Using Decentralized Governance: Proposals; Voting; and Budgets

2019-04-12T21:01:19Z

Clockuniverse:

'''''You must vote at least three days before the superblock is created or else your vote won't count. The exact deadline is 2160 blocks before the superblock.'''''

Terracoin's Decentralized Governance by Blockchain (DGBB) is a novel voting and funding platform. This document introduces and details best practices for using this system.

== Overview ==

===Introduction ===

* DGBB consists of three components: Proposals, Votes, and Budgets.
* Anyone can submit a proposal for a small fee.
* Shareholders (owners of network masternodes) cast votes for or against proposals.
* Approved proposals become budgets.
* Budgets are paid directly from the blockchain.

=== Proposals ===

* Proposals are a request to receive funds.
* Proposals can be submitted by anyone for a fee of 10 TRC. The proposal fee is destroyed on submission.
* Proposals cannot be altered once submitted.

=== Votes ===

* Votes are cast by masternode owners.
* Votes can be changed at any time.
* Votes are counted every 19440 blocks (approx. 27 days).

=== Budgets ===

* Budgets are proposals which receive a net total of yes votes equal to or greater than 10% of the total possible votes (for example over 448 out of 4480)
* Budgets can be nullified at any time if vote totals (cast or re-cast) fall below the approval threshold.
* Budgets are processed (paid) in order of yes minus no votes. More popular budgets get payment priority.
* Approximately 21600 TRC (in 2017) are available for each budget cycle.

== Budget cycles ==

When preparing a proposal, be aware of when the next cycle will occur and plan accordingly. It is recommended to choose your proposal payment start block at least one cycle in the future to allow time for discussion and gathering support and votes.

=== Budget cycle block heights and approximate dates ===

<pre>1123200 - Fri Nov 24 15:19:35 UTC 2017
1144800 - Tue Dec 26 10:31:35 UTC 2017
1166400 - Sat Jan 27 05:43:35 UTC 2018
1188000 - Wed Feb 28 00:55:35 UTC 2018
1209600 - Sat Mar 31 20:07:35 UTC 2018
1231200 - Wed May 2 15:19:35 UTC 2018
1252800 - Sun Jun 3 10:31:35 UTC 2018
1274400 - Thu Jul 5 05:43:35 UTC 2018
1296000 - Mon Aug 6 00:55:35 UTC 2018
1317600 - Thu Sep 6 20:07:35 UTC 2018
1339200 - Mon Oct 8 15:19:35 UTC 2018
1360800 - Fri Nov 9 10:31:35 UTC 2018
1382400 - Tue Dec 11 05:43:35 UTC 2018
1404000 - Sat Jan 12 00:55:35 UTC 2019
1425600 - Tue Feb 12 20:07:35 UTC 2019</pre>

*calculated using https://gist.github.com/TheSin-/f0861b69d573be75daccbb39c1948f1d based one https://gist.github.com/strophy/9eb743f7bc717c17a2e776e461f24c49

== Proposals ==

=== Preparation ===

* Choose a proposal name
** Proposal names are limited to 40 characters.
** Choose a unique proposal name to to prevent voter confusion.
** The currently active proposals can be found by visiting https://proposals.terracoin.io/
* Choose your payment amount and cycle duration.
** The payment amount is fixed. You cannot vary your payment across cycles.
** For instance: request 100 TRC for 6 cycles to receive a total of 600 TRC.
* Write your proposal webpage/forum post
** Explain your project.
** Introduce yourself. Include your qualifications, experience and contact information for questions.
** Estimate and outline the project requirements, progress milestones, and deliverables.
*** Continued funding may depend on reaching your stated goals.
*** The more detail the better. This page is your marketing and sales pitch.
** Justify your funding request
*** Explain how the funds will be used. Detail your expenses and profit.
* Shorten your proposal webpage/forum post url
** Use a url shortening service such as: https://goo.gl/ or https://tinyurl.com/
* Select your funding cycle start block
** Choose a block far enough in the future to allow time for your proposal to be discussed and gain support.
** Allow at least one cycle (calendar month) for most proposals.
** Consider longer incubation periods for larger funding requests.
* Generate and backup your funding address
** create a new address using one of:
*** the wallet interface "file -> receiving addresses... -> New button"
*** the debug console command 'getnewaddress'
** create a backup of this new private key using one of:
*** the wallet interface "file -> backup wallet"
**** save to different media (usb key or second hard drive) -- in case of primary hard drive failure
*** the debug console command 'dumpprivkey <payment address>'
**** the output of the above command is called a WIF (Wallet Import Format) and is an unprotected private key
**** possession of the WIF means possession of the funds -- protect it accordingly
***** carefully write it down or
***** store it in an encrypted container

