As TIMM grows in readership and presence in the trading and investment world, we want to do our part to help promote integrity and community wherever we may have influence. As a part of this pursuit, we've registered TIMM as an EOS Block Producer Proxy.
The Challenge
Attempting to keep an eye on the growth, ebb and flow of EOS can be a daunting task. There are major influences around the world, all attempting to build on EOS and influence the blockchain with various goals and philosophies in mind. And, unfortunately, even as young as EOS is, there are shenanigans developing within the space, including scams and collusion that violates the EOS Constitution as well as the EOS BP Agreement.
While there are many tools available to help keep up with changes and how well various Block Producer candidates are performing, it is very challenging to keep up with changes and growth within the community. Some producers grow in their production and value to the mainnet while others slack off, become unproductive or even are found to have not acted with full integrity. TIMM will strive to remain informed and vote for those Block Producer candidates that not only strengthen the Constitution and follow the BP Agreement, but go above and beyond by pursuing activities and producing value for the world, in addition to the EOS and crypto communities.
Constitution
The EOS Constitution is a simple document, outlining a general agreement among all who use the EOS mainnet. Most responsible daps and apps require the user to agree to abide by this Constitution as a term of use. They are as follows:
Article I - No Initiation of Violence
Members shall not initiate violence or the threat of violence against another Member. Lawful prosecution of crimes with the goal of preserving life, liberty and property does not constitute initiation of violence.
Article II - No Perjury
Members shall be liable for losses caused by false or misleading attestations and shall forfeit any profit gained thereby.
Article III - Rights
The Members grant the right of contract and of private property to each other, therefore no property shall change hands except with the consent of the owner, by a valid Arbitrator’s order, or via community referendum. This Constitution creates no positive rights for or between any Members.
Article IV - No Vote Buying
No Member shall offer nor accept anything of value in exchange for a vote of any type, nor shall any Member unduly influence the vote of another.
Article V - No Fiduciary
No Member nor EOS token holder shall have fiduciary responsibility to support the value of the EOS token. The Members do not authorize anyone to hold assets, borrow, nor contract on behalf of EOS token holders collectively. This blockchain has no owners, managers or fiduciaries; therefore, no Member shall have beneficial interest in more than 10% of the EOS token supply.
Article VI - Restitution
Each Member agrees that penalties for breach of contract may include, but are not limited to, fines, loss of account, and other restitution.
Article VII - Open Source
Each Member who makes available a smart contract on this blockchain shall be a Developer. Each Developer shall offer their smart contracts via a free and open source license, and each smart contract shall be documented with a Ricardian Contract stating the intent of all parties and naming the Arbitration Forum that will resolve disputes arising from that contract.
Article VIII - Language
Multi-lingual contracts must specify one prevailing language in case of dispute and the author of any translation shall be liable for losses due to their false, misleading, or ambiguous attested translations.
Article IX - Dispute Resolution
All disputes arising out of or in connection with this Constitution shall be finally settled under the Rules of Dispute Resolution of the EOS Core Arbitration Forum by one or more arbitrators appointed in accordance with the said Rules.
Article X - Choice of Law
Choice of law for disputes shall be, in order of precedence, this Constitution and the Maxims of Equity.
Article XI - Amending
This Constitution and its subordinate documents shall not be amended except by a vote of the token holders with no less than 15% vote participation among tokens and no fewer than 10% more Yes than No votes, sustained for 30 continuous days within a 120 day period.
Article XII - Publishing
Members may only publish information to the Blockchain that is within their right to publish. Furthermore, Members voluntarily consent for all Members to permanently and irrevocably retain a copy, analyze, and distribute all broadcast transactions and derivative information.
Article XIII - Informed Consent
All service providers who produce tools to facilitate the construction and signing of transactions on behalf of other Members shall present to said other Members the full Ricardian contract terms of this Constitution and other referenced contracts. Service providers shall be liable for losses resulting from failure to disclose the full Ricardian contract terms to users.
Article XIV - Severability
If any part of this Constitution is declared unenforceable or invalid, the remainder will continue to be valid and enforceable.
