Let the marketing…begin?
Hivemind’s Stealth Mode
Slow and Steady
Bitcoin Hivemind is old.
But you probably haven’t heard of it. Why?
Some “normal” reasons:
- I didn’t want to waste people’s time, with vaporware.
- A technological bottleneck (in the form of “sidechains”) held the project away from a complete analysis / implementation.
- I wanted to see just how much junk the community would put up with – so that I would know how to react to praise / criticism when the project got big.
- The name was originally “truthcoin” and I changed the name (to avoid Altcoin stigma), without really telling anyone.
In addition:
- Most Bitcoin projects are terrible. They’re stupid, unethical, if they aren’t explicitly fraudulent. Most of the frauds of the space were too stupid to recognize their own incompetence. So, waiting (to make sure you aren’t being incompetent) is good.
However, the major delay (on the marketing front) is a little more strategic.
A Brief History of Bitcoin Projects
When I originally conceived the protocol, back in 2012, there were some serious uncertainties. Specifically, how would the government treat “Blockchain Scientists”? Satoshi Nakamoto, King of Blockchain Science, had implicitly suggested that everyone run for their lives, after someone else suggested that BTC be used to donate to Wikileaks.
Most of the “blockchain organizations” blatantly engaged in theft and fraud (of a painfully obvious nature). People spoke openly of murdering individuals such as Zhou Tong and Trenden Shavers. Questions of “evidence” and “due process” were nonexistent (a true Wild West); there was confusion everywhere.
It was a little depressing.
By October 2013, most of Truthcoin’s functions had been fully defined.
At this point, most Bitcoin devs were openly hostile to new ideas. Most Bitcoin organizations were hated by everyone. Most had declared (or would soon declare) bankruptcy. Edward Snowden was on the run…the Internet Community wondered how to interpret this. Was it too late, already, to prevent the rise of an Orwellian dystopia?
In January 2014, the ink was drying on Truthcoin Whitepaper 1.0. The USG was arresting Charlie Shrem under mysterious circumstances (he turned out to have helped a guy who helped a different guy purchase drugs to put in his own body). The Tidbit group at MIT had been sued by New Jersey (during finals week), and the university had indicated that it would do nothing to help (Aaron Swartz had recently committed suicide under similar circumstances).
If BitInstant had been a failed company, or if Tidbit had not won a “most innovative” award, these people would have been left alone.
A bit of a mixed message, isn’t it? Do you want economic growth or not?
Today
Fortunately, in 2016, a few things have changed.
Due to the vigilant diplomacy of the Bitcoin community, people grew to realize that blockchain technology wasn’t the end of the world. They grew to understand that it was here to stay, and that it offered real benefits. Incumbents realized that, if push came to shove, they would be unable to destroy the technology.
After that, it’s game over. No one wants to back a loser.
With the door open, we now have large projects (R3CEV, Ethereum, Factom, Blockstream, Bloq) operating openly, and discussing their ideas.
There have been two Congressional testimonies on the subject of blockchain technology. Both of them were successful – politicians asked all the right questions, and they got sane answers. All the boxes were checked, all the relevant organizations and control systems were invited.
The dust of uncertainty has settled a little.
So, I feel more comfortable extending an invitation to you.
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