Swapzone takes a closer look at Ravencoin, a digital peer-to-peer network designed to transfer digital value from one person to another, constantly creating new use cases & improving the code with no treasury or funding.
Swapzone was joined by Tron Black, the project’s lead developer, one of the most vocal Ravencoin’s advocates & a stickler for freedom.
This project is an open-source free-for-all. It sounds messy, and it can be. But the strength of the project comes from the Ravencoin community. Jump in and add to the project.
And we’re proud to support the project on Swapzone.
1 Many believe 2021 will create an entirely new wave for Ravencoin in terms of mass adoption. What, in your opinion, might spur it and when & should we expect to see some ground-breaking releases that might give Ravencoin even a bigger boost?
While Ravencoin is its own project with its own features and capabilities, it is still buffeted by the tides of the crypto market as a whole. 2021 is shaping up to be a great year for crypto-currencies and for Ravencoin.
I don’t focus on the price, but when it goes up as rapidly as it did earlier this year, it brings in new people. Not everyone is aware of Ravencoin’s storied history. If you’re not, you should check out this timeline, and maybe a few select blog posts.
There are so many areas of Ravencoin that are growing, that I can hardly keep up. New projects, wallets, explorers, virtual environments, use-cases. Ravencoin is a permissionless ecosystem, so I often find out about things, like pRVN as an example after they’re already live. There’s no one place to find it all, but the Ravencoin Foundation website footer is a good place to start.
2 Would you say creating the Ravencoin Foundation was a way to drive Ravencoin’s mass adoption to some extent? Especially since it provides a legal entity, which might be opening up certain opportunities that were out of reach before.
The Ravencoin Foundationis not Ravencoin. Ravencoin is open source code. The foundation was created to transfer some Ravencoin related things out of Medici Ventures. There are exchanges that expect an entity to exist so they have contact info.
The Ravencoin Foundation can go two ways — increasing centralization (bad) or decentralizing everything (good). The goal is to decentralize everything that can be decentralized.
3 In one of the interviews, Aaron Day said he sometimes feels the need to step back when talking about Ravencoin with people that might have solely a vague idea of what the project is about since he feels too attached. Is it the same for you?
Yes. Especially now. There are Ravenites that have been involved in the project from day 1 and know its rich history. And then there are new people that come in and see it as just another token.
There’s no way to communicate Ravencoin’s rich history in just a few hours.
The new entrants just want to know whether ‘price go up’ and where to buy. I don’t know about the price, and I wish I had time (or they had time) to fully understand Ravencoin and what it can do. This is especially hard when I have a 30-minute talk and the audience is comprised of early Ravenites and folks just learning about Ravencoin. It’s hard to tailor the talk without boring the first group, or confusing the new folks that don’t have the background.
4 Many projects have an entire marketing team to raise awareness & engage. For Ravencoin, it is & has always been the community that does all the marketing by simply spreading the word. Was that the team’s initial plan or did you decide to just go with the flow?
Ravencoin was developed at Medici Ventures. There was no marketing budget. There was a dev team. I guess you could say it was a by-product of the way Ravencoin was conceived and built. As a happy coincidence, this makes for a better cryptocurrency. Decentralization is a strength.
5 Members of the Ravencoin community are now actively forming SIGs to contribute to the development (i.e. the Electrum-raven & raven-qt SIGs). Is there a procedure in place to sift through contributors’ ideas & adding them to the project’s roadmap?
There isn’t a procedure in place. Anyone can do this. Even you — yes, you that’s reading this answer. There are only a few things that are formalized in order to protect the core consensus code. This project is an open-source free-for-all. It sounds messy, and it can be. The Ravencoin Foundation is there as a resource, but not a boss or authority. The strength of the project comes from the Ravencoin community. Jump in and add to the project. Make your own SIG.
6 A new SIG is to be formed soon to work on a new mobile wallet. Could you elaborate on the goals the team aspires to achieve & points they wish to cover with this brand-new wallet?
