

Marscoin – Help bootstrap Mars exploration and colonization - novalis78
http://www.marscoin.org/how.html

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bdcs
Obviously this is a scammy marketing ploy, but they didn't even consider basic
design elements for a Martian currency =(

> Bitcoin's confirmation delay of 10 minutes per block is too long for a young
> cryptocurrency on Mars - miners on Earth could interfer with their
> tremendous hashing speed and even if that does not pose a problem, waiting
> for block confirmations from distant Earth is even less desirable.

Google informs me Mars is up to 401 Gm from earth, or 22minutes at the speed
of light. The block time should be longer than this communications lag so that
miners on Mars and Earth can efficiently sync. Therefore, Marscoin's short
confirmation time is a horrible design choice for a hyrbid Terran-Martian
cryptocurrancy.

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novalis78
That's the whole idea that they cannot sync. Otherwise Earth miners would take
over the Mars Blockchain. They have a discussion on this on their Forum and
FAQ. Someone suggested an "Interplanetary Coin" with several hour long
confirmations that would work as an intermediary between the two networks. You
change your BTC into MRS upon departure and when you arrive a few weeks later
you have a few confirmations in the IPC. On Mars you then convert your IPC
into MRS :-)

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novalis78
Interesting thought experiment. A Bitcoin on Mars installation was
contemplated on reddit a while ago:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1rsbe9/to_the_peopl...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1rsbe9/to_the_people_saying_bitcoin_to_the_mars_it_wont/)

In all seriousness, they won't start a traditional banking system on Mars. But
I could see the need for ownership and value distribution even in a small
colony / if not base. Marscoin is a pretty cool thought experiment to stretch
our imagination - and, as Dogecoin proves, can end up becoming a self-
fulfilling prophecy. I guess that's the hope.

Another fun angle is that if Marscoin/Bitcoin owners on Earth organize their
capital and employ Mars colonists to work on projects, they can then pay them
in Marscoin on Mars (as incentive). With decentralized corporations on the
Bitcoin blockchain you could even see a body of people form a Thorium
"corporation", purchase the technology in 2032, raise the funds on a global
scale, then ship it to Mars and pay those colonists that can and want to work
on it in Marscoin.

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gkoberger
We're putting the cart before the horse here, no?

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evanb
You mean because there should be a proving ground for this concept, like
MoonCoin? ;)

It does seem like for this to make any sense as a local Martian currency you
will already have to have quite a bit of surplus electricity production on
Mars.

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novalis78
Well, Mooncoin makes less sense - the moon is to close to Earth, right? They
can still use Dogecoin or Bitcoin on the Moon.

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Astro_Osk
The time delay between the three satellites required for near-24/7 comm is
between 3 and 22 minutes. However, MarsCoin is not specifically designed to be
an interplanatary coin as of right now, although the issues you mentioned are
being addressed for the future. The idea right now is to swap to Mars once the
first 4 MarsOne colonists go so that they can eventually begin a digital
currency system when bartering becomes inefficient. If you have questions
about the coin, feel free to ask at www.marscoin.org.

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MysticFear
Is Elon Musk associated with this, because it is quite bad form to put a
celebrity on your front page without an endorsement from them.

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treelovinhippie
Is there going to be any premining or are they intending to fund the entire
mission of the initial 350,000 coins donated to MarsOne?

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LoganCale
From the announcement thread, there was a 300,000 coin premine to be donated
to MarsOne.

[https://cryptocointalk.com/topic/3763-marscoin-mrs-
informati...](https://cryptocointalk.com/topic/3763-marscoin-mrs-information/)

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blhack
What's that? Another litecone clone that is _also_ somehow affiliated with
mars one? Is amwaycoin next?

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xyproto
After reading the article, I feel spammed and marketed to.

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ryanhuff
Who knew that Marscoin was established in 2010?

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therobot24
as if the application fee for the mission to mars wasn't shady enough they
created their own coin

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novalis78
Marscoin is not affiliated with MarsOne.

