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Bitcoin Pioneer Says New Coin To Work on Many Blockchains (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the second-time-is-the-charm dept.

A reader shares a Bloomberg report: Jeff Garzik, one of a handful of key developers who helped build the underlying software for bitcoin that is known as blockchain, has seen its shortcomings firsthand. So he decided to create a better digital currency. He's calling it Metronome and says it will be the first that can jump between different blockchains. For example, coins that are used for applications on the Ethereum blockchain will be able to move to Ethereum Classic before jumping onto Qtum or Rootstock, which connects with the bitcoin blockchain, said Garzik. The mobility means that if one blockchain dies out as the result of infighting among developers or slackened use, metronome owners can move their holdings elsewhere. That should help the coins retain value, and ensure their longevity, Garzik, co-founder of startup Bloq that created metronome, said in a phone interview. It will be unveiled Tuesday at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas. "Institutional investors should be very excited to see something like this," Matthew Roszak, the other co-founder of Bloq and chairman of industry advocate Chamber of Digital Commerce, said in a phone interview. "We've built a thousand-year cryptocurrency, something that's built to last." That's a concern for many digital currencies. Infighting among developers and various supporters, and the slow pace of enhancements on the bitcoin blockchain have helped to limit use. Both bitcoin and its main rival, ethereum, have split into several versions.

65 comments

  1. Same guy causing the problems in first place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Isn't this the same guy responsible for all sorts of attacks on bitcoin, all sorts of lame implementations of coins (that fail)... And bloomberg is looking to him to fix things. Gah.

    1. Re: Same guy causing the problems in first place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haven't you caught on to the scam yet: 1) cause drama 2) fix drama

    2. Re:Same guy causing the problems in first place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How dare he not be perfect!

    3. Re:Same guy causing the problems in first place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah. And with this new scamcoin, he is going to pre-mine a buttload for him and his buddies.

    4. Re:Same guy causing the problems in first place by Thud457 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Three Bitcoins for the Hacker-kings under the sky,
      Seven for the Drug-lords in their halls of stone,
      Nine for Libertarian Men doomed to die,
      One for the Dark Lord Satoshi on his dark throne
      In the Land of Mammon where the Shadows lie.
      One Bitcoin to rule them all, One Bitcoin to find them,
      One Bitcoin to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
      In the Land of Mammon where the Shadows lie.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    5. Re:Same guy causing the problems in first place by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

      > In the Land of More Dough where the Shadows lie.

      FTFY. :-)

    6. Re: Same guy causing the problems in first place by mikael · · Score: 1, Informative

      The reason there was a split with Ethereum and Ethereum Classic was because one had a vulnerability that allowed other people to hack into someone's PC and steal their wallet of coins. Implementing a fix for this problem caused a split in the community. Now they are trying to fix the solution to this problem by creating a new coin that can cross between these networks.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    7. Re: Same guy causing the problems in first place by lindseyp · · Score: 2

      What? ETC hard fork was done because the guys who wrote the DAO did so badly enough that someone was able to tell the DAO to credit him with ETH, in a way the DAO contract writers had not forseen and arguably didn't want.

      This was not a shortcoming of Ethereum, but a bunch of people learning the hard way that "smart" autonomous contracts need to be thoroughly proven before implementation.

      --
      j'ai découvert une démonstration vraiment admirable (de ce théorème général) que cette si
    8. Re:Same guy causing the problems in first place by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Relevant Information Regarding Jeff Garzik and others:

      Posted By Reddit User: readish in sub-reddit r/Bitcoin - (https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/78jrbp/s2x_is_officially_dead_garzik_switched_to_his_own/)

      >No its not dead, stop clapping. We need to call out every NYA company *(New York Agreement)* and show them that the fork was coded with malicious intent, by a malicious scammer called Jeff Garzik.

      Agree, and the rabbit hole goes much deeper than that. We need to be informed so we don't let our guard down.

      The old and effective Problem-Reaction-Solution strategy. Well, effective before the current social media era, in which hidden motives can be brought to the light of day to be exposed.

      I will keep posting this until the very day of the fork, with the hope that more bitcoiners learn the true nature of S2X/B2X/NYA open attack on Bitcoin disguised as an "upgrade". This is a 2X Trojan Horse, and do you know who is inside that horse? Top level banker's special-forces like Blythe Masters, Larry Summers, Glenn Hutchins *(sits on the board of The Federal Reserve Bank of New York)* and DCG (Digital Currency Group - https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/74wejs/exposed_how_bankers_are_trying_to_centralize_and/).