I’m still trying to get more information on this. I think it is a great idea for a number of reasons. First, the RVN Wallet is SPV, which is great in that it only interacts with the Ravencoin network, but doesn’t require a central server. It is slow to sync. Other wallets that support assets, like ZelCore, and Mango Farm are great but not freely available MIT licensed open source. I’d like to see an open-source asset-aware wallet with these features:
- Based on blue wallet source.
- BIP44 compatible.
- MIT licensed open-source.
- Skinnable.
- Capable of sweeping assets.
- Supports RVN (of course).
- API-based (instant).
- Filter for assets.
- Whitelabel capable (profit opportunity).
- Free.
I think this opens up opportunities for anyone to make their own gift card app, points, allowance, tickets, etc. Whoever makes this can charge for custom versions with logo/colors/asset-limit/etc. I think there would be a high demand for an app like this that is asset-specific.
7 Now, moving on to the one and only Braveland — an educational & business space built specifically for Ravencoin. Who came up with the idea & was the initial concept different from what we see now? Could you ever imagine that the Campus will gain such momentum?
All the credit goes to Joshua (BlockchainTiger). It was his idea, his vision, and his support that made it happen. Braveland (Ravencoin Campus) arrived at a time when our world is being pulled forward into the virtual space in a greatly accelerated time frame. The Ravencoin Campus was donated to the Ravencoin Foundation and is being supported by Joshua (BlockchainTiger). There are also volunteers that help Ravencoin-based projects get a presence in the Expo Hall, and public events on the master calendar.
Email events@ravencoincampus.org if you are building on/with/for Ravencoin and would like access to Team Suites (virtual offices), would like to show your project 24x7x365 in the virtual Expo Hall, or would like to hold a public event in one of the 700 seat auditoriums.
8 What does the future hold for Braveland & what else can it be used for besides meetups & auctions? Can we go beyond crypto and let, for example, language teachers have online classes in Braveland like they do in Minecraft?
One thing I’m trying to get set up in there is the ability to add your Ravencoin address to your profile. Then to click on any user and hit [Tip/Pay] and have the Ravencoin QR code and address show up. Ravencoin is great for peer-to-peer payments, and a perfect fit with all VR.
Right now Ravencoin Campus is for Ravencoin associated projects of all types. The advantage is that everyone in there has a common interest. This leads to more chance meetings and promotes a Ravencoin-centric 24x7x365 conference atmosphere. The virtual space is created by Virbela so anyone could talk to them about a different space for online classes.
9 Designed for asset tokenization, Ravencoin remains a rock-solid tool for tokenizing stocks. What do you do to take your outreach to the next level, having recently welcomed Tinaga Island Resort, The Millennium Sapphire & Lotus Energy? Why is ST-adoption so crucial?
You’re right. Ravencoin is an excellent platform for tokenizing stocks, bonds, etc. In fact, it has some special features (tags, and Restricted Assets) that make it easier to stay compliant in the strictest of jurisdictions. Issuers can limit the transfer of their security to only addresses that they’ve tagged. That can help make sure the addresses are properly KYCed, and if necessary, also accredited.
10 Ravencoin is undoubtedly well suited for issuing NFTs & was there before it became mainstream, letting the community create NFTs, manage & auction them. Have you ever thought about creating your own Ravencoin marketplace as well?
The protocol can even freeze trading of Restricted Assets until the issuer allows trading. These are SEC rules, that hopefully get fixed before the US loses out to other jurisdictions in what is going to be the future of capital formation, and fund-raising. Until then, the tools exist for issuers of STOs on Ravencoin. Note: Only Restricted Assets (that start with $) have these uncrypto-like restrictions.
I think about lots of things I’d like to see built. I am in the process of building some open-source scripts that can do sales or auction of NFTs. These would be freely available to anyone who wants to make their own. Ravencoin is great for NFTs.
I have no desire to run a marketplace. I’d rather help provide some free tools, free advice, and a free and permissionless platform, so anyone else can run a global marketplace with nearly frictionless payment rails.
11 Corporate interest has become the driving force of success for many crypto projects. What’s your outlook on institutional investors joining in & do you happen to know if corporate giants are considering Ravencoin as their go-to platform for tokenizing projects?