=== Structure ===

The following information is required to create a proposal:

* proposal-name -- a unique label, 20 characters or less
* url -- a proposer-created webpage or forum post containing detailed proposal information
* payment-count -- how many cycles the proposal is requesting payment
* block-start -- the requested start of proposal payments
* terracoin-address -- the address to receive proposal payments
* monthly-payment-dash -- the requested payment amount

=== Persistence ===

* Proposals become active one day after submission.
* Proposals will remain visible on the network until they are either disapproved or the proposal's last payment-cycle is reached.
* Approval occurs when yes votes minus no votes equals 10% or more of the total available votes.
* Disapproval occurs when no votes minus yes votes equals 10% or more of the total available votes.
* The total available votes is the count of online and responding masternodes and can be seen by running the command 'masternode count' in any wallet debug window. A graph of the total masternode count can be found at http://seeder.southofheaven.ca

=== Submitting ===

To prevent mistakes and loss of collateral funds, make sure you've completed all the tasks in the checklist below before submitting your proposal to the network.

==== Proposal Checklist ====

* proposal name
** is 20 characters or less in length
** does not match any currently active proposal names
* url
** is a shortened url and retrieves proposal page
* proposal page
** contains enough information for voters to decide their vote
* payment amount
** is reasonable compensation for project scope
* payment count
** is appropriate compensation for project duration
* payment address
** is backed up
* payment start block
** is far enough in the future to allow for discussion and to gather voting support

==== Commands ====

Once prepared, submitting the proposal to the network requires running the following two commands.

The first command (prepare) will create your collateral transaction.

'''The collateral transaction must mature (reach six confirmations (about 12 minutes)) before running the second command.'''

The second command (submit) publishes your proposal for voting.

'''When you are ready to create your network proposal, go to https://proposals.terracoin.io/ to complete the process.'''

==== Next steps ====

Once you have completed submitting your proposal to the network, it's time to get the word out.

Use social media to announce your proposal and contact community members to begin a discussion and gather voter support.

== Project Proposal and Status UpdateTemplates ==

Project Proposal Template: Dash Project Proposal Template v1.0.docx
Project Status Update Template: Dash Project Status Update Template v1.0.docx

Roadmap

2019-04-11T19:51:14Z

Clockuniverse:

==Tasks in Progress==

Wiki - https://wiki.terracoin.io/ - 15%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 15%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Payment processing - BTCpay - 80%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 80%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Paypal like API for Web Carts - 20%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 20%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

TRC MN Tools - 80%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 80%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

aarch64 - 64bit ARM - 95% (testing)
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 95%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

armhf - 32bit ARM Hard Float (RaspberryPi) - 95% (testing)
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 95%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Legal paper about if Terracoin is a security or not (aka SEC Letter) - 50%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 50%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

BIP9 + auxpow - 20%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 20%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Dust Buster Button - 0%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 0%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Concept - Multisig Addresses as Default - Security against hash collisions - 10%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 10%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Concept - Replace PoW/add multi-sign or introduce new algo - 10%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 10%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Planning - Update to 0.13.0 of the Dash Code - Requires BIP9 - 10%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 10%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Trezor Support - Done, waiting on Trezor to update how they detect a coin - 99%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 99%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Ledger Support - 10%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 10%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

==100% Completed Tasks==

<div style="width:75%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 100%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

===Original Update from Terracoin 0.8.4 Wallet===

*Merge mining – 100%

*Dark Gravity Wave – 100%

===Governance===

*Decentralized governance – 100%

*Masternodes – 100%

*In wallet GUI decentralized governance voting and proposals submission - 100%

*Public Ledger 2017-2018 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10Yceckmx-ZAf3AKQyYgLb1fi3Uud8KpBZDVuLyKCfX4/edit?usp=sharing

