Still

I'm still curious and looking at coins and tokens regardless of the market -- interested in what they do, where they stand, who develops them and why. While I cringe watching the market plummet my miners continue to mine and I settle into my HODL with fresh coffee in hand and dark-mode whitepapers.

My time with cryptocurrency is occupied by sifting through tons of B.S. and facts. I've become annoyed at the purists and authorities with their pompous sneers and absolutes. Maybe it just was especially bad on social media this weekend with trader's salt and amped game-weekend adrenaline. People are starting to get bossy and frankly it's very off-putting on social media (well, anywhere).

Don't tell me what to do...

How ever did these people become cryptocurrency enthusiasts? I guess just for the money because it sure doesn't seem there is much respect for differing ideas or brainstorming or anything at all that doesn't fit in a certain box.

I've been a fan of the coin Electroneum (ETN) for a few months now. I mine it off and on (GPU) and HODL. I signed up for the beta mobile miner experience and have been mining coins with my phone. It's been well published this isn't real mining in the sense everyone's accustomed to. It's time based mining, a marketing effort to acquaint people with cryptocurrency and make using the app fun.

Fun, do you know it?

People are dismissing Electroneum's (beta) mobile experience app because it is not proof of work mining. The coins you earn mining are derived from pre-mined coins. They are rewarded to the user for using the app and simulating mining, which will in future releases include possibly a game, or other entertainment related things. I got into it with some guy on Twitter because he referred to Electroneum's mobile mining as AllAdvantage marketing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AllAdvantage if you're curious.

Is it? It might be. Probably. But my argument was that mining is simply extracting a resource and it's debatable what is a resource - i.e. time, data, what has value to a person? I took it up with him that his claim something only has value if it has PoW was narrow. Then he said I had an "ignorant laypersons" definition and to "Go learn and come back" taking umbrage to my broad view of "mining" and I guess that I took it out of context of crypto.

At that point I didn't reply. After all, it was his thread. Let him have the last word.

But I can write what I think here. I think Electroneum is onto something and It has the element of fun to it. If you want to get mired in the details that the mobile miner isn't mining coins -- try to wrap your head around that the coins have indeed been mined previously (and PoW'ed) and they are a reward for using and adopting the app. It's actually more ethical than other mobile miners that burn up your phone because it doesn't hurt your phone.

Do I think Electroneum is perfect? Nope. The development team seems a bit slow. They are slow to get the coin listed on (good) exchanges. There's valid reasons of course, they are being reserved so people do not dump all at once but also it's a Monero fork with a lot of complexity due to the privacy.

The slowness tests the patience that many do not have. Electroneum is in England and they basically almost went dark over the holidays which didn't look great even though they're coming back with the communications.

In a way Electroneum is a very British product when you look at it.

• They aren't fast.
• They are reserved with their actions and promises.
• They take super long holidays that are of mythic proportions to Americans.
  (sorry if that offended any Britons, I do not mean to generalize)

I think they do have a viable marketing plan and honestly it's one of the strongest marketing efforts I've seen from a coin. If they can keep the momentum going they have a chance to do well. They have secured business deals with telecoms and entertainment channels. There is definitely a business operation at work here.

Here's my latest screenshot of the mobile mining experience. I have to say I'm disappointed I haven't been paid a deposit as the tooltip indicated (5 ETN minimum deposit). Oh well. Still fun to look at.

** EDIT: Update, Electroneum announced 2/6/2018 it will be depositing the beta testers ETN after the end of February!**