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There's Kanye West-Themed Crypto-Currency On the Way

Posted by samzenpus on from the yo-bitcoin-imma-let-you-be-spent-but-coinye-is-the-best-crypto-currency-of-all-time dept.

Nerval's Lobster writes "A bunch of anonymous developers are working on 'Coinye West,' a crypto-currency named after rapper Kanye West. Coinye West isn't an official production of Kanye West, and the developers are staying anonymous because they probably fear the inevitable copyright lawsuits. (Of course, if the currency hits the online market and proves a success, it's always possible the real Kanye West would drop any suit in exchange for a massive amount of Coinye West coins—every hip-hop artist on the planet might claim to drive a Maybach, but how many can claim a currency?) 'DROPPING JANUARY 11, 2014. 11 PM EST,' read a note on Coinyewest.com. 'No premine, no screwed up fake "fair" launches, shyster devs, muted channels, and f**ked up wallets,' it helpfully added. 'We will be releasing password protected, encrypted archives containing binaries and source for the wallet and daemon BEFORE LAUNCH, with the passwords to be released at the specified time.' Just to emphasize the supposed fairness of this particular crypto-currency, the note repeated: 'We will work with multiple pools to orchestrate a PROPER and FAIR release.' A chat room is available at irc.freenode.net. Technical details for the crypto-currency include: Algorithm: Scrypt; max Coins: 133,333,333,333; block time: 90 seconds; difficulty Re-Target Time: 12 hours; block Rewards: 666,666 COYE; every 100k blocks, the payout halves. In the future, will every major celebrity will have a crypto-currency named after him or her? And how long until Jay-Z decides to launch something similar?"

20 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. Good grief... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I know it's now a cliche to pontificate "Why is this on Slashdot", but seriously? This is not news for anyone, certainly not "nerds", and clearly doesn't matter. It's not even funny. This "story" would be more appropriate next April.

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    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:Good grief... by bob_super · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It proves that anyone can create a cryptocurrency based on whatever stupid meme they feel like, therefore all cryptocurrencies have no actual reason to have a value outside of the gullibility of their users.
      They're modern art.

    2. Re:Good grief... by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Really you can say the same thing about any fiat currency.

      Like playing a game of poker and saying "Ok, red chips are worth $1, white chips $5, and blue chips $10". Even the US dollar is this way -- its value is very much arbitrary.

      Now just because it is only worth whatever you think its worth does not necessarily make it worth nothing.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    3. Re:Good grief... by bob_super · · Score: 4, Informative

      The US dollar does carry the signature of the Treasury secretary of the US government, and a big stick to whack you if you try to make one which looks the same.

      Bitcoin is like Bansky, You don't even know who started it but it's got value because it's an original concept. Copycats can be made by anyone with even less consequences.

    4. Re:Good grief... by rsborg · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Really you can say the same thing about any fiat currency.

      Like playing a game of poker and saying "Ok, red chips are worth $1, white chips $5, and blue chips $10". Even the US dollar is this way -- its value is very much arbitrary.

      Now just because it is only worth whatever you think its worth does not necessarily make it worth nothing.

      No, you can't. Fiat currencies are backed by the will of countries or large organizations, often with armies/guns to support their decisions. That some fiat currencies are effectively worthless says more about the country/organization than it does about fiat currencies in general.

      Sure a crypto currency could be used as the main currency of some large organization, but until then they all have very little intrinsic worth and no guarantee of guns and/or a large populace to back up their worth.

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    5. Re: Good grief... by iamhassi · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Exactly. Until someone is willing to exchange something of real value or cash for a crypto currency then it is still worthless. I can't even find someone to give me real money in exchange for bitcoins.

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    6. Re:Good grief... by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The US dollar has some advantages over other currencies. For example it is accepted in payment of taxes and other debts by the US government.

       

    7. Re:Good grief... by QilessQi · · Score: 4, Funny

      No. They're relaunching it as SnoopDogeCoin. Or maybe SnoopDogeDogeCoin. Unless they were SnoopLyin'.

      --
      Koans and fables for the software engineer
    8. Re:Good grief... by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Sure you can copy the concept, but not the actual coin. The US dollar doesn't actually have that advantage, but bitcoin does.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    9. Re:Good grief... by beltsbear · · Score: 3, Informative

      There are hundreds of alt-coins. The vast majority of them bring nothing to the table at all. This is another one of those coins, not even worth discussing.

      Of the hundreds of alt-coins only two are really worth even discussing, Namecoin and Litecoin. Litecoin being the second largest market cap and being ASIC hostile keeps more of the coin generation distributed and still has enough security to be usable. Namecoin is a good idea but basically is an unfinished work.

    10. Re:Good grief... by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 5, Interesting

      To really understand why this is wrong, you have to fundamentally understand what a fiat currency is. It's more or less simply a store of value.

      Take for example the ruble after the collapse of the USSR. Supposedly communist right? Well, people had already been trading in currencies (sorry but Marx is wrong and always will be wrong, no matter how hard you try, private property and therefore money will never go away) and during the lifespan of the USSR that was the ruble. However when the USSR collapsed, the ruble went with it. People still needed to have a store of value until something came to replace it (barter only systems are simply incapable of fostering even seemingly dead economies -- liquidity is required for any kind of fast trading to occur, which barter does not provide.)

