Newsletter Issue #6 [Work in Progress - Comments Please]

General
1

Been incredibly busy – just started this a couple hours ago. I’ll be making changes every few minutes. In the meantime, If there’s anything you’d like me to change, add, remove, etc., please comment…

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[center][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Peercoin Weekly Newsletter - Issue 6[/size][/font][/center]
[center][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]December 12th[/size][/font][/center]

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Introduction[/size][/font][/left]

Thank you for joining our official weekly Peercoin newsletter. Capping off a big (and wild) week in cryptocurrencies, alt-coins gained wider recognition and a larger share of the spotlight with Peercoin leading the charge!

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Media Coverage Highlight: CNBC Interview with Sunny King[/size][/font][/left]

In “Don’t rule out a ban on virtual currencies: Peercoin,” Sunny King discusses cryptocurrency resilience in light of the People’s Bank of China’s policy view.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101251925

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Bitcoin Conferences: Vegas Baby![/size][/font][/left]

Led by Super3, a group of activists brought Peercoin to the Las Vegas Bitcoin conference. More on this next week!

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Merchant Spotlight: CrownCloud[/size][/font][/left]

We’re excited that CrownCloud has added Peercoin to their list of accepted payment options along with Bitcoin and Litecoin. CrownCloud is a premier provider of OpenVZ & KVM VPSes. Email them for Peercoin payment instructions!

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Charity Campaign[/size][/font][/left]

Aside from environmental stewardship, social responsbility is a cornerstone of the Peercoin community. Please take a moment to support our upcoming Peercoin charity drive led by Okerlo: http://www.peercointalk.org/index.php?topic=1152.msg9591#msg9591

“If more charities start adopting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin and Peercoin, the ultimate beneficiaries are the poor and the homeless.” Why charity matters and how cryptos can help: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/12/bitcoin-homeless-redux/

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Development Update: Peercoin v0.4 Status[/size][/font][/left]

“Sorry to keep you guys waiting; yes peercoin v0.4 has been in the works and once the merge with bitcoin v0.8 is reasonably stabilized I would push a v0.4 branch on the repo so interested developers can try it out. Hopefully in one or two weeks. Cold-locked transaction feature might be or might not be in v0.4, I haven’t decided yet. If not it would be in v0.5. Coin control wouldn’t be in v0.4, we’ll first see what bitcoin v0.9 does with it.” – Sunny King

Peercoin v0.4 status updates: http://www.peercointalk.org/index.php?topic=990.15

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Energy Efficiency Update[/size][/font][/left]

“Peercoin now running at a rate that is 250% more energy efficient than Bitcoin. Or, for every $1 of energy spent to secure the Bitcoin network, the Peercoin network does the same for $0.40. Keep it up! This will pay off in the long-run.” – Peercoin Community

This cuts to the heart of one of the primary differences between Peercoin and Bitcoin. Peercoin’s PoS allows for continuously low energy consumption even with dramatically rising market capitalization. In fact, the greater the rise in market capitalization the greater the difference in energy efficiency of Peercoin versus Bitcoin will become. As Peercoin sees its energy consumption per USD decrease, Bitcoin may see energy consumption per USD increase susbstantially – as will be the case if the Bitcoin network hash rate increases at a higher rate than that of market capitalization growth!

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Activism: Volunpeers[/size][/font][/left]

The Peercoin community believes there’s a place for anyone that wants to participate. Whether you are a developer, artist, writer, web designer or just someone that loves to spread the word, we would like to hear from you. Please take a few minutes to fill out this very short questionnaire below and tell us about yourself:

We welcome talent of all types and flavors. Make history and join the growing community of Peercoin volunpeers.

