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Official Statement On Rebranding To Dash

Ok, I would like advice. It looks like DASH is going to stick.

I agree with rebranding and while I am not especially enthusiastic about DASH it will be OK.

Here is my puzzle. I am currently organizing a meetup in Makati, the financial capital of the Philippines, which has the second fastest growing economy in Asia, a population of 100 Million people, and a foreign remittance market of USD 23 Billion in 2014, which is anticipated to grow to USD 27 Billion this year. The Makati Digital Currency Meetup currently has 96 members and is growing rapidly. We shall soon have a larger membership than the local Bitcoin meetups. See http://www.meetup.com/Makati-Digital-Currency-Meetup/

Next March 28, approximately two weeks from today I had planned to present "Demos and usage of Bitcoin and Darkcoin". See http://www.meetup.com/Makati-Digital-Currency-Meetup/events/220819514/ Instead I shall revamp to use DASH. I will also discuss the rebranding before hand on the meetup website.

The presentation will have two components:
http://bit.ly/DASH_IN_CONTEXT
A Demo, ideally we will
1) DL a bitcoin client
2) buy some BTC at a local ATM (Yes we are meeting in a cafe with a BTC ATM)
3) DL a DASH client from darkcoin.io
4) Exchange some BTC for DRK on an exchange
5) Demo DASH, ideally both anonimity and InstanTX.

Now that is a lot of lifting both in preparation and during the meeting.

To top it off most of my income comes from a seriously difficult consulting effort that has a delivery deadline of March 24.

The help I seek is this. Can some one please provide a short summary of rebranding, a little of the controversy that arose and reasoning and motivation, then further motivate DASH. I am not looking for a whitewash or darkwash but rather a balanced but diplomatic presentation, no more than 5 minutes max, and perhaps a couple of slides.

Onward,

Robert La Quey
 
DashTalk.org will probably be that place: https://www.namecheap.com/domains/whois/results.aspx?domain=dashtalk.org


Yeah, I remember you PM'd me about that a while back... I guess I won't be using the hashtag #getintothedark anymore. This is the sentiment I'm getting each day as well. People respond more to the bland name, with no preconceived notions...WE can define it.
How is it possible that your avatar got even cooler? :grin:
Had to give him a bit of speed with dark roots ;)
Ps. Yeah this is the same guy...
 
Okay, this is the last one I'm making tonight ;-P ... This one has more of an "LED" look to the colors.
 

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Ok, I would like advice. It looks like DASH is going to stick.

I agree with rebranding and while I am not especially enthusiastic about DASH it will be OK.

Here is my puzzle. I am currently organizing a meetup in Makati, the financial capital of the Philippines, which has the second fastest growing economy in Asia, a population of 100 Million people, and a foreign remittance market of USD 23 Billion in 2014, which is anticipated to grow to USD 27 Billion this year. The Makati Digital Currency Meetup currently has 96 members and is growing rapidly. We shall soon have a larger membership than the local Bitcoin meetups. See http://www.meetup.com/Makati-Digital-Currency-Meetup/

Next March 28, approximately two weeks from today I had planned to present "Demos and usage of Bitcoin and Darkcoin". See http://www.meetup.com/Makati-Digital-Currency-Meetup/events/220819514/ Instead I shall revamp to use DASH. I will also discuss the rebranding before hand on the meetup website.

The presentation will have two components:
http://bit.ly/DASH_IN_CONTEXT
A Demo, ideally we will
1) DL a bitcoin client
2) buy some BTC at a local ATM (Yes we are meeting in a cafe with a BTC ATM)
3) DL a DASH client from darkcoin.io
4) Exchange some BTC for DRK on an exchange
5) Demo DASH, ideally both anonimity and InstanTX.

Now that is a lot of lifting both in preparation and during the meeting.

To top it off most of my income comes from a seriously difficult consulting effort that has a delivery deadline of March 24.

The help I seek is this. Can some one please provide a short summary of rebranding, a little of the controversy that arose and reasoning and motivation, then further motivate DASH. I am not looking for a whitewash or darkwash but rather a balanced but diplomatic presentation, no more than 5 minutes max, and perhaps a couple of slides.