*Public Ledger 2019 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KyU2g5XjrzwYlswde9GzOT6N26n-CJpx7LviYgBvCXc/edit?usp=sharing

===Improve Social Media Presence===

*Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-terracoin-foundation/ - 100%

*Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheTerracoinFoundation - 100%

*Twitter - https://twitter.com/Terracoin_TRC - 100%

*Refresh Website - https://terracoin.io – 100%

*Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/terracoin - 100%

===Terracoin Infrastructure===

*Whitepaper - https://wiki.terracoin.io/view/Whitepaper - 100% (but always getting updated)

*Dynamic Roadmap - Trello: https://trello.com/b/3RJU8m6t/terracoin - 100%

*Weekly Updates - https://medium.com/@clockuniverse - 100%

*Weekly Updates Subsciption Link - http://eepurl.com/cYRTwn - 100%

*Masternode Monitoring - Service https://services.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Improved Block explorer - Insight https://insight.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Masternode Stats - Overview https://overview.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Reliable Testnet – 100%

*Paper wallet: https://walletgenerator.net/?currency=Terracoin – 100%

*Apple Store/Duns number (needed for legitimacy on the Apple Store) - 100%

*Richlist - https://masternode.terracoin.io/top200.html - 100%

*Swag store - Zazzle: https://www.zazzle.com/terracoinshop - 100%

*Mattermost server: https://mattermost.terracoin.io/ (It also hosts a number of other things besides mattermost) - 100%

*Physical Address - PO Box: (The Terracoin Foundation, PO Box 86154, Portland OR, 97286) - 100%

*Continue to expand number of 3rd party site listings (exchanges, info sites, etc) - ∞

===Improve Terracoin Core code===

====Terracoin Core Updated to 0.12.4 of the Dash code with Terracoin Uniqueness====

*Windows - 100%

*MacOS -100%

*Linux - 100%

*Static builds & CI Compliance - 100%

====TRCpay (Light Weight Wallet)====

=====Desktop=====

*Windows - 100%

*MacOS - 100%

*Linux - 100%

=====Mobile=====

* Android - 100%

* iOS - 100%

Roadmap

2019-04-10T01:58:45Z

Clockuniverse:

==Tasks in Progress==

Wiki - https://wiki.terracoin.io/ - 15%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 15%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Payment processing - BTCpay - 80%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 80%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

TRC MN Tools - 80%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 80%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

aarch64 - 95% (testing)
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 95%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

armhf - 95% (testing)
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 95%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Legal paper about if Terracoin is a security or not (aka SEC Letter) - 50%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 50%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

BIP9 + auxpow - 20%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 20%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Dust Buster Button - 0%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 0%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Concept - Replace PoW/add multi-sign or introduce new algo - 10%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 10%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Concept - Update to 0.13.0 of the Dash Code - 10%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 10%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

==100% Completed Tasks==

<div style="width:75%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 100%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

===Original Update from Terracoin 0.8.4 Wallet===

*Merge mining – 100%

*Dark Gravity Wave – 100%

===Governance===

*Decentralized governance – 100%

*Masternodes – 100%

*In wallet GUI decentralized governance voting and proposals submission - 100%

*Public Ledger 2017-2018 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10Yceckmx-ZAf3AKQyYgLb1fi3Uud8KpBZDVuLyKCfX4/edit?usp=sharing

*Public Ledger 2019 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KyU2g5XjrzwYlswde9GzOT6N26n-CJpx7LviYgBvCXc/edit?usp=sharing

===Improve Social Media Presence===

*Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-terracoin-foundation/ - 100%

*Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheTerracoinFoundation - 100%

*Twitter - https://twitter.com/Terracoin_TRC - 100%

*Refresh Website - https://terracoin.io – 100%

*Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/terracoin - 100%

===Terracoin Infrastructure===

*Whitepaper - https://wiki.terracoin.io/view/Whitepaper - 100% (but always getting updated)