Article XV - Termination of Agreement
A Member is automatically released from all revocable obligations under this Constitution 3 years after the last transaction signed by that Member is incorporated into the blockchain. After 3 years of inactivity an account may be put up for auction and the proceeds distributed to all Members according to the system contract provisions then in effect for such redistribution.
Article XVI - Developer Liability
Members agree to hold software developers harmless for unintentional mistakes made in the expression of contractual intent, whether or not said mistakes were due to actual or perceived negligence.
Article XVII - Consideration
All rights and obligations under this Constitution are mutual and reciprocal and of equally significant value and cost to all parties.
Article XVIII - Acceptance
A contract is deemed accepted when a member signs a transaction which incorporates a TAPOS proof of a block whose implied state incorporates an ABI of said contract and said transaction is incorporated into the blockchain.
Article XIX - Counterparts
This Constitution may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when executed and delivered shall constitute a duplicate original, but all counterparts together shall constitute a single agreement.
Article XX - Interim Constitution
This constitution is interim and is intended to remain in effect until a permanent constitution is written and ratified in a referendum.
EOS Block Producer Agreement
The BP Agreement similarly lays out a series of *rules" for the Block Producers to agree to follow. TIMM will strive to identify Block Producers who strictly follow this agreement. It is as follows:
1. Produce exactly the authorized number of blocks faithfully, accurately, at the appointed time in the rotation
2. Never produce and sign two or more blocks with the same block height or block interval
3. Never censor governance related transactions such as votes or Arbitration related transactions
4. Only add "good" transactions from the transaction pool to the block
5. Make a good faith effort to include as many "good" transactions as possible to the block without undue discrimination
6. Exclude "bad" transactions from the block, and publish why they were excluded
7. Show no favoritism among transactions, ordering them in a FIFO fashion or using some other ordering mechanism that is declared publicly in advance, including the default ordering provided by the unmodified software
8. Refrain from using my/our superior information to "front run" transactions nor enabling anyone else to “front run”
9. Accept as valid any Arbitrator’s order that’s
i. signed by an Arbitrator
ii. that the chain shows was assigned to a Case,
iii. such that the order affects only the Accounts named in that Case, and
iv. the Arbitrator is in good standing with their Arbitration Forum, and
v. the original Transaction that gave rise to the Case names that Arbitration Forum as the venue for dispute resolution
10. Only freeze accounts when authorized to do so by a valid Arbitrator’s order
11. Always file a dispute against myself/ourselves after taking initiative to act on an emergency
12. Provide at least four (4) public endpoints running full nodes (the Minimum Configuration)
13. Not requesting my/our daily Vote Bonus pay on days when I/we don’t have the Minimum Configuration running, and repaying any Vote Bonus income collected while the Minimum Configuration wasn’t running
14. Disclosing all ownership of my/our organization greater than 10%
15. Not sharing more than 10% ownership with another BP
Discerning Community Value
There are currently over 200 Block Producers. Very few people can identify all of them. Some rise to the top based on popularity. Others based on tools they've built. A few rise based on their core values. But, let's be honest - We rarely dig deeply enough to see what makes them tick. We tend to focus on what they've done or their public appearance.
TIMM can't overcome all of this, but we can try. And our team is dedicated to providing services that focus on the individual already. With our team of marketers, developers and others who are involved in various markets and cryptos, we'll continuously strive to understand who is doing what and which BPs are most focused on solidifying the integrity of the EOS mainnet in addition to building up the community.
One of the best places to keep up with how BPs are doing is on BP Ratings. They do an outstanding job of pointing out how each BP is doing, specifically in regard to their accomplishments. Of course, Greymass, who we've respected and supported from day one, is right at the top of the list. Their EOS-voter tool is perhaps the best EOS wallet available. Of course, they offer their own proxy as well. That might sound a bit counter-productive in light of this announcement. But TIMM really isn't in this to win a reward. If BP Ratings supports Block Producers that more align with your personal goals and expectations, we encourage you to follow them.
