How We Started:
Last month I had a wild idea after participating in the GBYTE airdrop to Steemit users who attest their username {click the link to get step-by-step photo instructions on how to claim}. During a chat with a great friend, @jackmiller, we discussed how we could create a fee-free exchange that would benefit both STEEM and GBYTE. After our discussion, we decided to test our concept and @balls2steem was born. And YES, double entendre totally intentional (and... yes, this has been a ton of fun!). I'd like to explain a bit more about what we have created and how we feel it benefits both the GBYTE community as well as the Steemit community.
But there is no profit for us to do this - so why do it?
Because we want to see the communities thrive and not everything is about the money. Sure, both of us could use the money - there is no doubt! However, we are full of ideas and this is merely one instance of a simple idea and how it impacts the STEEMIT and GBYTE community. We are simply two regular people trying to enhance the experience of platforms that we appreciate and love to use. That's why we did this and why we will continue to seek ways to scale this concept. If you are familiar with our projects on Steemit, then this should come as no surprise that we do things for the greater good more often than we think about money.
The idea was to offer Steemit users a feeless exchange for users who wish to trade their Bytes for STEEM (which we did!). I would like to share some details, progress, and some future ambitions in this article as our contribution to the Byteball Use-a-thon to share our results after more than 30 days "live".
The Peer-to-Peer Exchange Use Case - 30+ days LIVE!
We quickly determined that Steemit users do have an interest in this service, some returning 2 & 3 times to repeat services with us over the past month. There is not only demand but more than just two working class, non-developers can fulfill. @Jackmiller and I have not only have proof of concept with roughly 32 days of real-world application but also the positive feedback from our users. Having already proven that there is demand, there are ways to circumnavigate fees and exchanges externally, and also have several more features that could be potentially implemented in the future.
We have put out a great deal of content to spread awareness
 | It's A Great Time to Claim Your Byteball Steemit Users! How-To Claim Step by Step + Screenshots by @grow-pro |
|---|
 | BACK UP YOUR NEW BYTEBALL WALLET - DON'T BE A LOSER! HOW-TO & WHY YOU SHOULD by @grow-pro |
|---|
 | What To Do With Your ByteBALLS? Donate Them or Sell Them! (Ulog) by @jackmiller |
|---|
 | Hello Byte-HODL-ing Steemians, I'm @balls2steem • A Simple Way Exchange Your GBYTE for STEEM by @balls2steem |
|---|
 | WE NEED byteBALLS! Offering STEEM 4 byteBALLS! by @jackmiller |
|---|
| BALL REPORT! 27 July 2018 by @balls2steem |
|---|
| WE BUY byteBALLS! PAYMENT IN STEEM! by @jackmiller |
|---|
| BALL REPORT! 08 August 2018 by @balls2steem |
|---|
We are dedicated to the community
In this post we explained the alternate method of exchanging GBYTE for 60 alt coins right in the GBYTE wallet. That exchange bot by Robert Huber uses Changelly and incurs a small fee of 0.75%.
Fee-free is the way to be...
We wanted to eliminate the fees and a great way to do so was to keep the transaction on the Steemit platform. Since sending GB from the wallet costs a such a small amount and does not go to us, we can call it 'fee-free' since there is no fee collected on our end and it is free to transact on Steemit.
Why is this exchange important?
Because we intend to build for the Steemit community, as well as the Byteball community in the near future, we decided to leverage the fee-free transactions of Steemit. We believe that we have brought about much-needed support for both communities and I would like to provide evidence of that below. We are essentially creating a market that is easy enough for the average user to use, right from the comfort of the Steemit platform. They can send GB to us and receive a fair rate that can be checked by all parties - everything we do is recorded in the DAG and on the Blockchain.
Indirect benefit of this service
We have kept over 30 GBYTE from being sold on an exchange in just over 30 days. We started this exchange simply because we saw a way to eliminate fees but we also wish to HODL GBYTE for a while. After we dug into the Byteball project and witnessed the steps and missteps and HONESTY from the team - they are actively assessing their actions and that is a great indicator to us that GBYTE is worth holding. We are STEEM-believers already but have a new found appreciation for Byteball. We aim to bring value to both communities and so we put into action a 'test run' use case that we will elaborate on further in this article.
Give them what they want...
Many users who participated in the BYTEBALL airdrop were simply in it for the free money - which is what you get when you offer free money. The results from these 'tactics' can be devastating to the market price of the token being airdropped. That is not up for argument, simply glance at the charts and you will quickly realize the impact it can have on market price. This is detrimental to the 'HODLers' and diehard supporters of the project, so having absolutely zero mechanisms in place to provide 'cushion' the blow to token holders can be a painful one to endure.
We started @balls2steem to do 3 simple things:
- allow us to attain the GB that we wish to collect (for another exciting project to come soon!!!)