      We need to keep our efforts to expose and inform people about what S2X/NYA/DCG really is. Don't trust and don't do business with these companies and individuals supporting the S2X attack on Bitcoin.

      >Companies:
      >
      >https://coin.dance/poli
      >
      >http://segwit.party/nya/
      >
      >Individuals:
      >
      >These guys are pure greed, they don't care about the 7 billion of people on this planet. Expose them and don't give them your business. Starve the beast. They will regret sticking with the B2X altcoin that will go the BCH way (and all the other highjack attempts before them). Moneybadger don't care and only gets stronger and immunized after each snake-bite.
      >
      >Actually 99% of the Bitcoin community supports the real Bitcoin. The centralized B2X-coin attack is only supported by a handful of rich crooks (https://i.redd.it/t1z62pow09qz.jpg) and the people they've managed to bribe with their deep pockets:
      >
      >Peter Smith, Nic Cary, Haipo Yang, Rick Falkvinge, Jon Matonis, Wences Casares, Tony Gallippi, Mike Belshe, Ryan X Charles, Brian Hoffman/Sam Patterson/Chris Pacia and all OB1 team (https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/74dot9/psa_open_bazaars_latest_investment_round_was_for/dnxjsrg/?contex>t=3), Gavin Andresen (Bell), Jeff Garzik, Mike Hearn, Roger Ver, Jihan Wu, John Mcaffe, Craig Wright, Barry Silbert, Larry Summers, Blythe Masters, Stephen Pair, Erik Voorhees, Vinny Lingham, Olivier Janssens, Jeremy Allaire, Peter Vessenes, Bruce Wagner, Brock Pierce, Aaron Voisine/Adam Traidman/Aaron Lasher *(Breadwallet team)*, Glenn Hutchins, Bill Barhydt and Jiang Zhuoer.

      I posted this 17 days ago:

      Exposed: How Bankers are trying to centralize and highjack Bitcoin by buying "supporters" and promoters (like OpenBazaar team) for the B2X (S2X/NYA) attack on Bitcoin. (https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/74wejs/exposed_how_bankers_are_trying_to_centralize_and/)

      TL;DR: B2X (S2X/NYA) is nothing more than an open attack on Bitcoin, not an "upgrade" as they want to sell it. This attack has no 'consensus', at all. It was "agreed" by a bunch of miners and corporations behind closed doors, with no community nor developers support. Only miners and a few millionaires that stand to profit from the B2X attack support it. The vast majority of the Bitcoin community is totally against this attack on Bitcoin. Most of those companies are under DCG group:

      >Every bitcoiner should know about what DCG ( Digital Currency Group - https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/74wejs/exposed_how_bankers_are_trying_to_centralize_and/) is, and call out publicly the people that are working for the Corporations/Bankers against Bitcoin.

    9. Re:Same guy causing the problems in first place by WallyL · · Score: 1

      Still a better love story than Twilight.

  2. almost like regulations would be nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Only if there were a group of people who could regulate currency such that it was stable long term... hmmm

  3. Never promise a "thousand-year" anything... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    remember what happened to the last guy.

  4. Great! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    I'm going to move my fifty thousand Dogecoins to the Bitcoin blockchain!

    I'm rich!

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  5. Metacoins? by mysidia · · Score: 1

    So what is this... using DATA fields on different Blockchains to represent the transaction entries of a 3rd kind of currency whose transactions are Encapsulated in the comment field of transaction IDs on other blockchains referenced by records on the Altcoin's own blockchain, or what?

    1. Re:Metacoins? by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 2

      It's just more people not realizing that folks only use these digital currencies as arbitrage for real currency. The whole idea is to sell people bitcoins or whatnot when they think they're going to be worth more, then buy them back in a slump. Wash, rinse, repeat, while everyone else gets poorer and you get richer.

      --
      Support my political activism on Patreon.
    2. Re:Metacoins? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      But wait, give it a few months and there will be competitors in this space too. Bubbles upon bubbles.

    3. Re:Metacoins? by mysidia · · Score: 1

      folks only use these digital currencies as arbitrage for real currency.