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Media Coverage Weekly Review[/size][/font][/left]

Bitcoin Examiner, “Peercoin: The Low Energy Bitcoin Beater” : http://bitcoinexaminer.org/peercoin-the-low-energy-bitcoin-beater-infographic/

ReadWrite, “Bitcoin Fever Has Spawned…” : http://readwrite.com/2013/12/03/the-bitcoin-alternative-field-guide#awesm=~opJTt4ybumG1io

Voice of Russia, “A Guide to Most Promising Cryptos” : http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_12_01/A-guide-to-the-most-promising-cryptocurrencies-6351/

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Social Media[/size][/font][/left]

Forum - http://www.peercointalk.org
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Peercoin
Twitter - https://twitter.com/peercoinPPC
Reddit - www.reddit.com/r/peercoin

[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Summary[/size][/font][/left]

Keep the spreading the cryptocurrency gospel, folks. We’ve significantly raised our media profile with Sunny’s CNBC interview and subsequent Peercoin references in major media outlets. We sincerely thank all of our volunpeers and activists for their valuable time and effort. The next few weeks will bring exciting developments. Our community is becoming noticeably more effective as our plans are becoming more solidified, organized, and streamlined.

In case you missed the previous editions:

Issue 5
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=350553.0

Issue 4
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=341509.0

Issue 3
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=333962.0

Issue 2
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=326659.0

Issue 1
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=321355.0

2

Great job!

Please change the volunpeer address to:

We recently switched it on the main website as well.

3

Please include Sunny’s latest update, or at least a link to it for people who haven’t seen it here.

4

Hello,

Last week the newletter pointed out how JaysJerky had started accepting Peercoin, you could mention that CrownCloud has also started accepting Peercoin. They provide Virtual Private Servers/Machines and Online Hosting. You can find more info here http://www.peercointalk.org/index.php?topic=1230.0

5

Please add previous newsletter editions in the summary:

In case you missed the previous editions:

Issue 5
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=350553.0

Issue 4
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=341509.0

Issue 3
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=333962.0

Issue 2
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=326659.0

Issue 1
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=321355.0

6

[quote=“monocle, post:1, topic:1131”][…]
[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Energy Efficiency Update[/size][/font][/left]

“Peercoin now running 150% more energy efficient than Bitcoin. Keep it up! This will pay off in the long-run.” – Peercoin Community
[…][/quote]

My math results in roughly 250% efficiency. It would be [size=12pt]+[/size]150% efficiency, but it is strange to put it that way.
…and 250% sounds even more impressive!

Or you put it, what I’d prefer, the other way round and say that Peercoin needs currently less than 40% of the energy (per Dollar) as Bitcoin needs to secure the network and will continue to decrease.

Just my 0.02…

7

[quote=“masterOfDisaster, post:6, topic:1131”][quote=“monocle, post:1, topic:1131”][…]
[left][font=trebuchet ms][size=12pt]Energy Efficiency Update[/size][/font][/left]

“Peercoin now running 150% more energy efficient than Bitcoin. Keep it up! This will pay off in the long-run.” – Peercoin Community
[…][/quote]

My math results in roughly 250% efficiency. It would be [size=12pt]+[/size]150% efficiency, but it is strange to put it that way.
…and 250% sounds even more impressive!

Or you put it, what I’d prefer, the other way round and say that Peercoin needs currently less than 40% of the energy (per Dollar) as Bitcoin needs to secure the network and will continue to decrease.

Just my 0.02…[/quote]

You’re right. This is kind of awkwardly worded.

8

I’m glad that is not only due to my eccentric mind that I didn’t like the original comparison between BTC and PPC :wink:
And I bet most people understand more easily how much energy is saved, if it is expessed like energy{PPC/BTC} and not energy{BTC/PPC}.

It came to my mind that I miss one other thing in the calculation.
The 40% of energy for securing one Dollar in PPC compared to one Dollar in BTC is considering only the energy that is needed for PoW.
There is energy required for PoS as well. This would be a great place to tell people about it.

A suitable device for taking part in the PoS process can be a RaspberryPi running at roughly 2,5 Watts!
that’s how the energy effiency argument strikes!
And the more the Peercoin network transitions to PoS, the less energy you need per Dollar!

Considering the CPU speed of a RaspberryPi, all state-of-the-art mobile phones are more than fast enough for PoS minting (although there is not yet Peercoin software available for doing that…)!

9

Is this accurate, and easier to understand?

For every $1 of energy spent to secure the Bitcoin network, the Peercoin network does the same for $0.40.
10

[quote=“Ben, post:9, topic:1131”]Is this accurate, and easier to understand?

