Bit Gurly

$BTC ir zaudējis $90,000 līmeni pēc tam, kad redzējis lielākos nedēļas izstādījumus no Bitcoin ETF kopš novembra. Tas nebija mazs notikums. Kad ETF redz smagus izstādījumus, tas nozīmē, ka lieli investori samazina ekspozīciju. Šis pārdošanas spiediens nolaida Bitcoin zem svarīga psiholoģiskā un tehniskā līmeņa.

Pēc šī izsistiena Bitcoin ir stabilizējies. Bet stabilizācija nenozīmē spēku. Šobrīd Bitcoin pārvietojas noteiktā diapazonā. Tas neaug un tas arī pilnībā nenokritīs. Tas ir klasiskā nenoteiktības pazīme.

Pirmajā mirklī pārvaldības ideja robotu ekonomikā izklausās gandrīz filozofiski. Ja mašīnas sāk darboties tīklā, kur tās var veikt uzdevumus, saņemt atlīdzību un mijiedarboties ar cilvēkiem un citām sistēmām, kādam ir jāizlemj, kādi noteikumi ir jāievēro. Tas nav tikai par kodu, kas darbojas automātiski. Tas ir par to, kā šis kods attīstās laika gaitā.


Kad es pirmo reizi sāku pētīt Fabric un plašāku ideju aiz $ROBO ekosistēmas, es pieņēmu, ka pārvaldība būs līdzīga lielākajai daļai blokķēdes projektu. Pastāv tokens, cilvēki reizēm balso, un protokols virzās uz priekšu caur kopienas priekšlikumiem. Bet jo dziļāk es skatījos, jo vairāk man šķita, ka šeit pārvaldība ir saistīta ar kaut ko lielāku par vienkāršām protokola uzlabojumiem.

Tirgi reti atkārtojas pilnīgi, bet bieži vien tie rimtojas. Kad mēs atkāpjamies un salīdzinām iepriekšējās tirgus struktūras ar pašreizējo, sāk parādīties interesanta shēma Bitcoin cenu uzvedībā.
Iepriekš redzamais grafiks salīdzina divus dažādus Bitcoin tirgus ciklus. Kreisajā pusē mēs redzam cenu struktūru, kas izveidojās 2022. gada beigās un 2023. gada sākumā. Labajā pusē mēs redzam pašreizējo tirgus vidi.
Pirmajā acu uzmetienā cenu līmeņi ir pilnīgi atšķirīgi, taču struktūra zem tiem izskatās pārsteidzoši līdzīga.

The more I delve into Midnight Network, the more I’m realizing that the more interesting aspects of it are not necessarily the ones that are talked about first.

The first things talked about when it comes to Midnight are usually the privacy tech. Zero-knowledge proof, selective disclosure, smart contracts. This is all very futuristic stuff. But then I started to notice something else that I think is equally unusual.
The token model.
It seems simple enough. There is a token, $NIGHT, which is used for governance and participation. This is all fairly standard if you’ve spent much time around blockchain-based systems.
But then I realized that there is something else to Midnight that I didn’t necessarily expect.
Holding $NIGHT is not just holding a token.
It actually automatically generates a new token, DUST.
The more I think about it, the more I realize how much sense it makes for what they are trying to achieve.
Most blockchain systems today use a single token to run everything. Governance, security, fees, smart contract execution – all run on a single token. Ethereum runs on ETH for gas. Most others are similar.
It works, but it has a major side effect.
Transaction fees vary wildly depending on token prices.
If the token is expensive, then using the network is expensive. There is nothing a developer can really do to prevent this. The gas price fluctuates wildly based on speculation.
It seems that Midnight is providing a solution to that problem in a different manner.
The network divides ownership of the system and the fuel used for private computation.
$NIGHT is a representation of the public side of the network. It is associated with governance, validators, and the health of the network.
DUST has a completely different function.
DUST is used for private transactions and shielded smart contract execution. When confidential computation is executed, DUST is used as fuel for that computation.
In other words, $NIGHT is used to govern and secure the network.
DUST is used to fuel the private computation that is executed inside that network.
The interesting thing about that is that DUST is automatically generated when you hold $NIGHT.
This changes a lot of things.
In a sense, instead of having to buy gas tokens all the time, it’s possible to accumulate DUST if you hold $NIGHT. It’s almost as if you’re holding a token that will eventually produce fuel for that network over time.
The more $NIGHT you hold, the more DUST you can accumulate.
The more DUST you accumulate, the more you can execute confidential computation and other things.
The concept is not very complex, but it’s a solution to a problem that developers face all the time:
The gas token price is uncertain.
When you’re a developer and you’re developing a decentralized application, you don’t really know how much gas you’re going to have to pay when a user interacts with that application. If you’re using a gas token and that gas token’s price goes through the roof, you’re going to lose all of your users because it’s not economical anymore.
Since DUST is derived from $NIGHT rather than bought on the volatile markets, the cost of running applications becomes much more predictable. A developer can now estimate how much DUST is required to run applications without the fear of huge price fluctuations of the underlying governance token.
This is another aspect of the system I find quite interesting. The incentives within the system:
Since $NIGHT is not just a passive ownership token, it is now linked to the underlying network activity through DUST derivation. If you are an individual who wishes to build applications on Midnight, you now have an incentive to hold the token since it is the token required to run the applications you wish to build.
The token is now a combination of governance token and infrastructure access token at the same time.
Developers who wish to build applications on Midnight for the long term would naturally require access to DUST. Since DUST is required to run applications, $NIGHT gives developers access to DUST without the need to buy it on the market.
It is a subtle yet effective way of aligning developers with the network.
If you take a step back and look at the larger picture, the dual token system is now fitting nicely into the overall architecture of the Midnight network.
The public network is still transparent and verifiable. The $NIGHT token is at the center of governance, consensus, and security on the network.
The private network, where computations take place, is now run on DUST.
It’s as if two economic systems coexist within the same system.
One for ownership and governance.
One for computational fuel for privacy.
The interaction between the two systems creates the balance within the system.
As I think more about this, I realize that the system was designed in such a way that Midnight isn’t just trying to build another blockchain system where everything centers around the value of another speculative token.
It’s trying to build a layer for privacy.
A layer for infrastructure tends to have more balance between the two systems within the system itself.
Ownership and governance and security fall into the category of the first token.
Operational costs fall into the category of the second token.
What makes this really interesting is that the former creates the latter.
$NIGHT creates DUST, and DUST fuels the private network activity that Midnight was designed for in the first place.
Now that I think about this further, I realize that this has implications for the early adopters of the token as well.
It isn’t just that you’re holding onto something that has the potential for increasing in value in the future.
It’s that you’re holding onto something that has the fuel for you to interact within the private network that Midnight was built for in the first place.
If Midnight is able to become the private network that everyone wants to be a part of, then the interaction between the two might become more important than the token price itself.
It might become more important because the value isn’t necessarily in the token price itself.
It might become more important because the value becomes the ability for you to have the fuel within the system just because you hold the $NIGHT token in the first place.

#night @MidnightNetwork