Another outstanding resource for investigating Block Producers is EOSGO. Their list is extensive and quite informative. To see a good example of what is listed under each Block Producer, take a look at Greymass' profile. For more on why we support @Greymass so much, check out their info, as well as the history of both @jesta and @anyx. These guys have done tons for the Steem community, as well as other projects. Their contribution to EOS is every bit as amazing and helpful as their work on any other blockchain, and so far it appears that their wallet alone is almost indispensable.
Intangibles and Subjectivity
When it comes right down to it, we each have our own preferences. TIMM is no different. Our team largely consists of folks who strive to promote personal liberties and freedom. We detest the arbitrary inhibitions of the state and strive to find ways to pursue productivity without such constraints. When such is unavoidable, TIMM strives to say between the lines. But, if at all possible, our goal is to position ourselves so that we are subject to as few imposed regulations as possible so that we can more freely serve those who collaborate with us and help them enjoy greater personal freedom.
With this in mind, TIMM will support Block Producers accordingly.
How to Set TIMM as Your Voting Proxy
EOSToolKit
One way we've found is in the amazing EOSToolKit. We can't say enough about the incredible tool provided by GENEREOS (whom we also vote for!). It's currently one of the stables in the EOS community.
To access the EOSToolKit, you'll have to use another amazing tool created by Nathan James, Scatter. We recommend downloading the desktop application, since the Google extension is more limited. To ready many of his updates, please go to his Medium blog. To understand the philosophy behind and what really makes Scatter tick, go to the Get Scatter website.
To download the most recent version of Scatter, you'll want to go to their GitHub. You can find instructions all over the internet. Just do a simple search of "Scatter desktop app installation", or something similar, and you'll find all the help you need. Of course, there are some instructions on Scatter's GitHub too.
Once you've gotten Scatter figured out and been able to use to to log in to EOSToolKit, you're ready to set up a proxy to vote for BPs. It's quite simple. All you do is click on "Proxy Information" in the left column, then pick the proxy voter you wish to represent you. As you can see in the picture, it's just a matter of checking the box and following the prompts. Once you've verified your decision to assign mentormarket (TIMM) as your proxy, you're all set. TIMM will vote for BPs on your behalf.
Alternately, you can click on "Set Proxy" in the left column and input "mentormarket" as your proxy. Put in your account name and click on "SET PROXY". Once you've followed the prompts to provide the proper authority, TIMM will vote for your EOS Block Producers on your behalf.
EOS-Voter
Another is found right within your Greymass EOS-Voter wallet. Simply click on "Proxies" and scroll down to "TIMM". Click the circle and follow the prompts. You're all done!
Time Decay
Something few consider in voting for EOS Block Producers is the fact that your vote decays over time. If users do not keep their votes up to date, their votes deteriorate in influence over time. As EOSIO states:
In order to maintain maximum voting influence each voter will have to re-assert their vote every week. Voting influence decays with a half-life of 1 year for those who do not keep their votes up to date.
In order to maintain voting power, TIMM purposes to vote for PBs a minimum of once per month. While we will probably vote more often, this will keep our votes current and maintain the greatest influence.
We also will strive to support at least 25 Block Producers. This is not a hard rule, since the number of excellent Block Producers can be dynamic. But it gives us a goal that we think keeps us and our proxy trail influential, promoting the values that are most important to us.
Regardless of whether you use TIMM as your proxy, use another proxy voter or decide to do it yourself, we encourage anyone with EOS to be involved and make your vote worthwhile. There are some amazing things going on in EOS and the teams involved with some of these Block Producers are absolutely incredible. Let's all do our part to support them and strive to keep the cream of the crop most influential in the EOS community.
FWIW, TIMM is also considering candidating to be an eosDAC Custodian. We love what they're doing and have been pouring over their documentation to make sure we understand the commitment. As you may know, a long-time Steem contributor, supporter and witness, @LukeStokes, is heavily involved. We hope you support him and we'd love to hear your thoughts on the idea of TIMM candidating as well.
Thanks for reading!
Uniting analysts and investors for mutual profit!
PS - TIMM is also available as both a voting trail and Witness proxy on Steem. You can follow our trail (timm) on https://steemauto.com and set us as your voting proxy at the bottom of the page on https://steemit.com/~witnesses.