I know of a few that have already been mentioned. I know the Ravencoin platform doesn’t have some of the GAS fee problems that are plaguing some existing projects. Only recently was AlphaPoint made Ravencoin-asset aware, which opens up lots of opportunities. Projects that want to tokenize can contact the Ravencoin Foundation, but they don’t have to. There are zero requirements to ask anyone for permission to build on/with/for Ravencoin. That is its strength.
12 For months, the community’s been talking about listing Ravencoin on prominent exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken. What could these listings bring to the project?
Exposure. Ravencoin is a top-100 project, which is great, but there are people that only have a Coinbase account, and don’t get out much to see what other options are available. They’ll see Ravencoin only when it reaches Coinbase. Ravencoin doesn’t have a marketing department.
Because of the way it was developed, launched, and never an ICO, Ravencoin is a perfect candidate for listing on Coinbase and Kraken. Coinbase needs Rosetta API, and there is a SIG working on it now.
13 So the only thing that seems to be missing for Coinbase’s listing is Rosetta integration. How long might it take to finish it & have any milestones been achieved? Is there anything in store for the project besides possibly pushing the Coinbase listing through?
It is being worked on. Thank you to Ben, and all the volunteers in the various SIGs.
14 What, in your opinion, might lure the people in power into the crypto world and make them consider lifting currently existing bans and stop them from imposing new ones? Was Ravencoin in any way impacted by any of the regulations?
Ravencoin was launched the way it was because of the regulations. No ICO, no pre-mine, no token issuance. I credit Bruce Fenton’s foresight when ICOs looked like the way to go. The Restricted Asset and tag features exist as tools to help security-token issuers.
Imagine you have the power to print money and use it first (Cantillon effect) to buy votes, curry favor, and gain influence. Cryptocurrency blunts this effect, and is a lifeboat, for savers. Borrowers benefit from money printing as they pay back loans with devalued money. Those in power are unlikely to give up their money-printing superpower. But some of them will be savers and benefit from crypto-currency. We just need more of them. Technology tends to win in the long run.
15 A question from the audience — if you were to explain how Ravencoin assets can be used to make a profit & how it empowers individual finance to people who know nothing about finance, what would you say?
Ravencoin assets themselves don’t “make a profit.” Ravencoin assets are tokens that you create and own, are counterfeit-proof, transferable tokens operating on a global ledger. You give them value. Perhaps a token represents an hour of your time or a gift card for lemonade… Or, thinking larger, a share of stock, a bond (loan), fractional ownership of valuable art, or wine (still fermenting in barrels). Most of these get more valuable over time, at least when measured in an inflating currency.
I would recommend some books to the audience:
- Mastering Bitcoin by Andreas Antonopoulos
- Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous
- Crypto Assets by Chris Burniske and Jack Tatar
16 Matters of sustainability are now one of the hot topics within the crypto space, with projects striving to be eco-friendly & incentivizing environmental activity. Where does Ravencoin stand right now & does it have any plans in this field?
Ravencoin is a proof-of-work network. There’s a reason. It is used by Bitcoin, and it is the best way to fairly distribute coins. Once most of the tokens are distributed, it is possible to switch to proof-of-stake. Let’s watch how Ethereum does as it transitions.
I am not anti-proof-of-stake, but it is a rich-get-richer model. Proof-of-work is great for the initial distribution of most of the tokens. Anyone with a gaming computer can participate 19x7x365. The other 5 hours are for gaming ;)
17 Which real-world use cases would you name to convert the non-Ravencoin community into Ravencoin supporters?
Just some examples. Sorry to all the ones I didn’t mention.
- RVN (Binance, Swapzone, tZERO)
- Equity (Equa, Tinaga Island Resort)
- NFTs (Rick Demont, Mindelic Art)
- Fractional Ownership (The Millennium Sapphire, IPAssets)
- Immutable Data (RavencoinIPFS, Ravenland).
18 And to wrap it up. And if you were to describe the future of Ravencoin in three words, what words would you use?
Only 3 words to describe the future of Ravencoin? Freedom, Decentralized, KAAAWWW!
- Learn more about the project here.
- Instantly get $RVN at the best rate & with no registration here.
- Follow Tron & the project.
