Developing a development fund

An idea I have mentioned earlier was floated by @blocktrades last night which looks at funding the Blockchain development from the reward pool. You can read it here and go into more details and considerations through the extensive comments section.

While this isn't my area, there has been talk about different ways to fund the development pool with some wanting to increase the print rate (not popular) and various other reductions in the allocation, whether from the payout pool, the witness percentage or the interest rates.

Whatever the reduction plan, I fear that it would be stalled if any one group felt targeted. I don't know what the current percentages are for each group but perhaps it would be better to reduce them all by shrinking the pool the required amount for the fund and then redistributing based on that.

I am on my phone so can't check but I think the Steem print for the next year is 26 million Steem. If we reduced it by 5 percent, that is about 1.25 million Steem that could go to the development fund and the remaining 95% ~25M would be allocated at the same percentages they are now.

This way, no one group is affected more or less than any other group. While there has been talk of the witnesses not getting much already by some, many of those same witnesses are the ones who will be able to access the development fund as they are often developers themselves.

I also think that at this point in the lifecycle of the Steem Blockchain, development is necessary and everyone should be willing to face some of the expenses. After all, the magic of owning Steem is having ownership in the Blockchain business model also and, that comes with responsibilities and costs. In this case, it isn't a direct cost though as it comes from the inflation pool which hasn't been allocated yet.

Another benefit of the proposed system is that there is a burn function for unused Steem which means that what doesn't go to development can be used to lower the inflation rate, effectively making Steem more scarce. Perhaps the of the Steem that comes out hasn't been consumed within done time frame, it is automatically burned down to a certain level leaving some in the pool. For example, the fund could have a rule that it always has to have a minimum amount for emergencies so won't ever burn to zero, even if not used.

There are many things to consider here but being a development fund that can be utilized for community voted projects could fundamentally change the Steem ecosystem and drive continued decentralisation driven by the community looking to grow, not Stinc looking to sell.

A development fund could help Steem have more of a growth mindset and culture rather than one looking to maximize savings. While many might not like the idea of trimming rewards now, if it leads to community and economic growth in the future, it is worth it.

Long-term development actions nearly always outperform short-term reactions.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
_{(posted from phone)}