##Proposal##
Host an open, public, written debate between advocates of Bitcoin and advocates of the Nu Network.
A highly visible debate is one of the best ways to effectively engage the Bitcoin community. It provides us with a fantastic opportunity to explain the benefits of Nu over Bitcoin, and to promote Nu to a wider audience.
##Recommendations##
- Anticipate potential arguments in favor of Bitcoin so that we can prepare in advance.
- Write an opening statement and post it on the NuBits website as well as popular public forums.
- Post the best arguments from the Bitcoin community, and then respond to those arguments to the best of our ability.
In this thread, I’d like to discuss arguments we may encounter as well as whether or not hosting a debate is a good idea at this time. Some arguments will be more technical in nature (grounded in computer science, math, or economics) while others will be more philosophical (issues of fairness and other ethical considerations). To get us started, I’ll list some topics to consider.
Proof of Stake Versus Proof of Work##
Security implications: Relative strength of network, cost of security, benefits of aligned motivations, theoretical attacks and vulnerabilities, degree of centralization.
Relative cost: Financial, Environmental. Cost per transaction, theoretical transactions per second, confirmation speed.
Ethics: Fairness of distribution. Several people seem to believe that proof of stake is less fair; “The rich get richer” is a common response. Of course, proof of work isn’t really different in this regard, but most people are unaware of the reasons why.
##Economic considerations##
Separation of transactional cryptocurrency from speculative investment versus having one currency for both.
Peg to USD for relative stability versus not having a peg. As we all know, many Bitcoin advocates are not too keen on USD. We should be prepared to discuss the benefits of being able to created pegged cryptocurrencies as well as how we would handle the collapse of a fiat currency. Should be prepared to discuss the cost to maintain the peg: Liquidity providers, custodians, and trust. Discuss potential transition to private liquidity providers to reduce costs to shareholders.
Concerns with fractional reserve. If the nushare market cap is ultimately much larger than the NuBit market cap, it could alleviate some of these concerns.
Ponzi Scheme concerns. One common response to the Nu system is that it is a ponzi scheme. We should be prepared to explain why it is not a ponzi scheme.
Inflation concerns. Explain potential advantages of low to moderate inflation in a transaction currency.
The utility of debt. Stability, perhaps with some inflation, is generally considered to be ideal for lending.
##Benefits of the voting system##
Able to account for positive externalities. Can fund development of beneficial projects and services.
##Technical limitations##
Relative blockchain size, transactions per second that could be processed if widely adopted, and whether it is better to have optimized centralized services for micro transactions.
Despite being temporary, checkpoints and being closed source may be a point of contention.
##Network Effects##
Whether or not the current value of bitcoin’s network effects are greater than the potential benefits of the nu network. Could discuss the ease of transitioning useful bitcoin services to NuBits (coinbase, bitpay, exchanges, etc).