Onward,

Robert La Quey

Sorry this isn't really written as a presentation, but it's basically everything I know:

Once upon a time, a young developer named Evan Duffield decided to create a cryptographic coin. He came to the conclusion that someone needed to make a new coin to protect privacy because it had recently been realized that Bitcoin was only pseudo-private, and that the developers and foundation for Bitcoin had no intentions of fixing this. So he realized that to start a new coin, he would need a slow build up of hashing from many people. He knew that ASICS which had just started shipping a month or two before, were going to make it very difficult to attract miners if he were to compete with all the other sha-256 algorithmic coins. At the same time, he realized, as well as many others, that a lot of equipment, such as cpu and gpu power had just been rendered obsolete. Just as Litecoin before, Evan decided to create a new hashing algorithm.

Before Evan created X11, a multi algorithmic chain for hashing, which combined 11 algortithms in a chain, another developer created a similar hash of 5 or 5 algorithms. I forgot it’s name. So the idea was there, but Evan thought adding all the algorithms he knew of into a chain would slow down the development of ASICS that much longer. Because he called his grouped algorithm X-11, he decided to call his coin XCOIN.

Soon it was realized that there was a site called xcoin.com which had just closed down. It was a scam site that stole coins from people. Since the community didn’t want to be associated with these people, they voted to name our coin Darkcoin. All was well until we began getting complaints that the name Darkcoin sounded like the coin was made for nefarious purposes. The community tried and tried to explain that the name was 1. A play against the #2 coin, Litecoin, and 2. the saying “keep ‘em in the dark” which means don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret. Even so, some of the community decided it would be best for Darkcoin to concentrate on the “underworld” and “dark markets” etc… Unfortunately, Evan never wanted to create a coin meant for the dark markets, he wanted to create something closer to cash, something that protected people’s right to privacy. Although Evan has been against a name change for most of this first year of Darkcoin's life, he finally realized that it was not just a few people who have been approached about working with Darkcoin (Merchants, investors, etc…) but pretty much all of them. Even those that accepted DRK at their stores, such as BigCanadar, complained that customers just laughed at the thought of a coin named Darkcoin, and never became interested enough to inquire further about it. So this past week, it seems Evan has changed his mind. But why so abruptly?

As it happened, the last time the community was arguing over the name, the tide seemed to have swung in the direction of a name change. However, as you can see by this past week, we were at each other’s throats, yelling and screaming and designing and coming up with names, etc… In all that chaos, someone had mentioned Dashcoin because InstantX had just been invented. Most of the community rallied behind that name, and so apparently, Evan made a note of it. But to us, he wanted to stop all the arguments, so he said that there would be no name change, which I'm sure he meant. That was that, and the community settled back into it’s normal banter.

So apparently since then, Evan and the foundation members, of which I am not one, have been discussing the need for a new name. They also concluded Dash may be the best alternative, especially if we want to keep the logo that was incredibly difficult to get consensus on as well. But there were complications. There was already a dashcoin. So they had to figure out if the idea could even take hold. I believe we have a European and an American Lawyer in the Darkcoin Foundation, and they have been clearing the way for the right to use the name, DASH. But why did Evan drop this “bomb” on us so abruptly?

It was due to a silly little mistake. Evan had made a deal with the old “Dashcoin” developer (who had abandoned the project a while back). I don’t know what the deal was, but the Dashcoin developer gave Evan the “keys” to the old Dashcoin account on github. Evan simply closed it down, or “locked the door”. The coin could still be forked, it could continue as a fork, but it would be a new project if it were forked.
And while “inside” that Dashcoin account at github, Evan commented on the Darkcoin github thread. By doing so, he posted as the Dashcoin Developer, and it was obvious it was Evan. Anyone could see what happened so there were a lot of questions. Why was Evan in possession of a Dashcoin Developer account?