      That sounds like a broad generalization to me.... i've actually purchased goods and services from vendors using BTC, and
      it wasn't for arbitrage purposes, but I'm not holding more than $50US worth of BTC either, out of concern that occassionally
      the digital currency has been so volatile that tomorrow my same amount of BTC could be worth $20 or $90,
      so the high rate of volatility for conversion is a concern, but otherwise I would be perfectly happy to use it.

      BTC would be more ideal if there would be a way to transact in it but peg its value, so that if the USD price per BTC decreases,
      then my BTC balance automatically increases to correct, or if the USD price per BTC increases, then my BTC balance automatically decreases to
      reflect the same USD value that I put into it.

    4. Re:Metacoins? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BTC would be more ideal if there would be a way to transact in it but peg its value, so that if the USD price per BTC decreases, then my BTC balance automatically increases to correct, or if the USD price per BTC increases, then my BTC balance automatically decreases to reflect the same USD value that I put into it.

      There's an incredible technology for this, it's called a piggy bank.
      Put some US coins in and it follows the USD so closely you'll barely believe it.

    5. Re:Metacoins? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Well, more or less. When it's time to withdraw, you need to break said piggy bank so it's going to cost you a brand new one, which requires some of your U.S. coins.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    6. Re:Metacoins? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      They have this amazing thing called a plug on piggy banks that you can open you know.

  6. Somebody better post the obligatory XKCD. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Like me.

  7. Can someone explain how it would work? by rundgong · · Score: 2

    The article is lacking some technical details, but it mentions there is not going to be an exchange in the normal sense.
    Then it looks a lot like someone putting his dollar bills in a shredder, then flying to Germany and claiming the ECB should print him Euros because he destroyed his dollars.

    Obviously I missed something here. Can someone explain what?

    1. Re:Can someone explain how it would work? by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      No, you've got it; there can be no authoritative transaction between blockchains unless the algorithms agree to respect inputs from each other, in which case you've either created one bigger blockchain with two different units of measure, or made two really insecure blockchains.

      Whatever. People will buy into this and as long as the overall trend is 'up', it won't matter. They'll believe until after it finally crashes... and maybe even then.

    2. Re:Can someone explain how it would work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And when it crashes, it will crash globally. You will see lots of "family run" businesses in China and small eastern European countries going through some "restructuring" when their investments go up in smoke. But in the near term, it is still a game of finding a sucker who will pay more than you paid for a collection of random numbers.

    3. Re:Can someone explain how it would work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is coming from a dev that used to be mildly involved in Bitcoin development. Recently he has been the champion dev trying to fork away from the large development community with much drama. Now he is launching this new thing to solve the infighting problem he helped create. And he is doing it with an ICO-- he wants to be paid up front to try and create this loosely defined solution. And his company is going to keep 20% of the currency for themselves.

      All you're missing is his ulterior motives. Once you understand that, technical merit isn't needed if their media and advertising can get them through the fundraiser.

    4. Re:Can someone explain how it would work? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This problem is already be solved. Sell coins in one blockchain in exchange for coins in another, at the current market exchange rate. Anything else can't handle the fact coins in different chains are not worth the same amount of money.

    5. Re:Can someone explain how it would work? by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      I really don't think his motives here are "beyond what is obvious or admitted; intentionally hidden". Pretty much bald-faced and self-evident from here.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    6. Re:Can someone explain how it would work? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Yes, you missed the obvious:
      After you have shreddered all your US money, you can not afford a ticket to fly to Germany :P
      And then we have this refugee oroblem here ... hope you manage to get in without meeting some 'skin heads' !

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  8. Sounds familiar... by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 2

    Build up one business scheme and get out before it falls, only to build up a similar business and get out before that falls. Rinse, repeat.

    I believe this is very similar to some sort of ????? scheme, I just can't quite remember what it is called...

    1. Re: Sounds familiar... by invalid_user · · Score: 1

      It's called Wall Street. Last it went down was in 2008.

    2. Re:Sounds familiar... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      I believe this is very similar to some sort of ????? scheme, I just can't quite remember what it is called...

      A governmental scheme?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re: Sounds familiar... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wall Street is too big to fail. Bitcoin is not.

    4. Re:Sounds familiar... by St.Creed · · Score: 1

      get-rich-quick I think

      --
      Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
  9. More bullshit from the bullshit factory! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    n/t

  10. Do not want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no interest in using (or accepting) any type of 'currency' or method of payment that is utterly baffling to me.
    I'll stick to credit cards and cash until they lower me into the ground. (Which will be paid for via CC or cash.)