- to offer STEEM for GB that can be delivered internally so that STEEM remains on-chain and GB does NOT hit an exchange.
- help create a market service that is simple enough for anyone who has claimed the airdrop to participate in.
HOW IT WORKS (NOW)
Since Steemit users who've attested will have liquid/spendable GB in their wallet, they can exchange that for STEEM by simply replying to @balls2steem posts, by mentioning @balls2steem, @grow-pro or @jackmiller in a post or comment on Steemit, or by memo request. Since these requests require us to manually respond it is subject to the time of day and other various factors.
• User with GB replies on a @balls2steem post
• A real-time exchange rate is given to the user along with how much STEEM they will receive in return, the Byteball address in which to send funds to engage the trade, and also who will deliver their STEEM. Rate can be checked here
• Once the wallet shows the bytes have been sent and the transaction becomes stable (appears on DAG), the STEEM is sent via the Steem Wallet to the user.
HOW IT COULD WORK IN THE FUTURE
Similar to the wonderful tools & services that @therealwolf has created, @smartmarket & @smartsteem, this exchange could become automated with the use of smart contracts and a pairing mechanism which could be as simple as a bot on Steemit and also integrated as a chatbot on Byteball wallets. We imagine the future of this exchange to be a free market, peer-to-peer utility.
Option 1
For those who wish to trade STEEM for GB - send the STEEM you wish to convert to a Steemit account, example @balls2steem, and let's say the user wants to trade 100 STEEM for GB so they send over 100 STEEM to @balls2steem. Then, when @balls2steem gets a request for GBYTE from a user wishing to trade their GB for STEEM - the exchange is made and remaining STEEM is returned (free to transact on Steem Blockchain). This requires a trusted 3rd party / bot / website (aka @balls2steem). This might not be the safest and most efficient way, so let's look at another alternative.
Option 2
Since the GBYTE user is on Steemit (you are if you can read this) and we know already has a GBYTE wallet and Steemit wallet - let's think smart for a moment...
Let's say @jackmiller and I continue to fund our own neat little ideas and we commission some help to create a CHATBOT within the GBYTE wallet itself. Then, we use the @balls2steem account coupled with the features of the Byteball wallet chat-bot integration. Why? Short answer: SMART CONTRACTS & ORACLES!
Being that @balls2steem is an account on the blockchain, there is data going into the blocks - all actions (votes, resteems, comments, posts = transactions) and because all of this is a transaction - it is time-stamped and verifiable data being transmitted. This can provide a secure and efficient means of exchange on a larger scale.
Example:
User A has 100 STEEM that they wish to convert into GBYTE and USER B has 1 GBYTE they wish to exchange for STEEM. User A can simply send the 100 STEEM to @balls2steem. With a chat-bot in the Byteball wallet, User B can request an exchange quote.
- The exchange rate can be checked at https://currencio.co/gbyte/steem/ by our ORACLE and a rate of exchange can be determined automatically, as a bot response.
USER B can select YES or NO to the rate to begin the exchange process. Selecting YES would then prompt User B with an address - which USER A has attested to their Steemit name already (presumably or would need to do so prior). The bot could pair the exchange using data that already exists on the DAG and Blockchain. - Once the ORACLE confirms that the appropriate amount of GB has been sent to the correct attested address (via the DAG) then the funds could be sent via @balls2steem to USER B because all transactions may be verified.
++ It may be possible to simplify this even further, but again we are simply two non-developers seeking knowledge to execute on the idea - if you can help, let's talk!
Once the ORACLE in the wallet confirms that GB was sent to the proper address the STEEM can be unlocked via the atomic swap that will take place via the GBYTE wallet.
There's a smart contract for that?
We are currently relying on the trust that we have established within the community in order to complete this exchange process. Since users must send their bytes to the request address first, there is some risk involved because the exchange relies on us (trusted party) in order to complete the exchange. We realize that this is not optimal, however, it allowed us to show proof of concept rather nicely. Imagine a smart contract coupled with automation and this process becomes trustless and much more efficient (executing transactions right away). There is very little risk when we use verifiable data and the ORACLE features. Funds are returned if the trade is not executed - with atomic swaps they either happen or they do not.
AUTOMATION & FUTURE FEATURES
This exchange market could be automated in a way that allows all users to participate in the market if they choose. Thus far, we are supplying 100% of the STEEM being used for exchange of GBYTE. We realize that we are simply two working-class guys who are not developers ourselves, however, have proven we can provide utility via a simple service that circumnavigates external exchanges. Since BYTEBALL has attested over 70,000 Steemit usernames, there is no real reason to ignore the frictionless and fee-free opportunity here. Users have shown interest in this service and we feel it is worthy of exploring, expanding and simplifying for everyone to be able to participate in.