So to clarify everything to everyone, he decided to announce that the foundation was planning on changing the name of Darkcoin, and because Dashcoin was a favorite a few months ago, they were looking into the feasibility of acquiring the name Dashcoin. I believe, but am not sure, that the trademark “dash” for a coin was not being pursued by the Dashcoin that Evan acquired but is the name another company is attempting to trademark, and in such a way that Darkcoin would want it used. (There are many trademarks for Dash, just not as a currency or payment system, at least not at this time).
So, the lawyers are saying it looks like we can trademark the name DASH, and that there isn’t much the old dash community can do about their abandoned coin, not legally. They can fork it and make it a new project, but the old name goes with the old project, which is dead and the Darkcoin Foundation is in the process of trademarking the name.

The rest is just everyone arguing.
 
You can always read the 4500 pages on bct too but I suppose there is no time for that :)

TS thnx for the story it was nice to read it all.
 
I didn't mention that there were approximately monthly small arguments on changing the name ever since it was first changed, LOL. It would just come up and everyone would start arguing sides, LOL :tongue:
 
No they wouldn't, what are you talking about? :mad:

:grin:
You know how either a FUDster or someone would start saying we needed to change the name, and everyone got into the mud pit and wrestled? Just about every few weeks or so? Pretty much since the day we became Darkcoin?????? - but it usually died out after a couple of BCT pages :)
 
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Okay, I swear now... last one, haha... too much time on my hands during my night shift ;-P
 

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Sorry bro,

But I think LED-symbols seem a bad idea. It is obsolete technology (like a Morse code) and can't properly represent such an innovative tech like DASH.

But I like your idea about normal vertical line for first D.
IMO
Thanks, I figured it won't garner much attention or momentum. Just some fun logo design to pass the time :)
Cheers!
 
You know how either a FUDster or someone would start saying we needed to change the name, and everyone got into the mud pit and wrestled? Just about every few weeks or so? Pretty much since the day we became Darkcoin?????? - but it usually died out after a couple of BCT pages :)
I know. I kid, I kid...
Thanks, I figured it won't garner much attention or momentum. Just some fun logo design to pass the time :)
Cheers!
We can never have too much DASH artwork...it's all good.
https://twitter.com/taoofsatoshi/status/577054390512680961
 
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Regarding the Darkcoin logo (with the stylized arrow design) versus the new Dashcoin logo (inverted "C" with dash): The Darkcoin logo did have a "cool" factor to it, but there wasn't anything about it which really related to the coin itself, other than that it was based on the letter "D." The Dash logo (and even the name Dash) on the other hand, relates in a couple of way to the fact that it is "Digital cASH." The look of movement also hints at speed, and also refers to the instant transaction capabilities of the coin.
 
Regarding the Darkcoin logo (with the stylized arrow design) versus the new Dashcoin logo (inverted "C" with dash): The Darkcoin logo did have a "cool" factor to it, but there wasn't anything about it which really related to the coin itself, other than that it was based on the letter "D." The Dash logo (and even the name Dash) on the other hand, relates in a couple of way to the fact that it is "Digital cASH." The look of movement also hints at speed, and also refers to the instant transaction capabilities of the coin.

The name still has a lot of - "are you on drugs?" to it, though. :(

Hope we wont regret the Dash name.

Normal people think the "*coin" name is retarded like "Bitcoin". They are used to dollars and euros. Imagine if dollar was named "Dollarcoin" and euro was "Eurocoin". Sounds retarded ya?
 
Sorry this isn't really written as a presentation, but it's basically everything I know:

Once upon a time, a young developer named Evan Duffield decided to create a cryptographic coin. He came to the conclusion that someone needed to make a new coin to protect privacy because it had recently been realized that Bitcoin was only pseudo-private, and that the developers and foundation for Bitcoin had no intentions of fixing this. So he realized that to start a new coin, he would need a slow build up of hashing from many people. He knew that ASICS which had just started shipping a month or two before, were going to make it very difficult to attract miners if he were to compete with all the other sha-256 algorithmic coins. At the same time, he realized, as well as many others, that a lot of equipment, such as cpu and gpu power had just been rendered obsolete. Just as Litecoin before, Evan decided to create a new hashing algorithm.