*Dynamic Roadmap - Trello: https://trello.com/b/3RJU8m6t/terracoin - 100%

*Weekly Updates - https://medium.com/@clockuniverse - 100%

*Weekly Updates Subsciption Link - http://eepurl.com/cYRTwn - 100%

*Masternode Monitoring - Service https://services.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Improved Block explorer - Insight https://insight.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Masternode Stats - Overview https://overview.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Reliable Testnet – 100%

*Paper wallet: https://walletgenerator.net/?currency=Terracoin – 100%

*Apple Store/Duns number (needed for legitimacy on the Apple Store) - 100%

*Richlist - https://masternode.terracoin.io/top200.html - 100%

*Swag store - Zazzle: https://www.zazzle.com/terracoinshop - 100%

*Mattermost server: https://mattermost.terracoin.io/ (It also hosts a number of other things besides mattermost) - 100%

*Physical Address - PO Box: (The Terracoin Foundation, PO Box 86154, Portland OR, 97286) - 100%

*Continue to expand number of 3rd party site listings (exchanges, info sites, etc) - ∞

===Improve Terracoin Core code===

====Terracoin Core Updated to 0.12.4 of the Dash code with Terracoin Uniqueness====

*Windows - 100%

*MacOS -100%

*Linux - 100%

*Static builds & CI Compliance - 100%

====TRCpay (Light Weight Wallet)====

=====Desktop=====

*Windows - 100%

*MacOS - 100%

*Linux - 100%

=====Mobile=====

* Android - 100%

* iOS - 100%

Roadmap

2019-04-10T01:45:08Z

Clockuniverse:

==Tasks in Progress==

Wiki - https://wiki.terracoin.io/ - 15%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 15%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Payment processing - BTCpay - 80%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 80%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

TRC MN Tools - 80%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 80%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

aarch64 - 95% (testing)
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 95%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

arm - 95% (testing)
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 95%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Legal paper about if Terracoin is a security or not (aka SEC Letter) - 20%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 20%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

BIP9 + auxpow - 20%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 20%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Concept - Replace PoW/add multi-sign or introduce new algo - 10%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 10%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

Concept - Update to 0.13.0 of the Dash Code - 10%
<div style="width:50%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 10%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

==100% Completed Tasks==

<div style="width:75%;">
<p style="border:1px solid gray; padding:1px; overflow:hidden;">
<span style="width: 100%; height: 8px; background:#0e8843; float:left;"> </span>
</p>
</div>

===Original Update from Terracoin 0.8.4 Wallet===

*Merge mining – 100%

*Dark Gravity Wave – 100%

===Governance===

*Decentralized governance – 100%

*Masternodes – 100%

*In wallet GUI decentralized governance voting and proposals submission - 100%

*Public Ledger 2017-2018 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10Yceckmx-ZAf3AKQyYgLb1fi3Uud8KpBZDVuLyKCfX4/edit?usp=sharing

*Public Ledger 2019 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KyU2g5XjrzwYlswde9GzOT6N26n-CJpx7LviYgBvCXc/edit?usp=sharing

===Improve Social Media Presence===

*Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-terracoin-foundation/ - 100%

*Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheTerracoinFoundation - 100%

*Twitter - https://twitter.com/Terracoin_TRC - 100%

*Refresh Website - https://terracoin.io – 100%

*Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/terracoin - 100%

===Terracoin Infrastructure===

*Whitepaper - https://wiki.terracoin.io/view/Whitepaper - 100% (but always getting updated)

*Dynamic Roadmap - Trello: https://trello.com/b/3RJU8m6t/terracoin - 100%

*Weekly Updates - https://medium.com/@clockuniverse - 100%

*Weekly Updates Subsciption Link - http://eepurl.com/cYRTwn - 100%

*Masternode Monitoring - Service https://services.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Improved Block explorer - Insight https://insight.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Masternode Stats - Overview https://overview.terracoin.io/ - 100%

*Reliable Testnet – 100%

*Paper wallet: https://walletgenerator.net/?currency=Terracoin – 100%

*Apple Store/Duns number (needed for legitimacy on the Apple Store) - 100%

*Richlist - https://masternode.terracoin.io/top200.html - 100%

*Swag store - Zazzle: https://www.zazzle.com/terracoinshop - 100%

*Mattermost server: https://mattermost.terracoin.io/ (It also hosts a number of other things besides mattermost) - 100%

