Just throwin' some stuff out there..

[BenTucker]

First of all, I continue to have my expectations surpassed by developments in the technology and the organization around it (or in it). Okay, enough ass-kissing...

I feel this is the best cryptocurrency for several reasons; speed of secure transactions, anonymous, private, fungible, and the Decentralized Governance system.

The latter got me thinking. There was a proposal for liquidity pools for Darksend. For some reason the implications for DAC didn't hit me until then. It'll be up to you if the conclusions are stupid or not...

So, you guys can fund some things to grow and develop DASH, right on the blockchain. That's cool, I don't care what anybody says. Which leads me to what I would think are important things:

Long term goals:

1. Compete directly with Bitcoin
   
   1a. To compete directly with BTC, people need to be able to move from cash to DASH and back without using BTC as an intermediary. It aids the competitor to stay dependent on BTC.

Short term goals:

1. Make Darksend automatic, instantaneous, and free. I understand there are rumors...
   
   1a. If mixing is universal and the costs are baked in to transaction fees or whatever, this really takes a lot of the "darkness" out of it (the connotation, not the anonymity).
   
   1b. To make it instantaneous, liquidity will have to be present. Smarter people have ideas.
   
   
2. Make instant transactions automatic, free, and secure.
   
   2a. It's my belief that people will want this feature to be ubiquitous, like cash.

Conclusions:

1. If you can add liquidity to DS this way (the voting), then you can add it to exchanges if needed. Better yet, you could set up a DASH Shapeshift to further anonymize the process and ensure liquidity (without having to trust the outside exchange). Maybe you could set up a DASH Coinbase. Unlike Bitcoin, your crypto has a company in it. Bitcoin can't run an exchange. It can't exchange dollars for DASH. This is a HUGE advantage for DASH. It can use the DAC as an extension of the coin, to operate complimentary functions in the real world. No matter what, Bitcoin cannot do that. Any of these functions deemed a good investment in the growth of the currency (and not just the price) should be given serious consideration. You don't want to lose money on them, but profitability may not even be the first concern if it is a tendril of the overall DASHtopus DAC.
   
   
2. I like what's going on with development, advertising ideas, the recent videos, etc. I think if other stuff can be afforded it should go on achieving the short term goals (and any others I'm not aware of yet, which I'm sure will be great), and then the long term goal. In fact, I might focus as much as possible ONLY on the short term goals, doing only research and recon on the long term action plan. Then, once the short term goals are reached, focus mainly on the long term plan.
   
   I don't think paying people for providing a service to the market, like liquidity or whatever, is a bad idea. Rewarding savers in that way can mitigate risks associated with instability in price. It also serves as interest on savings. If this is set as free floating, it shouldn't be a bad thing. It also encourages participation without needing to set up anything. I don't know how realistic it is, but if the network could sustainably pay users to use the currency (this payment for liquidity of the savers who park their currency for mixing and facilitating instant transfers) that would sort of be ideal for its growth. Again, this mitigates concerns about price instability, among other things. I have no idea if that's even doable, so don't mind me if it isn't.

That's my drunken rant (I'm not really drunk...but I'm not really sober either).

 

[raganius]

As suggested by GreyGhost here, The DASH Currency Foundation could be useful here, whenever we need a "legal entity" for the necessary "centralised" services provided by the community, like a DASHshapeshift, or a DASHcoinbase sevices, if eventually backed by approved "community funds".

But it would be difficult solutions to be implemented, simply because of the involved "trust issue": Such "community funded centralised services" should always be seen as exceptional temporary solutions, only to be adopted after weighing all its pros and the cons.

 

[BenTucker]

Some of the trust issue may be mitigated later on. We'll see. Smart contracts, multiple signatures to unlock the payments, dispute resolution system layered in, possibly customizable, and skin-in-the-game protections (like how a certain amount of DASH is held in escrow to do certain things) might all make the trust issue less an issue in real-world centralized solutions, or at least make the overall system able to take such shocks when a point of failure is exposed and exploited. Trust ratings...the mind wanders.

But if the overall DCF owns all these tentacles, they can depose a bad actor or freeze assets or grab the reigns faster than if it happened with some 3rd Party exchange. And due to the vested interest in running a reputable exchange attached directly to the currency brand, the incentive would be for transparency and regular audits to ensure accountability.

Really, the DCF could remove serious amounts of risk from the usual process for consumers. The DCF could insure every single deposit on its real-world exchanges/whatever like an FDIC. A fund could be set aside for this. It could even be offered as a service, remaining optional insurance.

There could also be promotion bonuses cooked in. Let's say all new merchants trading X dollars worth of DASH within Y time limits get automatically entered into sweepstakes for a grand prize of Z DASH, and/or bonus DASH paid on every transaction. Post the winners mug on promotional giveaway stuff to merchants.