In the long run it's not going to matter whether some exchange lists Bitmark or not. Coinsolidation is committed to developing Bitmark long term at this point so it shouldn't have any effect on what happens over the next year at least.

I'm pretty ambivalent about the whole exchange situation. On one hand we want to stick to the general mantra of 'no hype, let the project speak for itself' and let things happen naturally. On the other hand I can sympathise with people who want to offset some of their mining costs.

The important thing to to keep in mind is that we're all thinking long term here. So whatever happens now in the short term really should have any lasting effect on Bitmark.

I think too much emphasis has been put on linking the price of Bitmark to it being listed on an exchange. The price really doesn't matter this early. It will reflect how people value the coin. So lets make Bitmark have true value and the price on any exchange will reflect that.

The point i was making earlier about exchanges, is that they are a necessary component of a healthy crypto community. People need the ability to move in and out of bitmark with ease. Also, exchanges provide a lot of exposure for a coin. Bitmark is still very young and most people don't have a clue what it is. Seeing it on an exchange they trade at on a regular basis will pique the interest of a lot of people.

Ultimately Este, your point crystalises everything said so far - BTM will go on an exchange in 10, 100, 200 days whatever - it is the commitment of consolidation and the community to BTM's long term goals that really matter.

 

How do you guys expect new people to get involved with bitmark if they can't even get coins? Not everybody is a miner. I had to rent my hash power because I don't have scrypt hardware and I know I'm not the only one. So how do people like me who are interested in bitmark acquire coin without an exchange?

This is why exchanges are important, The actual price is irrelevant. People need a place to get Bitmark, and yes that means they need a place to sell it too.

Comparing us to bitcoin in the early stages is like apple to oranges. Bitcoin wasn't listed on any exchange because they didn't exist yet! There are dozens of them now.

I read it and addressed it clearly. We are not Bitcoin. Comparing us to bitcoin in its infancy is naive.

Bitcoin was a revolution and the first real solution for a decentralized p2p system. People were jumping to be a part of it. Not the case here. Bitmark is one of many coins in an already established crypto field. Exposure is important to help seperate us from other alt coins. Exposure also brings more people in who have something to contribute. Otherwise people ignore Bitmark and it falls by the wayside.

Bitmark will end up on an exchange one way or another. The sooner it happens the easier people can get involved.

Valid points but

a) what is the average time from any coin launch to an exchange?
b) during the period in a) above, how do people normally 'get involved'?
c) early adoption is always by mining?
d) the power costs together with the loss of exchangeable coin mining = the current perceived 'value' of BTM (short or long term) to miners
e) buying hashing power to mine is surely no different to buying a coin on an exchange - the 'price' of the mined coins being set by cost of mining against the coin rewards?

Of course, e) is different but in the period between launch and first exchange listing, is this not the only way?

Ultimately, no one controls the 'community' - they will either vote at exchanges for the coin to be added or they won't...

I would say average time to an exchange does not matter too much, as long as it happens. Many coins are listed at launch. Some at a later date. The way people get involved with bitmark before an exchange is the same way they get involved after an exchange. They see the coin and they like or they don't. The exchange just makes the coin more visible and simplifies the process of acquiring them.

Mining is all well and good but its inferior to straight up buying coins on an exchange. No running costs, down time, or hardware price drops. If i was going to mine I would rather contribute to the IPM instead of buying scrypt hardware.

This has turned into a situation where everybody thinks I'm pushing hard for an exchange. Its not really that important as of today, day 4 of Bitmark. But if we expect the community to grow it has to happen eventually. I think listing the coin on an exchange is free publicity, something that bitmark could use.

This I would agree with. I think people are getting it mixed up that I care about the price of bitmark becuase I want it on an exchange.

My point has always been that bitmark benefits from an exchange simply based on the exposure that creates. Nobody knows about bitmark right now, but an exchange could change that. The price does not matter. We, the community, will set the price based on what the perceived value of the coin is. Like i said, an exchange is just free publicity.

I see the longer term implications of your views and do not disagree - and you are right; day 4 is rather early to be concerned about exchanges!

Your point regarding the IPM is right - I should have mentioned that and my item e) was more about hiring than buying scrypt hashing capability - so the IPM when available would be a good route in the absence of exchange or hardware.

We must be tolerant of each other and balance our needs.

Most are in agreement that they are in no rush to list Bitmark on an exchange, and if it is listed they are not particularly interested in selling.

Most were also in agreement that there was no rush to have a mining pool yet we had one on launch and most of you used it.

It is wise to recognise that when Bitcoin launched there were no exchanges and no pools, and there was little demand, cryptographic currency was new. Bitmark does not belong to that time, it belongs to this time.

With that in mind, we can establish that exchanges exist, and that we will find ourselves on an exchange whether we like it or not, people will speculate, some will buy and some will sell BTM.

Some will see these as negative things, but they are to be expected and cannot be stopped.

We can offset this with the fact that exchanges make Bitmark more visible and simplify the process of acquiring it. It will also encourage more participation from a larger community.

Let us also consider that if Bitmark is not seen as being actively engaging the outward community, they will presume a group of people have slowly pre-mined a large amount of Bitmarks before exposing it properly. That would damage our efforts, and we need to be fair to those who are not with us yet.

I mentioned earlier that people are mining with their own hardware and worry about covering their costs, and others are hiring mining rigs because there is no exchange. The two parties could help each other by investors helping to cover the costs of mining then splitting the BTM between them fairly.

If you are already mining in some way then you must accept that you are speculating and hope to acquire some Bitmarks with the expectation their value will rise, you must be inclusive to others who wish to do the same, that is fair.

Mining pools will join, exchanges will join, people with short and long term interests will join.

Let us together identify which are fair reasonable pools and exchanges, for they will be part of our public face.

The sooner we do this, the sooner we can turn our conversations back to our work.