Future possibilities
Similar to how STEEM can be leased, delegated, or exchanged for other services on Steemit - this allows more fluid interaction for both communities and a seamless, frictionless transition between currencies. If crypto is about freedom and trustless systems, then this, by all means, represents that quite well.
• LEASING SP with GBYTE could be implemented
• VOTING & POST PROMOTION SERVICES which can accept STEEM, SBD, or GBYTE
• SERVICES BY REPUTATION - imagine services where your reputation determines the cost of the service or maybe lower reputation users would not be eligible to use the particular service. The DAG now holds quite a bit of data that service providers can use to set standards. SEE BELOW FOR EXAMPLE!
EXAMPLE OF REP BASED SERVICES • OUR OTHER, OTHER USE CASE WE ARE WORKING ON 😉
Let's say you have a bid-based voting bot and you want to reduce the amount of spam and plagiarized posts that your bot is voting on (rightfully so, this sort of content is not worthy of promotion!)
Let's think about why it is beneficial to use the rep-based service structure... Lower rep users are the ones typically found plagiarizing and promoting spam, so if they are not eligible to use promotion services then there will inevitably be less low-quality content being promoted. Now, we could even take that a bit further and make each tier of reputation (e.g. rep 40-50, 50-60, etc) a separate cost per use. Basically, higher rep users would only be able to promote their content at a lower rate than say a rep of 25 user.
Why? If it costs more for lower rep users to promote content it will do two things:
- encourage them to increase their reputation via engagement, quality posts and interactions, and deter them from resorting to devious and unacceptable means of growing their account. Make it less profitable to game the system for the bad apples and they will find something else to game.
- If lower rep users are determined to promote spam posts, then they must pay much more than a higher rep user. If they insist on perpetuating poor content, then they will ultimately have to pay for it or try a more honest approach.
Either way, I see rep-based service as a very useful tool to integrate into the Steemit ecosystem and we can do this thanks to the efforts and development of the GBYTE team.
REAL USE CASE IN ACTION:
Note that @flxlove inquires about how to exchange, has a successful exchange, we reassessed the total GB sent and revised the quote to ensure the user got the most accurate rate of exchange possible and as you can see the user was happy and has returned for a second exchange. This is been the case for several users already - it's an easy and useful service!
You can also see that we have set up requests via MEMO in the Steemit wallet as well. Again, this data can be verified by an oracle to execute an exchange. You can see that the user simply sends .001 STEEM or SBD and a memo of the GB they wish to request - then the funds are returned when the quote is sent with deposit instructions. Very simple and effective, but requires us to manually check the memos which can be hard with the wallet spam we receive. Automating this process would make it much more efficient.
Since we are supplying ALL of the STEEM for these exchanges - we are buying STEEM from external exchanges and using our own STEEM to fulfill demand. We are NOT selling GBYTE to purchase the STEEM, rather we are hoarding that as well. You can see that scaling this sort of service could quickly become beneficial for the long-term value of both communities.
We are doing this for absolutely zero return other than we give people what they want and we get what we want. We're happy to see our concept work as it was intended and we are greatly surprised by the demand. We are doing our very best to meet the supply demands, but we are merely two people with limited funds. We believe it is time to scale this to a level that allows free transition from STEEM to GBYTE for all users of both communities.
RAVING REVIEWS!
We have had many users really help us expand our reach. Thanks to @eco-alex for really helping to spread the word about this service and also trusting us with his business - it really means a lot to us! Also we salute @wizardave for his @balls2steem review - 💡 jabi... Let me show you the easiest 14.3 Steem I've ever earned., he was actually the very first user to officially use out test exchange and I did not know him previously. That expresses the trust that we can assume when our actions are recorded and verifiable!
PRO & CON
| PRO | CON |
|---|---|
| Provides Utility to STEEM & GBYTE Holders | A bit more complex for two non-developers to create |
| FEE FREE | Now requires a trusted party (us) to manually execute the exchange |
| All the tools seem to exist already and it appears to be a matter of developing the automation processes | running out of CONS already, HELP! |
| EASY TO USE!! | - |
We realize that we have not thought of it all - please share your knowledge and experience if you would like to help us scale this concept to a full-blown service. We appreciate all of the feedback that the community has given us and we encourage all of you who read this to share your thoughts so we can 'dial in' this concept. Our goal is to assist these two communities in reaching global adoption and we feel this is a great way to increase transactions on both platforms. What do you think?
Simple & Easy
This is key when it comes to services in the crypto world if mass adoption is the goal. It has to be simple enough for anyone to understand and easy enough to encourage people to use it. We feel that we have eliminated unnecessary friction and created something of utility that is both simple and easy. That is why we are hopeful that the judges of this #Usa-A-Thon will see the value of this type of service and how it could benefit both communities in the long term.