*Physical Address - PO Box: (The Terracoin Foundation, PO Box 86154, Portland OR, 97286) - 100%

*Continue to expand number of 3rd party site listings (exchanges, info sites, etc) - ∞

===Improve Terracoin Core code===

====Terracoin Core Updated to 0.12.4 of the Dash code with Terracoin Uniqueness====

*Windows - 100%

*MacOS -100%

*Linux - 100%

*Static builds & CI Compliance - 100%

====TRCpay (Light Weight Wallet)====

=====Desktop=====

*Windows - 100%

*MacOS - 100%

*Linux - 100%

=====Mobile=====

* Android - 100%

* iOS - 100%

Whitepaper

2019-04-01T20:02:14Z

Clockuniverse:

A whitepaper is a document often issued with the release of a new cryptocurrency to explain its Unique Value Proposition and describe details of how it will function. The Terracoin Whitepaper is frequently updated.

Terracoin Roadmap: [https://trello.com/b/3RJU8m6t/terracoin https://trello.com/b/3RJU8m6t/terracoin]

[https://dashpay.atlassian.net/wiki/download/attachments/132120878/Dash%20Whitepaper%20-%20InstantTX.pdf InstantSend Whitepaper]

=== Introduction ===

This paper will discuss the history of Terracoin, The Terracoin Foundation, Terracoin’s current specifications, and The Terracoin Foundation’s goals for helping the world.

=== History ===

Terracoin was created by an anonymous developer on October 26th, 2012, making Terracoin among one of the oldest coins around. Eventually it fell into a state of abandonment and on February 13th, 2016, The Terracoin Foundation took over development and support. At that time the only difference from Bitcoin and Terracoin was Terracoin having double the coin supply of Bitcoin and a block time of two minutes.

=== Fair Launch ===

* Terracoin has never been pre-mined
* Terracoin has never been and never will be an ICO

=== First Hard Fork adding Dark Gravity Wave and Merge Mining ===

On block 833,000 Terracoin had its first hard fork. The Terracoin Foundation added Dark Gravity Wave (DGW) difficulty readjustment and merge mining. Besides these changes we kept the original specifications of Terracoin.

=== Second Hard Fork adding DASH’s code ===

The second hard fork happened on block 1,087,500. The Terracoin Foundation added DASH’s code of decentralized governance, masternodes, InstantSend and PrivateSend. However, The Terracoin Foundation introduced a modification to the DASH code. Where DASH burns the cost of a proposal, Terracoin puts the proposal cost back into the blockchain (see Proposal Cost below). Besides these changes we kept the original specifications and code of the first hard fork of Terracoin.

=== SHA256 with merge mining ===

Terracoin is minable with the SHA256 algorithm. Though SHA256 is relatively costly and extremely energy inefficient, The Terracoin Foundation decided to keep this method of mining and added merge mining to keep our loyal legacy miners. Merge mining allows someone with an ASIC miner to mine a variety of coins including Bitcoin all at once. This makes the environmental impact nearly zero as the energy and effort is already in use.

=== Block Time ===

A two-minute block time was chosen by Terracoin’s original anonymous developer. The Terracoin Foundation kept this block time as compromise between Bitcoin’s too long block time, and a too fast block time. This adds to Terracoin’s security and stability.

=== Reward Halving ===

Block reward halving happens every 1,050,000 blocks, which is approximately every 4 years. This reduced by half, the amount of coins generated by miners, masternodes, and the decentralized governance. Unlike DASH’s slow reduction of reward, The Terracoin Foundation decided to keep the original reward halving as it keeps a regular schedule and increases stability.

=== Reward Split ===

Each block reward is split between miners, masternodes and decentralized governance. The split is 45% to miners, 45% to masternodes, and 10% to decentralized governance. This split rewards the miners for processing blocks while securing the network. It rewards the masternodes for securing the masternode network and processing InstantSend and PrivateSend. The masternode network can also be used for future innovations such as an application layer. The more miners and masternodes there are the more secure the network is against attack. The 10% to the decentralized governance is not part of every block reward but is distributed through the superblock approximately every 30 days. The superblock pays out to passing proposals in order of yes minus no votes in that month’s proposal queue.