      So what do they do? Well, turned out that people resorted to using cigarettes and vodka as currency. A single cigarette was the smallest division, a pack was larger of course, and a bottle of vodka was worth the most. You really didn't need a country or any large organization to keep this afloat and regulated. The problem with vodka and cigarettes is that they're rather easy to make, so a more well defined currency eventually replaced them (the new ruble,) but meanwhile the Russians didn't have to have somebody step in and say "use this."

      This isn't the only example -- things that have been used as currencies also include coffee beans and shark teeth. These don't require governments to regulate the supply of, but they are inherently inferior because there's basically a limitless supply of them.

      Bitcoin is the same deal as these, only it doesn't have the problem of being easy to create more (the total number of bitcoins that can exist already exist, by the way, just not all of them have been claimed yet.) Because of that, it is interesting to see where bitcoin will go that these previous currencies have not because they could not.

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    11. Re:Good grief... by drkim · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yo, Kanye! I'm really happy for you... I'ma let you finish... but the U.S. Dollar is one of the best currencies of all time!

      One of the best currencies OF ALL TIME!

    12. Re:Good grief... by schnell · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That the "US dollar" exists is the biggest lie in America.

      That's funny, I have several here in my wallet right now.

      The US dollar (or, more precisely, the US $20 or $100 bill) is the most fungible fucking thing on the planet Earth right now. You can spend it or exchange it almost anywhere else on the planet for goods or services at a well established market rate. THAT'S WHAT A CURRENCY IS SUPPOSED TO DO.

      I keep promising myself that I'll stop reading the Slashdot articles about Bitcoin, but I don't... that must be what the Dice Overlords are counting on in the hopes that their banner ads sparking my purchases of clever T-shirts or IBM ... something ... will finally pay off. Brilliant!

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
  2. Kanye can just screw off already by msobkow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Kanye this. Kanye that.

    The bloodsucking money hungry leech just won't go away...

    Bastard can't even sing.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re:Kanye can just screw off already by newcastlejon · · Score: 4, Informative

      Kanye this. Kanye that.

      Kanye who?

      Greetings from a Radio 4 listener.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
  3. Yo Bitcoin by mysidia · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yo Bitcoin, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but Kanye had one of the best Cryptocurrences of all time! One of the best cryptocurrencies of all time!

  4. Kanye West? Jay-Z? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    And how long until Jay-Z decides to launch something similar?

    Who the fuck cares? I'll take 50 cents any day of the week.

  5. Fail, but idea has possibilities by Animats · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is yet another lame altcoin. It barely has a mention on bitcointalk. It's not really associated with someone famous. But it points the way to a potential success.

    This could be a way to monetize fame. What if some major performer came out with an alt coin? They could anchor the coin value by making it exchangeable for concert tickets, downloaded tracks, and promotional merchandise. None of those things cost much to make, so they're not too vulnerable to price swings. The coin client can be combined with a music player/store client program, distributed with a few free tracks.

    The problem with most of these alt coins is that you can't buy anything with them. If they were at least guaranteed to be tradeable for some music tracks and a T-shirt, there'd be some backing behind them.

  6. Racist Web Site by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There *IS NOT* another "alt-coin" launching. This is a joke site that contains racist imagery, using Kanye West to bait gullible young people.

    The site graphics open to a cartoon image of a "stereotypical" big lipped black man, presumably Mr. West. In the all black background, three sets of black-face eyes show up. The black background then drops to reveal three brack men in black KKK garb.

    This is not the kind of crap Slashdot or Dice should be promoting.

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    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  7. Re:More important than just taxes by vakuona · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One of the reasons that gold stopped being useful as a currency as that the amount of gold in circulation had no direct (or indirect) link to the amount of economic activity. The value of gold fluctuates too much compared to the value of the commodities that you would want ot buy with the gold. If you don't believe it, just look at what the price of gold has been doing over the last 10 years.

    Bitcoin would be even worse since it is designed with very specific finite limits. Yes gold is also finite, but we have been mining the stuff for millenia, and we are still producing a fair amount of it.

    A currency ideally need to be linked to the amount of economic activity to prevent wild swings in its value. So if the economy grows by 2%, you would want at least 2% growth in the amount of currency available. Bitcoin is unable to do that indefinitely. I would add that ideally, the amount of Bitcoin needed to increase to reflect the amount of transactions being undertaken in Bitcoin. Bitcoin does not do this.

    Secondly, a currency needs a little bit of inflation. Bitcoin, at least at the moment, has the opposite of that. Because the value of Bitcoin has been rising, people are encouraged to hoard Bitcoin (you become wealthier just by holding on to them). You want the opposite. You want people to become a little poorer if they just hold on to their currency to encourage them to either spend of invest their money. This may be a little controversial, but there is no good reason why the intertemporal transfer of wealth should be costless.

    Because of these flaws Bitcoin cannot be a currency. At best, it will be another commodity (like gold, or oil or copper), whose value swings wildly depending on the mood and the outlook.