For every $1 of energy spent to secure the Bitcoin network, the Peercoin network does the same for $0.40.
[/quote]

I think so – so perhaps we use both. I used your quote in the second sentence.

11

Was hoping to get Super3 conference update but perhaps next week…

12

Does anyone know who all went to the conference???

13

[quote=“monocle, post:10, topic:1131”][quote=“Ben, post:9, topic:1131”]Is this accurate, and easier to understand?

For every $1 of energy spent to secure the Bitcoin network, the Peercoin network does the same for $0.40.
[/quote]

I think so – so perhaps we use both. I used your quote in the second sentence.[/quote]

One thing that needs to be highlighted (imho) is the expected development of energy use.
Where Peercoin has potential to lower the needed energy per USD (continuously low PoS energy, rising market capitalization), Bitcoin might be doomed to see its energy comsumption per USD increased (what would be the case if the network hash rate increases at a higher rate than the market capitalization)!

14

[quote=“masterOfDisaster, post:13, topic:1131”]One thing that needs to be highlighted (imho) is the expected development of energy use.
Where Peercoin has potential to lower the needed energy per USD (continuously low PoS energy, rising market capitalization), Bitcoin might be doomed to see its energy comsumption per USD increased (what would be the case if the network hash rate increases at a higher rate than the market capitalization)![/quote]

Certainly – do we have a good link to detailed information or discussion on this?

15

Alright, unless there is anything else – this is ready for ‘print’.

16

And a big thanks to all of you for commenting and assisting!

17

As I’m not aware of a discussion regarding overall energy efficiency, I start one here for future reference.
You could do some math based on some assumptions.
Without reliable numbers for energy consumption and not wanting to make assumptions I prefer viewing it mainly from an “architectural point”.

The PoS process needs close to zero energy for a single wallet. That might stack up to some reasonable amount for lots of wallets. But it is very little energy compared to SHA-256 PoW.

PoW has no important role for securing the Peercoin network already (the majority of blocks already is PoS blocks: http://ppc.cryptocoinexplorer.com/chain/PPCoin?count=50&hi=85381).
PoW energy consumption for Bitcoin is rising steadily as the hash rate is rising. This might be a good point for some numbers.
At the beginning of 2013 the Bitcoin hash trate was at roughly 22 TH/s (http://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty).
Now we have roughly 7,400 TH/s.
The price per Bitcoin was close to 14 USD and the total number of issued Bitcoins was roughly 10 million back then (http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/mtgoxUSD#rg360zczsg2013-01-01zeg2013-02-01ztgSzm1g10zm2g25zv).
Now we have prices close to 900 USD per Bitcoin and a total number of roughly 12 million Bitcoins.

Within the last 11 months Bitcoins market capitalization has roughly 77-folded (11 billion USD now, 142 million USD in January 2013 (https://blockchain.info/de/charts/market-cap)
In the same time frame the hash rate roughly 330-folded.

It is hard to calculate the absolute energy consumption for that time frame, because energy efficient ASIC miners haven’t been in the wild early 2013 (at least not in large numbers).
So it’s hard to say the energy for securing a Dollar has raised or fallen for Bitcoin in 2013 (although this might be considering the hash rate has increased more than 4 times the market cap increase!).
I would find it shady to make such a calculation right now. I’d like to shift that to 2014. Because in 2014 the majority of Bitcoin miners can be assumed being ASICS with an energy efficiency close to 1 J/GH or below what makes it possible to estimate a minimum value for their energy consumption.

But I think it is safe to say that Peercoins PoS needs very little energy at all (now, in the beginning of 2013, in the end of 2014 and beyond!).
That makes the energy consumption for Peercoin more more less stable and independant from the market capitalization (might be worth looking at the PoW of Peercoin as that is one source for rising energy consumption…

And that energy efficient PoS reduces the risk of a decreasing network security that might happen to PoW coins once the income starts being less than the energy costs for operating the miners :wink:

18

I’m good with all of this, but the Energy Efficiency Update graphic needs to look a little better.