  11. Helped build? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Helped maintain

  12. Quatloos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have all these quatloos that I won on this crazy gambling planet. These primary colored blobs kept betting and thinking I heard that they were betting kumquats, I joined in.

    I kept betting in favor of this overly talkative guy that wasn't waering his shirt. He kept rambling on and on and on and trying to help this green haired chick. "You. Must. Have. Some. Dreams. Outside. This. Arena!"

    Anyway, when I won my bets instead of getting my kumquats, I get these "quatloos". I want to exchange them for Bitcoin but how?

    1. Re:Quatloos by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      Anyway, when I won my bets instead of getting my kumquats, I get these "quatloos". I want to exchange them for Bitcoin but how?

      . . . just trot on up to the chick with the green hair, wearing the tinfoil bikini, armed with a giant can opener . . . she will handle your, . . . um, "exchange" . . .

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:Quatloos by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I want to exchange them for Bitcoin but how?

      Tokens.

  13. Pump-n-dump feature of the day! by dasgoober · · Score: 1

    Every day, we seem to have another crypto-currency being touted and most seem like vapor-ware.

    Founders are gonna put on a good show, then take investor money and run.

    1. Re:Pump-n-dump feature of the day! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With hundreds of crypto-currencies all poised to make the big time, this is starting to look a lot like the penny stock market.

    2. Re:Pump-n-dump feature of the day! by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

      Every day, we seem to have another crypto-currency being touted and most seem like vapor-ware.

      Founders are gonna put on a good show, then take investor money and run.

      That's the very definition of alt-coin: A pump-n-dump scam to obtain more BTC, by trading something worthless in exchange.

      And then BTC gets exchanged for USD... So, it's ultimately just one big elaborate scam to get what people really want - good old American cash.

      --

      ---
      DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
    3. Re:Pump-n-dump feature of the day! by mikael · · Score: 1

      No different from startups and stock options.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  14. In the Immortal Words of Apu by sexconker · · Score: 2

    No, no, no. Do not listen to that man.

    He's a lying, cheating, scammer creating another scamcoin.

    1. Re:In the Immortal Words of Apu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get the feeling that even honest names like ScamCoin, BubbleCoin, or PyramidSchemeCoin would still make millions and possibly even billions for their creators, because the "investors" will still want to ride the hyperinflation bubble.

  15. It's still a wild west frontier... by kyubre · · Score: 1

    It's still a wild west frontier primarily of interest to currency speculators, but moves such as this may open doors for those whose interests are in using digital currency as a low cost transactional tool for commerce, rather than the object of commerce itself.

    --
    Nothing evolves faster than the word of god in the minds of men who think themselves divinely inspired.
  16. required reading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the xkcd comic about the standard which covers all standards becoming yet another standard

  17. You take cash? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Good, how about changing dollars for my 1978 era Mexican pesos? It's cash after all, amirite?

    1. Re:You take cash? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://lmgtfy.com/?q=10+pesos+to+us+dollars

      Replace the 10 with how many pesos you have. And you are right! Er, um... right about what? How simple it is?

  18. How's this different from... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lightning Network?

  19. Question on bitcoin mechanics of operation... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: For those of you "more-in-the-know" than I - Do bitcoin mining scripts have to talk back to a central server OR point @ servers for it that are 'centralized'?

    * Thanks for the information!

    APK

    P.S.=> I don't "do" bitcoin but I do have interest in HOW it operates @ a technical communications level... apk

  20. Re:Question on bitcoin mechanics of operation... a by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Do bitcoin mining scripts have to talk back to a central server OR point @ servers for it that are 'centralized'?

    It's a P2P network, all decentralized. You need to find the IP address of one of the peers, then from there you open a connection to 10 (or so) of the other peers. To make a transaction, you tell them all that you want to make the transaction. Eventually (usually within 10 minutes), the transaction gets verified and added to the block-chain.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  21. Re:Question on bitcoin mechanics of operation... a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://bitcoin.org/en/develop...

  22. a thousand-year cryptocurrency? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One powerful solar storm like that of 1859 (the Carrington Event), and it's all gone.

    1. Re:a thousand-year cryptocurrency? by BabyAndTheButterfly · · Score: 1

      why would a solar storm be such a threat? is it a whole planet at once thing? also even without internet for a while - the miners who will continue to work on mining will present the longest chain of blocks when the internet comes online and other miners and users will start to use that and crypto can continue unaffected with just a big hiccup. if internet never comes back online - i think we have bigger problems than crypto to worry about. also did you know there is a satellite broadcasting Bitcoin blockchain?

