HODL deposits and rewards imitate term deposits in traditional banking. The idea is that users can lock their coins in the blockchain for a set period of time and be rewarded for doing so. The rewards come from future inflation also known as the budget. HODL rewards need approval from the community just like SwiftRewards. The proposed and accepted rate within the community is 2/3rd of the minimum inflation for a 1-year deposit. For 6-months, 3-months, and 1-month deposits, the annual rate is 25%, 50%, and 75% less than the best rate. Having said that, 20% of the maximum block rewards are set aside for HODL rewards.
HODL deposits also resemble government bonds, however unlike government bonds, these deposits are not lent to any government, centralized authority or individual, but are rather locked in the blockchain and made unspendable for a set period of time. This action reduces the circulating supply for some time and should therefore, technically, boost the value of the coins in circulation during that time. It also shows long-term faith in the blockchain, which can further increase the value of all coins, both in the long-term and in the short-term. And last but not least, it can also lead to a better ROI for Staking/Mining and SwiftNodes/Masternodes.
HODL deposits are also eligible for SwiftRewards, as long as the owners make sure their address is not disqualified by turning into a zombie. This can be achieved by sending a small amount of SWIFT to the HODL address during each snapshot. HODL deposits cannot be used for staking or running a Masternode/SwiftNode. They are specifically designed for super-passive investors. HODL rewards are paid in advance upon approval and cannot be spent until maturity.
In addition, this proposal is going to make a few modifications to how SwiftRewards and Budgets will work. These modifications are made in a draft of the new whitepaper and are highlighted so that they can be easily spotted here. These modifications include lowering the maximum amount of SwiftRewards from 60% to 40% over the course of 30 years and allocating 20% of our theoretical block rewards to rewarding HODL deposits while reducing the maximum Budget to 40% in 2019 and gradually down to 10% by 2049. Furthermore, this proposal is asking for 1.1 million SWIFT from future inflation to be paid to our current community Escrow in order to approve and reward eligible HODL deposits. If this proposal passes, up to 1.1 million SWIFT can be paid to eligible HODL deposits based on the above conditions. And last but not least, this proposal is asking to add a 24 hour grace period to SwiftRewards so that HODL deposit owners can re-apply for a new deposit once their term finishes, without losing on potential SwiftRewards.
HODL deposit addresses can be generated using our new open-source wallet called coinbin developed by myself and a friend for only 80K SWIFT appx. $80 as of today's price. This amount plus server fees for the current month (20K SWIFT appx. $20) is currently pending approval from our current community escrow.