Before Evan created X11, a multi algorithmic chain for hashing, which combined 11 algortithms in a chain, another developer created a similar hash of 5 or 5 algorithms. I forgot it’s name. So the idea was there, but Evan thought adding all the algorithms he knew of into a chain would slow down the development of ASICS that much longer. Because he called his grouped algorithm X-11, he decided to call his coin XCOIN.

Soon it was realized that there was a site called xcoin.com which had just closed down. It was a scam site that stole coins from people. Since the community didn’t want to be associated with these people, they voted to name our coin Darkcoin. All was well until we began getting complaints that the name Darkcoin sounded like the coin was made for nefarious purposes. The community tried and tried to explain that the name was 1. A play against the #2 coin, Litecoin, and 2. the saying “keep ‘em in the dark” which means don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret. Even so, some of the community decided it would be best for Darkcoin to concentrate on the “underworld” and “dark markets” etc… Unfortunately, Evan never wanted to create a coin meant for the dark markets, he wanted to create something closer to cash, something that protected people’s right to privacy. Although Evan has been against a name change for most of this first year of Darkcoin's life, he finally realized that it was not just a few people who have been approached about working with Darkcoin (Merchants, investors, etc…) but pretty much all of them. Even those that accepted DRK at their stores, such as BigCanadar, complained that customers just laughed at the thought of a coin named Darkcoin, and never became interested enough to inquire further about it. So this past week, it seems Evan has changed his mind. But why so abruptly?

As it happened, the last time the community was arguing over the name, the tide seemed to have swung in the direction of a name change. However, as you can see by this past week, we were at each other’s throats, yelling and screaming and designing and coming up with names, etc… In all that chaos, someone had mentioned Dashcoin because InstantX had just been invented. Most of the community rallied behind that name, and so apparently, Evan made a note of it. But to us, he wanted to stop all the arguments, so he said that there would be no name change, which I'm sure he meant. That was that, and the community settled back into it’s normal banter.

So apparently since then, Evan and the foundation members, of which I am not one, have been discussing the need for a new name. They also concluded Dash may be the best alternative, especially if we want to keep the logo that was incredibly difficult to get consensus on as well. But there were complications. There was already a dashcoin. So they had to figure out if the idea could even take hold. I believe we have a European and an American Lawyer in the Darkcoin Foundation, and they have been clearing the way for the right to use the name, DASH. But why did Evan drop this “bomb” on us so abruptly?

It was due to a silly little mistake. Evan had made a deal with the old “Dashcoin” developer (who had abandoned the project a while back). I don’t know what the deal was, but the Dashcoin developer gave Evan the “keys” to the old Dashcoin account on github. Evan simply closed it down, or “locked the door”. The coin could still be forked, it could continue as a fork, but it would be a new project if it were forked.
And while “inside” that Dashcoin account at github, Evan commented on the Darkcoin github thread. By doing so, he posted as the Dashcoin Developer, and it was obvious it was Evan. Anyone could see what happened so there were a lot of questions. Why was Evan in possession of a Dashcoin Developer account?

So to clarify everything to everyone, he decided to announce that the foundation was planning on changing the name of Darkcoin, and because Dashcoin was a favorite a few months ago, they were looking into the feasibility of acquiring the name Dashcoin. I believe, but am not sure, that the trademark “dash” for a coin was not being pursued by the Dashcoin that Evan acquired but is the name another company is attempting to trademark, and in such a way that Darkcoin would want it used. (There are many trademarks for Dash, just not as a currency or payment system, at least not at this time).
So, the lawyers are saying it looks like we can trademark the name DASH, and that there isn’t much the old dash community can do about their abandoned coin, not legally. They can fork it and make it a new project, but the old name goes with the old project, which is dead and the Darkcoin Foundation is in the process of trademarking the name.

The rest is just everyone arguing.
Nice summary!

I think "Dashcoin" should be replaced with "Dash" a couple of places though...
 
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