Competition to the bitcoin is inevitable as the software is opensource and the lure to repeat its success is strong. It is likely that some other virtual currency will take hold someday, however, that currency will have to over a stronger value proposition than the current leader, the bitcoin. Otherwise, I am afraid copycats will fall to the side as noise. Will the EarthCoin be more than just noise?
EarthCoin began as a collaboration between a young media / advertising executive, a detailed, experienced cryptocurrency developer, and a fund manager turned Bitcoin millionaire – and has now turned into a grass roots revolution.
Norb says, “Frankly it took over my life for a bit there as I have an ‘all or nothing’ approach to most things, and this rabbit hole just never ends.”
The dev team has struck a chord with the crypto-community in their design and brand appeal – The People’s Currency. As well, their EarthCoin Foundation has provided real paper money assistance to many causes with the coin only being three weeks old.
Wesley lauds the community and says:
“without the collective group effort there is no way this idea would have come to life. One small group of people could never achieve sustainability and adoption of a global trade vehicle. The technology itself is self-fulfilling, there is no way to drive value unless indirect force is applied through collective effort. It is simply amazing and we are humbled to have had this profound of an impact in such a short period of time. To tell you the truth we have not even started with our two year plan of adoption.”
EarthCoin’s appeal clearly comes from its marketing savvy, visual eye candy and broad identity.
“There are features that we have integrated that try to mimic seasonality and human characteristics of behavior and productivity through out the year. It is no secret that we are creatures of habit and so we wanted to link the currency as closely as possible to those inherent instincts. To be variable but also cyclical.”, says Wesley.
John integrated sixty second block intervals with 5 confirmations to cut down transaction times drastically, as well as instituted a 13.5 billion coin supply which after the first year should create one coin per person on the planet.
Transaction messages are allowed in the client but the mathematics behind the rate of creation of the money supply provides the twist. Cryptocurrencies are self-sustaining through their free market mechanism, as long as the incentive exists to allow the miners to reap the rewards to be able to cover their overhead and costs. With EarthCoin this is solved on two fronts – one of which is the cyclical nature of the seasons – representing changes in productivity along a sine curve – and the other is through 2x and 5x payouts for the miners.
It sounds like a lot to handle but the dev team is confident that the psychology behind the metrics has its merits.
This is evidenced by the creative content that has been provided by the community. Already, Facebook, Reddit, and IRC communications lines have been established as well as a very busy EarthCointalk.org forum and its earthcoin.eu news feed counterpart, which are both maintained and managed spectacularly.
