If you haven't read @applepiie's post Long Term Goal of Gridcoin, you are going to want to do that first. It is here.

This is in response to that post:

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I agree with so much of what you've laid out here, @applepiie, though we have a few differences of perspective when it comes to cryptocurrency as a whole. That is why I've made this a separate post. My thoughts regarding your idea for marketing are at the end of this post.

Those sheets of paper, coins or (insert here whatever represents a GRC) could theoretically have no value, their value is created by the sheer belief in their value by the people who use them.
---- @appliepiie

This is %100 true, particularly in a fiat system. Before contemporary fiat, money was a representation of a physical amount of gold, or a commodity. Gold held value because it was rare, useful, and beautiful. Those three things, then, can be said to be the priorities of the pre-fiat economic system -- those are the things that people believed in enough to give transaction value. The US dollar became the representation of this commodity and many economies outside of the US were pegged to the US dollar (sound familiar?).

Then Nixon Happened.

In 1971, Nixon decoupled the US dollar from Gold. This gave us a debt based fiat system. Fiat, is a system of laws. Debt is the law of contemporary fiat -- Money, Value, is created by lending. This system, then, can be said to prioritize debt.

It might just be me, but I don't think most people think debt is the best store of value. Sure, when the laws require debt, debt becomes the most stable commodity that could ever exist, but there is no rarity, usefulness, or beauty in debt.

Post-fiat

The destructive and inequitable nature of debt based fiat is becoming an obvious reality to more people every year. This growing resistance to debt-fiat has forced major corporations, banks, and financial institutions to push more openly for more aggressive policies which seek a consolidation of power -- an oligarchy. These open attempts to buy governance (corruption or favor-for-influence) spread the unprofitable reality of debt-fiat even faster.

This process has happened before and it will happen again.

It is the nature of consolidation and corruption:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Data/Information

Throughout history humanity has depended on its ability to gather and process data. Season cycles, food location, time, these are examples of data humans have processed for as long as we know. As we explored the world we expanded our capacity to gather and process data and, for the most part, benefited greatly. Eventually we automated the process for gathering data -- we now gather data with sensors and regarding things we only dreamed even existed (gravitational waves?!). In the digital age, we even create data about ourselves and our habits which is processed to determine large human patterns (politics, disaster relief, etc). Our ability as a society to process this data has lagged behind our ability to collect and create it. The few massive processing centers we posses as a species are run by highly centralized institutions and when comparing supply and demand for processing, are clearly inaccessible to everyone except the highest payers and most well connected.

So What is Gridcoin?

Gridcoin is a store of value which prioritizes the decentralized processing of data gathered or created. If you believe in the value of accessible data processing, you believe in Gridcoin, and that is where it gets its value. If you believe in the value of data processing for those able to pay, you believe in Golem, SONM, or iEx. Both of these systems place value in the usefulness and cost (rarity) of processing data. I personally believe this is one of the better representations of value.

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So the problem we face is, that people do not know what cryptocurrencies are and frankly don't even want to know.
---- @appliepiie

I run into the same problem a lot. A solution I have found is to literally read them the abstract and summary from the Bitcoin Whitepaper and talk about it. Focus on this line:

What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party.

Once people get it, they love it. No Credit Card companies.

Once you've explained the blockchain, explaining using the power it requires for processing data which leads to real scientific progress is a breeze.

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Regarding @applepiie's Idea

I think it's the perfect direction for Gridcoin. It will probably take some time to put together such an ambitious endeavor, so let's get going!

(If you are reading this but haven't read @applepiie's post please go do that. It's linked at the top of this post.)

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Thanks to @joshoeah for the new header! Expect more in the coming days/weeks.