    2. Re:a thousand-year cryptocurrency? by WorBlux · · Score: 1

      Any event big enough to disrupt bitcoin, would disprupt credit cards and banking just the same. Not many people keeps cash.

  23. Thanks (so they do point @ other servers) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: What I needed to know was if they can operate ON THEIR OWN independently & they don't - thus, they can be blocked (provided you have what they point @, which IS tougher to do but NOT 'impossible').

    * I owe you one phantomfive - thanks again for the information (sounds accurate enough & verifies pretty much against link another poster put out also, whom I also thank too).

    (Seems SOME use host-domain names (hosts blocked), & others use IP address (firewall blocked) OR just do BySite preferences in classic Opera (not "Chopera") to globally DISALLOW script & make exception sites for sites that just do NOT 'cut it' minus scripting, taking your chances...)

    APK

    P.S.=> Thanks goes to anyone providing me more feedback on this - I'm mostly concerned on the "cryptocurrency mining scripts" that have come up as of late is why (to blockout via hosts OR other means (stalling scripts/firewalls etc.))... apk

    1. Re:Thanks (so they do point @ other servers) by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      See subject: What I needed to know was if they can operate ON THEIR OWN independently & they don't - thus, they can be blocked (provided you have what they point @, which IS tougher to do but NOT 'impossible').

      Yeah, if you know all the IP addresses of the mining cluster, you can theoretically block bitcoin mining in your browser. But I think in practice, most websites that do this probably send their work back to the server via a standard http request, and the server aggregates all the work done, and only then sends it to the bticoin cluster.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Thanks (so they do point @ other servers) by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      At first I thought his explanation was wrong, but I had skipped over the "mining scripts" part of your question.

      So yes, any crypto-currency mining javascript has to talk to a server somewhere because the computations are being done for someone else, not for the browser's owner.

      If that someone else credits the browser owner for something (content, links, whatever) then it's another topic entirely.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  24. Obligatory South Park by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xZ_JiU7...

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  25. Give me a break by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 2

    We were sold on the idea of a Heinz 57 basket of virtual currencies because it's supposedly beneficial for them to be distinct from each other, and now suddenly it's supposed to be beneficial for them to somehow magically morph into each other (which would require, I gather, some level of inherent trust between those competing systems, mutual fraud protection mechanisms, etc.)? Got it.

    IMO, this is just the latest example of a bunch of too-smart-by-half tech heads sitting around coming up with a series of poorly planned ad-hoc ideas and finding bubble-seeking investors to throw cash at it. The emperor has no clothes.

    1. Re:Give me a break by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, exactly. The mutual fraud protection part is what I thought of first .But then on second thought, in the case of any of these currencies, you can trade them for US$ or Euros. So yes, it might give people an easier way to fraudulently acquire bitcoins: First steal some stonercoins or whatever, then autoconvert them. But the thing is, the same fraudster could have just sold the same stolen stonercoins for US$ - probably a better fraud plan anyway. So as long as the other currencies remain exchangable for real cash, it doesn't do much harm to make them exchangable for each other. And if some cryptocoin is not convertible into cash, it shouldn't be a part of the exchangable set.

  26. I canâ(TM)t wait to fork this by goombah99 · · Score: 1

    One coin to rule them all.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  27. Coin Collecting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now instead of looking for a 1943 steel penny, future coin collectors will be looking for Dogecoins, Etherium, and 100s of other old and defunct cryptocurrencies that reside in the depths of the blockchain.

  28. Thanks! That puts a pack of rat bastards away by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: PhantomFive & yourself DontBeAMoran put a debate I had with UNIDENTIFIABLE fools trolling me away in my favor https://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11259667&cid=55425509/

    * Thanks for allowing me to SHIT ALL OVER those puny pisspots, lol...

    APK

    P.S.=> Unbelievable they'd even TRY that on me - you'd think they'd have learned by now (but it IS why they post UNIDENTIFIABLY so I can't attribute their fuckups to their "registered 'luser'" accounts - & they said I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT? That's a laugh - they not only projected they didn't but also proved I am correct & so is BLEEPING COMPUTER & GHacks on hosts stopping cryptocurrency miners)... apk