We started as casual lurkers in the community. The r/nanocurrency subreddit felt like the next step in understanding Bitcoin’s inability to remain a payment solution. When you’re running down the list of networks by market cap, a fee-less coin is the first one that jumps out. As the creator of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, once said, “the internet of money should not cost more than 5 cents per transaction.” Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash also tried to innovate in their own directions, and have been found wanting. The marginal gap between Bitcoin’s network fee and the less utilized networks is negligible compared to the fundamental shift from a small fee to no fee at all. Incentives are often misunderstood. I wanted to share some moments about my experience with Nano and the different people we have had the opportunity to meet. There are lessons to be learned and moments to reflect on if you are the $5 million VC deal maker or someone trying to properly store Ӿ5!
At the time I joined the discussion, people were debating Raiblocks re-branding, the Nano Foundation’s role as a non-profit, and the Bitgrail “Hack.” I was most interested in figuring out how DAG’s were different from a linear blockchain and finding something to do with my newly purchased Nano. You copy down your XRB public key and private key, withdraw from the exchange to NanoWallet.io, withdrawal again and deposit with PVP.ME. Start placing wagers on e-sports and flopping (American for “Soccer”). The real development seemed to be taking place with Brain Blocks. It was only noticeable because people complained about Ty, the developer, spamming the network for stress testing. We were hopeful with support from a PayPal project manager that they would be successful. After working as a PM on the railroad myself, it wasn’t surprising they only succeeded in fundraising by selling Raspberry Pi Nano Nodes.
The Nano Build-Off
I convinced my long-time roommate, Brandon, to take a look into Nano. My memory fails me, but I believe Brandon was describing how his co-workers at the time were buying Ethereum and Shiba Inu. Thousand percent returns in weeks. It is way better to be lucky than have some understanding of crypto. After discussing the role of digital currencies in the future of the world, while playing Divinity Original Sin on the couch, we wanted to see if we could build something to be a tool for everyone in the community.
We wanted to contribute something we thought useful for all those who may come to use Nano. Who wouldn’t love a tool for taxes! After all, hundreds of transactions could become quite cumbersome to reconcile with your local, provincial, or federal tax agency you hold oh so close to ya heart. At the end of the day, the only people who wouldn’t want to pay Uncle Sam and support their national community are full-blown boiadeiros and your neighborhood payaso. When the “Nano Build-Off” appeared, sponsored by u/nanillionaire, who was vouched for by community members, we were ecstatic!
Fortunately, we were too preoccupied to participate and opted to instead create a node hosting service beyond the competition. The tax idea, which later became our data reporting system was too complicated in the timeframe of the competition. In hindsight we lucked out (not that we would have won), when the hosts ran away with all the funds. So back we slumped into our lives, still believing in an optimal digital cash and never selling.
Return of the Once and Future Kings
In late 2020 / early 2021 digital currencies bounced back. Phone calls poured in. We, as we had before on many occasions, went from being lunatics to experts. People we knew in passing were calling to ask about Bitcoin. It was a particular week in January we remember the most: watching the snow fall and melt multiple times a week north of Boston. This time of year is especially brutal. The mud is rock solid. Trainspotters are hibernating. Cars are sideswiped into the Spaghettiville bridge. Friends gathered driftwood into barrels to ignite with accelerants like road-flares in order to stay warm. A true delicacy! It was a scramble to find the right direction.
“There’s only 3 types of people out here: derelicts, degenerates, and drug-addicts. Which one are you?“ - Railroad Boss, first day of work. Fairly certain I was a derelict.
In a week you go from walking among the ruins of America’s infrastructure to being strapped in at the kitchen table reviewing hundreds of pages of legal documents. At the same time, the Gamestop saga was unfolding between its various belligerents. The craziest part was locating my Nano. Mike Doyle from PVP was unresponsive. I am thankful to community members who tried to help ping him, but my Nano there was ultimately lost. Nanowallet.io was kaputt, my posts about assisting in a revival in order to help others who may have not copied their secret phrase kept getting blocked by the moderators. I found the small remainder with our private key. It was scribbled in illegible handwriting in the back of my Modern American History and Feminism notebook. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory would not have been studied in vain! I have always found success when idiot proofing anything we touch, especially against myself.
Madora was reinvigorated. Enough to formulate a plan and switch to full-time. We had completed our node hosting service and wanted to experiment. What better way then to pursue with the Nano Unity Bounty! Unfortunately, we were informed after talking with u/RockmSockmjesus that someone else was close to completing. So we went to the next largest engine, Godot. Mobile games might be a better fit for Nano anyway. It took a good while to complete the website, redo the front-end, logo, make everything somewhat functional. Once the plugin was finished, then came the great test. It was awesome to see 60 people sign-up for the game jam we used to test the service. Although only 5 games wound up being submitted, they all used different engines and applications of Nano in their games. We loved seeing how simple it was for developers of varying skills who may or may not have had experience with digital currencies.
I’d like to thank Brandon again for helping complete the final parts of our demo game, “The Bugs Are Back.” This was a bucket list item for me to make a video game. It barely passes as an arcade clone, but it was fun to make the assets and complete everything in the Godot Scene Editor. If you are interested in building something on Nano, for the love of god try to find people to do it with. You can accomplish so much more and have way more fun sharing the experience with others!
*Bonus Photo
Thoughts on Notable Events
Thor Chain Node - Businesses often face a choice to open additional streams or concentrate on its core model. Do not under any circumstance engage with someone because they claim to be an OG Bitcoiner. Anyone from Grayscale or Coinbase should be avoided at all costs. Just because someone has money does not mean they are intelligent.
Madora 2022 Game Jam: We disabled the Nano functionality for the games after the competition due to compliance concerns. All the developers made really unique games. We also played through some of their catalogs on Itch and would recommend trying some of their games beside their jam submissions.
Fast & Nano by Kalinka - Linkito
Vita by Andrew Atianyi - Legends: Afterlife
Rave’n’Cat by IdleBum - Beaten
Robot Unleashed by NoGraphic - Super Combat Warriors
Banano 2: King of the Jungle - I submitted a portion of the prize pool for the second annual Banano AOE2 tournament. It is a favorite game since childhood. As a fan of Litecoin and Banano, it is always important to recognize the innovation that comes from the test nets. Without Kalium, Natrium would not exist and so on. The hosts Jabari & Juicy have been gaining momentum in tournament hosting. The former is a big fan of Banano. Hopefully we can see some similar grass roots events in the Nano community.
We are happy to share that all winners from both competitions received their payouts. Nothing irked us more than the fallout of the Nano build-off. We keep building towards the future of payments and the way we think commerce ought to exist on the web. We are never as far along as we would like to be, but we are still somewhere. Each day brings its own energy with new opportunities. You wake up under the same sun with new light. Somedays you feel the gumption and heat vibrating at your fingertips, somedays the woodpecker starts your day for you at 4:00am.
Cheers!
- Patrick