=== Coin Supply ===

Terracoin’s max coin supply is 42,000,000 coins. This is double Bitcoin’s max coin supply. This number was kept through both hard forks in as to not devalue the coin needlessly and because it is a realistic number of coins. Double the max coin supply of Bitcoin will help insure the price is lower than Bitcoin so it still can be used as a currency and not just traded as an investment.

=== Dark Gravity Wave (DGW) ===

Before the first hard fork the Terracoin network could be easily manipulated by miners because the difficulty was only adjusted every 1024 blocks. This meant a large mining group could mine TRC for 1024 blocks until the difficulty raised, and then turn their miners on another coin for 1024. This manipulation of the blockchain would only benefit strategic mining groups aimed at getting rewards faster. Dark Gravity Wave (DGW) changes the difficulty every block which increases security by stabilizing the network.

=== Masternode ===

Community members of Terracoin who have 5000 TRC can run something called a masternode. Each masternode is paid rewards in a random distribution to facilitate InstantSend and PrivateSend. Most importantly, owning a masternode allows for the masternode owner to vote on governance proposals. Anyone can put in a proposal to the decentralized governance for 10 TRC.

=== Decentralized Governance ===

Decentralized governances allow anyone with 10 TRC to put in proposals for budgetary funds. All masternode holders can vote on the proposals, and if they pass the proposal owner is paid on the superblock which happens approximately every 30 days. This allows the community to help influence the future of Terracoin, submit proposals to help their local community and expands the workforce. Since masternode owners have an active role in the future of Terracoin it also increases community activity.

=== Proposal Cost ===

One of the major changes The Terracoin Foundation made to DASH’s code was putting the cost of a proposal back into the blockchain. With DASH’s code the cost of a proposal costs 5 DASH. This is there so that someone cannot spam the proposal system. These 5 DASH are burnt, so the max supply of DASH is always lowering. The Terracoin Foundation decided to charge 10 Terracoin per proposal but instead of burning the TRC, it is added back to the block reward. This makes a stable max coin supply and gives a bonus to block rewards as the number of proposals goes up.

=== Donations ===

A core principle of The Terracoin Foundation is to improve the world while improving our blockchain technology. We all live on this world, and with non-voting Terracoin Foundation owned masternodes and proposal based local donations we can make an impact around the world and in our community’s local areas. Any masternode owner can put in a proposal to the decentralized governance to help their local charity, or a local resident. When TRC holds the price of $1 USD for a month, The Terracoin Foundation masternodes will use half of their net profits to donate to community picked worldwide non-profits. The other half of the net profits will be turned into more Terracoin Foundation owned masternodes to increase the amount that can be donated each month. Anyone can also donate TRC to a donations address and this TRC is turned into more Terracoin Foundation masternodes. The long-term goal of The Terracoin Foundation non-profit side is to cut out the middle men of philanthropy and create a fast-acting team that can react to crises around the world and help in a real and impactful way. Since we use a public ledger and blockchain technology all The Terracoin Foundation’s expenditures will be fully transparent.

=== Future Innovations ===

Cryptocurrency technology is constantly changing so Terracoin must also be constantly innovating. We use community suggestions to sort through the next technology to advance Terracoin. We do this because there are so many different new technologies springing up that it’s impossible for one person to keep track. While we innovate tried and tested new technology from other coins, The Terracoin Foundation is also dedicated to creating our own. We will do this by attracting developers and team members who believe not only in our cryptocurrency but also in our long-term goals of helping the world.

=== Conclusion ===

Terracoin uses a mixture of Bitcoin and DASH code to achieve a very secure and fast blockchain. With our SHA256 algorithm, merge mining, block rewards, and coin supply we are stable and valuable while still being useable. Our decentralized governance and masternode code helps spread and unite a community who has a true voice in Terracoin. Lastly, our dedication to helping the world through The Terracoin Foundation and proposal based donations helps market the coin to an ever-growing community.