The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The push to get rid of the reward pool seems to be growing stronger every day, and I am thoroughly annoyed. Correct me if I'm wrong, but spearheading this movement seems to be @therealwolf, the one witness who I've had the least respect for over these last few years.
Why's that?
Well, it seems that everything he does caters to the elite here. His resume involves creating bid bots and catering to the other witness elite. Literally everything he does seems to be centered around either personal enrichment or the enrichment of the top 20 witnesses, forever solidifying his position of power.
To be fair, there are plenty of people like that around these parts, and perhaps I'm singling him out simply because he stands out and is good at his job. If I had a chance to boot him off this network, I wouldn't, because I think the value that he brings to this place is undeniable. I'm simply not a fan of the tactics or mentality he employs.
I've stayed off of Twitter for months now, and what do I see when I do a small checkup?
Uh huh, okay...
What if I told you that block producer rewards were an experiment that have run their course and witnesses need to step up and run this network without getting paid inflation? Don't worry, it's cool, we can pay with with some side-chain shit token that nobody wants! Better yet, do it for free because the stake you hold in the network should make it worth it.
But it doesn't end there.
Wow that's adorable.
You mean like what you are literally doing right now in the same sentence?
How ironic.
I do not appreciate these micro-terrorist fear-tactics.
Do what I say or we well be left out in the cold during the 2021 bull run.
Are you fucking serious right now?
Do people here have the short-term memory of a goldfish? We went x10 four months ago while the rest of the market stood still. We are showing time and time again that we have become untethered to Bitcoin and the market at large. This is a good thing, not a bad one. Yet that doesn't seem to stop people from freaking the fuck out whenever the rest of the market goes up and we stay flat. Get over it already.
To make the claim that we would somehow not run up with Bitcoin and the rest of the market as constant all-time-highs are being made is ridiculous. To make the claim that the reward pool being responsible for that is even more nonsensical.
As I have explained time and time again, the reward pool combined with HBD mechanics make this network extremely MORE volatile. Meaning there will be higher highs and lower lows. To change the system right before we are about to get those higher highs? How about no?
Again, as I have explained time and time again, these people who want to remove the reward pool don't even know what they are talking about. Why remove the reward pool? Because inflation is bad and we want a higher token price so we can make more money. The problem with that logic is that we'd actually be accomplishing the opposite. Removing the reward pool will cause all investors to actually lose money.
Who does the reward pool leech value from?
Again, inflation leeches value from the people who do not control it. In the context of Hive this means that inflation takes value away from those who are holding liquid coins. Are these the people complaining about the reward pool? No.
Here's what's actually going to happen:
If we get rid of the reward pool it's not going to do what the investors here think it's going to do. They will end up losing money, and they're going to notice that loss. In all likelihood, the reward pool would be reimplemented.
The unintended consequence of all this is that it makes us look like flip-flopping toolbags who can't just pick a lane and stay in it. The reason Bitcoin is so valuable is that everyone in the network knows that the inflation schedule is never going to be messed with. There's a certain stability there that is unrivaled by the entire cryptosphere.
I'll be the first to admit that 3 years ago I said that Bitcoin was already old news and doomed to be overshadowed by all the other projects. Now it's painfully obvious that nothing could be further from the truth. We can't even begin to talk about dethroning Bitcoin until crypto is fully mainstream. By that time we should all be millionaires anyway so who cares?
Analogy
Removing the reward pool from Hive to "increase value" is like a child that pours a glass of water into the ocean thinking it's going to raise the tide. We need to stop messing with the existing system and focus more on building for the network we already have. Stop nitpicking over these drops in the bucket.
EIP
I was vehemently against the EIP Hardfork.
- Convergent Linear Curve
- Separate Auxiliary Downvote Pool
- 50/50 Curation
Think about it.
All the people who are talking about eliminating the reward pool entirely... they all supported the EIP. Now they must admit that supporting the EIP was foolish. Clearly, they have no idea what they are doing. Why listen to what they have to say now regarding our economy?
Solution
I don't like to complain about problems. I want to offer solutions. If I had unilateral control of this network I'd certainly make a few changes.
-
Remove curation entirely, or better yet make it 100% optional and customizable under the control of content creators. Curation is dependent on front-end interpretations and should have nothing to do with the backend. Get rid of interest rates for stake holders and allocate a huge amount of inflation to the bank accounts. I'm thinking something like:
10% for witnesses 40% for the bank accounts (passive income) 50% for stake-holders -
Remove the convergent curve. It attacks low stake-holders and the abuse that it prevents is inconsequential.
-
Keep the auxiliary downvote pool. It's proven to be an asset.
@therealwolf doesn't understand interest rates.
I'm randomly reminded of this little gem on Twitter. @therealwolf doesn't even seem to realize that there is a multiplier when it comes to our interest rates. Our total coins become divided by the coins that provide inflation and then multiplied to said allocation.
Did I get any kind of acknowledgment back or understanding of the issue? No. Is this acceptable from a top 20 witness? To not even realize how the network works and then make threatening suggestions as to how we should change it? Seriously, I'm over it. Stop listening to this guy.
Why does the reward pool make no sense?
I don't want to be totally one-sided here, so let me explain the other side of the issue. Does it really make sense for Hive, a platform of platforms, to allocate inflation using a custom smart contract (posts/comments)? If we are a platform for many other platforms as we claim, then no, it doesn't really make a lot of sense to force the other platforms to use a custom comment contract and RCs to allocate inflation in this way.
That doesn't mean we should take away the powers of inflation from the entire network and only allow top 20 witnesses take the lion's share of inflation. Seriously though, so shady for a top 20 witness to be pushing this idea so hard with that kind of history.
As I've stated, allocating a lot of inflation to the bank accounts largely fixes this problem. Everyone who simply wants to "upvote themselves" will move their money to the bank accounts, thereby only locking their funds for 3 days instead of 13 weeks. It's a nice solution. As a side note we'd have to give RCs to those who hold money in the bank accounts as well so they can transact on the network and build their platforms without having to power up.
Conclusion
Now is not a great time to be ruffling feathers, but I feel forced into it. Truth be told, I only wrote this one because @theycallmedan floated the idea recently on his own vlog. That signaled to me that I need to step up and fight against this disaster of an idea a little bit harder.
Unfortunately, when we take a look at MY_RESUME here what do we find? Not much, if anything. Why should anyone listen to what I have to say? The only response I can give to that question is to ask that everyone employ their own critical thinking skills when it comes to this situation and come to their own conclusions.
When it really comes down to it, petty squabbles like this do not matter. When the EIP went into place, I was disappointed, but I will always stand by this network no matter what decisions become reality. Truly, it doesn't matter what the network decides to do; I'm here for it and I'll be trying to build value no matter what happens.
Would I like to see this project head in another direction? Yes, but if that doesn't happen I certainly won't table-flip and abandon my favorite network. We've got a long way to go, I've picked fights with the biggest downvoters on this platform and everything was just fine. I'm grizzled, and I'm not going anywhere. That being said, I've also got to say my peace from time to time.
