@CoinGame has done some research into this. From what I remember, there are challenges involved with bot operators being considered as money-transmitters that have prevented NBT from being included. I’m sure a NuBits tipping bot will spring up in the future though.
Two quotes of mine in this thread that summarize my views:
I’ve said this privately as well, but it would be a mistake to assume that the majority of cryptocurrency users are involved for any reason beyond increasing their own wealth quickly. For this reason as I mentioned in my last post, NuShares will drive NuBits interest, not the other way around. I believe the value of a stable digital currency will grow immensely as more retailers begin to accept Bitcoin and encounter challenges related to volatility.
I think it’s important to make a clear case that we are competing designs. “Nu and Bitshares” could be viewed as complementary. Perhaps a better term than “vs.” could be used if there is consensus that it sets the wrong tone.
I was envisioning a scenario where a high percentage of a very localized populace is encouraged to download the application. Even though electronic commerce spans international borders, personal influence plays a major role in deciding what services to use. If none of your friends use the NBT mobile app you are less likely to do so. If you are familiar with the “hub and spoke” supply distribution model of Wal-Mart, I was thinking of our targeted urban campaigns being the “hub”, with “spokes” naturally forming out of the resulting network effects.
Focusing on ATMs and other crypto business providers is a great idea. How should I word it, and in which Stage above?
Very good idea. I’m open to adding this to the roadmap above if you specify how it should be worded, and what Stage.
I’d prefer not to do this, as a dedicated NuBits vs bitUSD thread is likely to be a lightning rod for the Bitshares community. This is a sensitive subject that stirs a lot of passion. A search of bitcointalk, reddit, and bitsharestalk will provide enough examples. I’d suggest letting them mature in the marketplace for a while before declaring Bitshares and NuBits competitors. Indeed, the Bitshares lead developer has unambiguously stated that bitUSD and Nubits are not competitors. Comments are at 16:30 of the linked audio file. Nubits discussion starts at 9:25.
Although I have some altruistic beliefs, I still think that NuBits should be able to sell itself. A high share price would attract attention as with any business but wouldn’t be a driver for adoption of NuBits on its own. The adoption will more likely drive the shareprice as with any other business although there is a bit of a chicken and egg principle here due to anticipation and expectations. My point is that there should be many other means to market NuBits than just an emphasis on NuShares which at best can be seen as one of the marketing tools to sell NuBits. Just my 0.02 NBT.
Or maybe I can work with @desrever to get this going. My only considerations would be whether to run development and marketing from the same fund. It would be easier to run, but higher risk of centralisation. It will require more assurance that this wouldn’t happen and shareholders keep in control at appropriate levels.
I think my point is, not sure about a full-time communication professional as they might get compromised. I would rather go with a bunch of vetted freelancers who are able to deliver all over the world. E.g. a local in UK, two or three in US, Some elsewhere in Europe and Australasia etc. and activate them when and where required for e.g. conferences/trade shows/local presentations/ prepared interviews etc. Easier said then done, for sure and it needs some good communication channels between Nu community and these people. So you might end up paying them a base salary for a couple of hours a week to keep up and post in the forums (can be made a KPI) and ad hoc payments for work on top of that as described above. We might even set hourly or fixed price rates in advance instead of negotiating every event in detail. Just some ideas.
Thanks for your replies!
Thanks for pointing me to that audio file. I like to keep this to the facts. Saying that bitUSD and NuBits are not competitors is based on a couple of observations from the BitShares team during that interview which we do not necessarily agree on. Besides the NuNet is still under development and changes are underway as we recognise that there are some flaws and risks in the model which need improvements. The how and when is still to be determined though.
I think a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of both could benefit the NuNet and possibly bitUSD. I agree that some level of moderation might be required to keep the emotions at home and discuss based on facts. Just ignoring any discussion is not healthy in my opinion.
Conclusion is that I still like to see a thread exploring design and economical differences as @tomjoad is proposing.
Thanks all for the answers!
I am still working on that bounty custodial. I figured that before funds we need an adequate infrastructure . Then I am actually looking at 4of5 multisig grant for managing the fund when the time comes, with multiple shareholders handling them.
Including a step where, more than a directory, we build merchant tools.
I must insist about current, existing users in need.
On this point we could probably going on for long. While I agree that some exceptional cases exists, (customers doesn’t even know they would need an iPhone prior to its release,) in the great majority of cases, successful ventures starts from exploiting what is a urgent need of a few visionaries. If the vision of visionaries was right, 5 years later everybody will become their user.
