As a staker and investor in ADA, not a technical expert, I thought to generate some useful feedback to Charles Hoskinson, on his latest AMA 24/02/2020 - Charles Hoskinson Cardano Update - 24/02/2020.
1)* Shelley on Heskell, Testnet .
a) Will there be an ITN 2.0? I sincerely hope so, because it will be the last opportunity to flush-out the impact of the ITN 1.0 on the growing interest in Cardano development from two perspectives:
i) Extensive market awareness of the real financial benefits of participating in Pool Operations and Staking. Also the promotion of the introduction of totally new technologies in the crypto-ecosystem
ii) When Shelley Testnet starts, the pending Bitcoin halving hype will be on overdrive. This could have the perverse effect of drawing some of the Pool Operators who did not achieve much financial gain from ITN 1.0 to move their money and effort towards the Bitcoin mining quick gains. So, without an Incentivised Testnet, the result could be a much lower level of participation in the Shelley Testnet, in particular, by Pool Operators as well as Stakers, who have found it practically problematic to frequently have to move between pools to maximise their expected profits, unrealistic or not. I would therefore argue for the continuation of the Incentivized Testnet approach, to counter the coincidental powerful impact of the Bitcoin halving on the market at that time. It’s just a market reality that could distort perceptions and modelling on the adoption of Cardano eco-system due to this coincidental event.
b) Will a fully implemented Pool Operator management solution to avoid centralisation via multiple pools be included? While this was not implemented in ITN 1.0, I believe it would be significantly important for Pool Operators, but even more so, particularly for Stakers, who will need to build confidence that they are getting the best possible returns from their staking as a result of the system being able to prevent Sybil attacks. While the ITN 2.0 need not be for a long time, e.g. a month, being able to demonstrably prevent against 51% concentration control during the ITN 2.0 will win market recognition and strengthen Cardano’s global crypto-ecosystem stamp of authority.
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- Implementation of Goguen for Smart Contracts
What about the other independent (“small fry”) or innovation start-ups? While it is vitally important for mass adoption strategy to focus on the large Corporates and high profile solutions,….I totally support that,… I also believe, that there needs to be a clear strategy for incentivising the start-ups who may end up creating the killer apps that would put Cardano on the World stage, e.g. Facebook, Amazon, Google; who would have thought when they first started. I would recommend that Emurgo should offer, regular product pitching opportunities for Start-ups via live feeds, so that people are not restricted by geographical location. After all this is about a global reach eco-system with as much opportunity given to all. This approach would allow the Cardano Foundation, IOHK and Emurgo to then evaluate and assist funding of MVP solutions that would others never see the light of day. This should include, where necessary, funded travel to meet and co-locate for short periods with the Cardano and/or Emurgo teams during the development period.
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Cardano Developers Conference s? - There should be a strategy to incentivize the rapid expansion of the developer community by organising a regular Cardano Developers Conference with awards, including financial, for the most impacting market solutions developed on the Cardano platform since the previous conference.
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Don’t forget those who have been involved in the ITN (“A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush”) – As part of your aggressive marketing strategy, it would be a huge oversight, to unintentionally, abandon all the active and motivated participants in ITN (I assume Ambassadors are already taken care of). These have been your true market validators of all your theories and papers that have been implemented to-date. You should not allow them to disappear into oblivion once Shelley, Goguen, etc. have all gone main-net. Sure, they have benefited from the Rewards from the ITN. But, why discard them, when they are the most authoritative, in the marketplace globally, about how the Cardano ecosystem actually works. You should have a strategy on how to manage and engage them in your marketing strategy. They may be able to write, with some authority, on their practical experience or testimonials with Cardano ecosystem in Social Media and websites. It is what promotes mass adoption as users become the advocates. What will they get in return as part of your strategy?..any ideas from Apple, Facebook, etc. that could motivate your advocates/promoters.
Hope to get some additional feedback for Charles Hoskinson from other community members