tech alone is not going to realize Bitshare's full potential. Agree with everything you've said.
IMO, The UI needs to be brought up to the same quality as the backend software first. As far as hiring people goes, one possible route is to convince enough holders to vote in favor of a worker proposal.
BTS also need more promotional campaigns to bring more investors.
I agree JP with many of the points made here. BTS to the moon ;)
Ledger support is being worked on, which will take care of HW wallets.
The UI does need a LOT of polish though.
Increasing the number of bitAssets requires users to create liquidity in those markets. The same goes for listing more coins via OpenLedger - lets get some liquidity going in the existing markets first.
We don't even necessarily need BTS listed on lots of exchanges. We need exchanges to list bitUSD/bitCNY/HERO. If traders use bitUSD/bitCNY as a safe haven in times of uncertainty, they will drive demand for BTS without ever having to buy any themselves.
Thanks ashaman. I slightly disagree that we should not list BTS on other exchanges and only worry about listing bitUSD/bitCNY/HERO.. These are just bitassets derived by the BTS which is the "core". The core is what really carry the value.. and how it would be when more Bitassets are created? Would we need to have all them listed on these other exchanges too? Well, there is no right or wrong.. I appreciate your perspective and respect that too.. ;)
I didn't say that we shouldn't get BTS listed on exchanges, only that getting price stable SmartCoins listed is more important. bitAssets are created when holders of BTS borrow them into existence. If there is a demand for a bitAsset on an exchange, its price will rise relative to BTS on that exchange, creating an arbitrage opportunity that can be exploited by satisfying the demand. Every bitUSD or bitCNY is at a minimum $1.75 of BTS removed from circulation because it is locked in a smart contract. Every HERO is 2 HERO worth of BTS removed from circulation. Demand for bitAssets will increase the scarcity of BTS twice as fast demand for BTS itself would.
@marchesejp
Excellent article. I read allot of good thing about BTS but its very low valued. I think you are absolutely right about the marketing and the roles and the comparison with the lambo on the yard is very very accurate :D
@stan:
Lets hope you guys work faster before people abandon the ship. This is a volatile market and unless you guys communicate continuously, updating roadmap and bring people news about what is going on and show progress i'm afraid people will move on to new ICO's or the more established coins.
Great info. BTS has been by far the best coin I have invested in so far.
Great info about Bitshares here, I am pretty new as well and I have not had a chance to check it out yet. After reading your post I will give it a go and see how it fits for me.
Thanks for your comment! I definitely recommend you to read about bitshares and also about the sovereign hero... Another good way to learn more is to join the BTS Telegram group @BitSharesDEX. I learned a lot there!
Great I will check it out!
Excellent post, I agree with many of the things you are sharing here. But as a newbie, it is this huge scope of BTS that scares me and I think a lot of others. It is trying to be the "ONE THEORY"? while there are all kinds of Big Bang models out there creating smaller Universes? It may win out in the end to become the Universal solution but at this stage by attempting to do so many things at once, it will not generate enough interest from any one group just looking for one specific solution and so they leave to another platform that is doing that one thing really well. I am very new at this, but I am from the beginning looking for something that completely forbids any government or institution from Using the age old Majority Rule BS to commit atrocities on my behalf with my money and or shutting me down because I did not sign up for their insanity. I guess I'm saying leadership is all good, but I'm not a fan of being told "here he or she is Leader" Democracy is great but no thanks when it comes to this, I'm all about Autonomy. Which is what I think @Stan meant when he said that they are creating the right environment for natural leaders to evolve and assume those roles.
Thanks for you comment flashbid, really appreciate it! I don't see BTS trying to do many things at once, the "Bitassets" in my view is the main proposition of Bitshares itself.. Let's look from this perspective.. ETH main purpose is smart contracts for decentralized apps, that does not mean that if they get different apps with different purposes they would be trying to do many things at once.. no they would be working on their main purpose to serve these apps to run using ETH platform..
In the case of BTS the same would apply with the different assets.. if we were going to make a parallel between ETH and BTS, the Bitassets would be equivalent to decentralized apps for ETH..
Regarding my proposal for creation of certain roles, I'm not suggesting to give these people full power, the goal would be to have someone coordinating these areas.. So for example, a market manager.. What he would do is to propose marketing initiatives to the BTS holders and if approved he would execute it.. These roles that I'm suggesting is to just have someone coordinating and focusing on certain activities... ;)
But I appreciate your opinion and I think that is very healthy for BTS to stimulate this type of discussions so people can express their different points of view.
Very good article and a very good point on the comparison between city roads and dusty terrain. You just might want to fix the spelling at "proof of steak" (which should be stake), i chuckled a bit there.
Hhahaha Thanks! Just corrected it ;)
@marchesejp partnership for more acceptance in terms of payment method for transactions would really boost BTS and other cryptocurrencies in general.
points well articulated. keep it up!
It's great to know the power of bitshares and hold some. In order to promote the bitshares, i think @stan should make some simple diagrams indicating the advantages of bitshares to another. Then the fan of bitshares can help it go viral. Simple diagrams as syscoin did (syscoin.org/doc_uploads/How_Syscoin_Innovates_Infographic.png)
i really like the "BitOil, BitIron, BitSteel, Bitthis and Bitthat..." approach.
is there any chance that assets like these are going to be implemented in the near future?
kind regards.
Coins will fly high.
Very good article..coins will steemm upp...
nice
Great post @marchesejp Im sharing this with my family because I am urging them to get on board before the Hero Challenge gets into full steem(it) ahead.
Thanks Tyty!! :)
Great article and many good points. The Bitshares Foundation's stated mission is to help the Bitshares ecosystem grow to it's maximum potential and should help with many of your points.
The technology behind Bitshares and its potential is fantastic. The technology and its many potential uses needs to take center stage. That is what will bring growth to the whole ecosystem.
Thanks for your comment jelasalyn! I completely agree, once people start to see the potential of this technology the ecosystem will grow exponentially!
No doubt going to study BTS quite a bit more thanks to this...
And yes, the "godfather" himself weighing in is quite nice.
Cheers, mate.
Thanks!! I'm glad I was able to bring your attention to BTS ;) and I hope we can go to the moon all together :) :)
I really suggest you to join the telegram group of BTS (BitsharesDEX), a lot of info shared on daily basis there and if you have questions people will always help you..
"Today I think BTS is missing a "face" as other coins have..." Dash has Amanda B. Johnson. Maybe we need a young cool woman like her? :-) Great post!
That would be great! Does anyone know her to put in touch with Stan and cia?
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STOPVery informative post. Keep making them like this;)
Thanks Ernstjan!
Great overview and insights about cryptocurrencies for newbies who wish to familiarize about the topic. I found it extremely helpful and well written ;)
Thanks Venancio! Im glad you enjoyed my post! Hope this info stimulates you to learn more about crypto!
Ugh, I really wanted that Diablo in like...2000.
Good information @marchesejp It has helped me to understand many things. Thanks.
thanks! Im glad to hear that ;)
I came to the same conclusion independently and brought BTS for the 1st time today.
My thinking is that after the first wave of theoretical value the coins that are actually useful as global currencies will surpass the current leaders.
That means BTS and Steem which are 1 and 2 by transaction volume and Zcash which is confidential are my newbie picks.
Amazing post..thanks @marchesejp and @stan!
List more coins on Bitshares Exchange..
The other way around of point 5.. If I decide to use Bitshares as my main exchange and wallet, I should be able to buy most of the coins (at least all top 20) without having to leave Bitshares platform.
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STOPHey @marchesejp, have you been using the Bitshares client? The actual software you download, versus bitshares.org or openledger.info
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