Its not about asking to people what they needs are (“faster horses” - Ford ), but having the right intuition about it before someone else does. In the innovators dilemma definition of disruptive innovation, angry birds doesn’t fit . Roxio had to release several failure-gamess before angry birds started making more money than Nokia.
However, in the case of NuBits, there is no need to find hidden or dormant needs, at least before we experimented all the non-hidden needs! I agree that we might not even know what we are looking at, and maybe somewhere in the pockets of the world a group of people that will particularly benefits from NBT exists. But before digging that deep, I would first try to exploit existing needs, aka, any application of a stable crypto currency to todays need.
Members of the nu network should prepare for potential questions, concerns, and arguments that will inevitably arise from marketing NuBits. I recommend compiling a list of the strongest forms of each argument, and then attempting to argue against them. There will be technical concerns (such as proof of stake vs proof of work, theoretical vulnerabilities) as well as philosophical concerns (such as fairness of distribution, pegging to USD). We could create threads to discuss each major issue.
If we can successfully convince others to join the nu network, we'll have more aggregate wealth to fund beneficial projects. Nu shareholders can fund the creation of NuBit based services in order to encourage adoption. It would be useful to rank potential services and projects in terms of cost effectiveness (creation cost relative to projected value). Ultimately we want NuBits to be easy to buy and convenient to use.
Strategic NuBit tipping could be an excellent, cost effective marketing technique. Having NuBits circulating around popular websites could yield tremendous returns. The nu network could fund trusted community members who are well suited to promote and defend NuBits. Ideal recipients, locations, and amounts for tips could be established. If successful, less trusted members could be hired by the nu network to spread tips according to certain guidelines. Autonomous programs could track performance, and attempt to verify that tips are legitimate. The nu network could also host AMAs where $X in NuBits are rewarded to the best comments.
If the nu network is ultimately successful, it could fund the creation of decentralized markets, banks, games, social networks, wage and remittance services. It could hire lobbyists in order to influence monetary policy and create a favorable regulatory environment.
As btc/usd is falling, it is a very good time to promote nubits as a stable currency, as a safe haven, and as a speculation tool. With good liquidity.
Can we run a banner at bitcoinwisdom and reddit saying something like “Quit worrying about falling coin prices. Buy Nubits.” (ok. If you think that is not funny or impressive, put your one liner here. )
That’s a great idea and the perfect time for such a banner!
I like the slogan as it is.
May be something like this ?
There is a very little knowledge about crypto-currency in the Arabic societies (Almost none) , i wonder would it be better to ignore the matter at all and just marketing NuBits as a sole innovation with its own advantages?
Or should i work on marketing NuBits to the small Arabic BitCoin traders and fan until there is enough infrastructure for NuBits to perform as an alternative banking system?
Or should i do all the work of marketing the crypto-currencies form the ground up and raising the awareness of the whole ecosystem?
@tomjoad, what do you think, and should i copy the official NuBits account tweets in this case?
Edit: the first retweet, Arabic innovation lab, i couldn’t miss the chance
Good questions you ask, no simple answer, but I would say, tailor your message on the groups you want to communicate with or your target in marketing speak.
The general public you would need to educate from the ground up, the Bitcoin community only needs to understand the volatility they suffering from and why they are not a great currency (but possibly a reasonable commodity).
Technical people and traders would usually be more interested to hear about the opportunities NuBits provide.
I think it is hard to single out one group and only focus on them, taking opportunities as they eventuate as you did with your tweet is not a bad way to start with.
Maybe Tomjoad can further add to this.
Our marketing strategy should be targeted towards early adopters of cryptocurrencies right now, including Bitcoin. That may be a very limited group in certain parts of the world, but they will still be much more receptive to us than a mass audience. @Cybnate summarizes those points well.
I would certainly encourage duplicating tweets from our official account. I’m pretty careful about what goes on there, so there shouldn’t be any concern about something offensive being inadvertently tweeted. I appreciate that you’re willing to engage an audience that most of our community is unable to due to language and cultural barriers.
I loving this thread, and seeing all the hard work thats being discuss here.
Nice to have you here. Stage 2 activity planning will commence shortly, I’ve been pulled off in a couple other directions the past week or two.
Thanks, looking forward to stage 2. I’ve some studying to do, but, I’m so looking forward to learning more about Nu and how it can work. Once I do this I can be more active in the community…
I have 3 votes with all my nushares, just let me know when and were I need to direct them in order to help with Stage 2…
You rock Tom!