Diamond: Building a Community Run Blockchain from an Abandoned Blockchain
Hello! Who are you and what is your company/project?
My name is Helmut Siedl and I am a DMD Diamond Foundation member. DMD Diamond is a truly decentralized project developed by community enthusiasts.
The name Diamond represents rarity, unshakable strength, and value. Our mission is to enable people to achieve financial freedom and independence, by creating a platform that provides a safe, affordable, and rewarding smart contract-powered blockchain economy.
The DMD Diamond team has also developed their own DMDv4 blockchain, which has various benefits and aims to provide every participant with maximal freedom to host projects on the platforms that best apply to their needs. On top of that, DMD v4 will be the first blockchain to implement a sustainable and endless reward mechanic with a low max finite supply of just 4.38 million coins.
The DMD community coin is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies on the market and also one of a very small number of coins including Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Peercoin that have survived from their inception (2013) to the present and are still actively supported and traded.
What’s your backstory and how did you get the idea for the company/project?
I came to the idea of the DMD Diamond project when I was working as a private investor in crypto projects. It was 2013. Then the idea of creating a DMD Diamond appeared. We learned that the original owner had abandoned the project. This is how we organized the takeover of the community. Since 2014, I have become one of the leaders of the DMD Diamond Foundation, and the DMD Diamond project has united crypto enthusiasts under its name.
- Since 2000 I’ve been in IT. I have seen all aspects of it from Desktop PC service, Internet Service Provider 2nd Level Support Network Infrastructure Maintenance, and monitoring, and at the end software testing for automotive testbed solutions.
- Since 2013 I’ve been a private personal investor in crypto projects and one that I did find most appealing at starting DMD Diamond as we discovered the original creator abandoned it. We organized a community takeover to take care of DMD Diamond will become what we all believed when we invested in it.
- Since 2014 I’ve been one of the leaders of the DMD Diamond Foundation — it is a group of highly dedicated community members who do everything to support the DMD Diamond technology and ecosystem. It’s not a company. DMD Diamond is owned by no one and is not under the control of a company, with no premining and ICO.
- Since January of 2018, I have run my own company in the blockchain business http://blockserv.at/ and I’m also a Co-Founder of https://lab10.coop/en/ and co-founder at gostake.com. The main projects I’m involved in this day are bit.diamonds, gostake.com, artis.eco.
What problem is your company/project trying to solve?
Blockchain technologies have established themselves as technologies that hold promises regarding the preservation of the value and privacy of digital assets. However, the technology has also faced many challenges that all modern blockchains must address. Such problems include high cost, low transaction speed, and others.
Many blockchain systems overlook a truly sustainable economic system. A truly resilient ecosystem must be built around a finite resource, designed in such a way that the resource can be “recycled”, “renewable”.
Interoperability is becoming important as the industry matures and consolidates around a common mission of achieving global financial inclusion.
Our DMD Diamond community has always strived to maintain the best technology. We want to make sure that coin holders are protected and the DMD network is gaining traction and is useful in the industry.
What makes your company/project unique?
The DMD v4 blockchain adds the smart contract functionality and sets out to align with the industry as it is: the coin wars are over and blockchain interoperability is more important for the entire industry. Therefore, DMDv4 is compatible with Ethereum EVM smart contracts, making it simple to port smart contracts written for Ethereum to DMD Diamond v4.
To meet the market demands of speed and security, the DMD team has analyzed different consensus algorithms available today including one of the most promising developments, the Honey Badger Byzantine Fault Tolerant (HBBFT) consensus algorithm. This consensus algorithm was developed in 2016 specifically to address the issues of slow transaction times and the difficulties of having synchronous communication on a large global network.
After extensive research, the DMD Diamond team has determined that using HBBFT will dramatically increase the efficiency and improve the security of the DMD blockchain. In this way, we developed DMDv4 — the first cooperative consensus blockchain with a delegated PoS-powered validator election which allows for high speed and performance, absolute censorship resistance and fork resistance, instant finality of transactions, and other advantages that cannot be delivered by a competitive consensus.
Describe the process of launching the company/project.
The original Diamond was created in 2013, it used a lot of Bitcoin’s codebase but featured a hybrid PoW/PoS consensus model, like Peercoin, and a limited maximum supply of 4.38 million DMD. Full emission was supposed to take eight years, which seemed like a very long time for crypto at the time. The idea was met with a lot of excitement, though the PoS staking algorithm had its flaws.
Since launch, how have you grown your company/project?
The most valuable thing I learned is that technology doesn’t change the basic fact that having a vision and doesn’t lose it out of sight is what makes the difference. If our vision is to create a company that sells ICO tokens that earn more than you invested then this is all you will be able to reach. If our vision is to create a pillar of blockchain infrastructure that will power the blockchain-based future in a heterogeneous interoperable running on many chains environment and still be without premine without ICO without company control it but instead the system stakeholders control itself via a DAO. Then this is what you will reach.
The biggest feature of the DMD Diamond project is the technological idea. DMD Diamond has taken the approach that cooperation and interoperability across chains is a must for the sustainable and long-term development of the crypto industry.
For that reason, the DMDv4 is being created as a system that is fully compatible with Ethereum, using Open Ethereum addressing systems and foundations, and running EVM apps according to the protocol standards. The result is that dApps can be easily migrated across chains.
In addition, another feature is a strong and supportive community that actively takes part in the development of the project.
Unfortunately, a few months after the launch of the project, the main developer of Diamond left the project. Despite all this, DMD Diamond saved itself by community takeover on the Bitcointalk forum.
We got a group of developers who updated the code, improving the code for PoS stacking. In April 2014, DMDv2 was launched. The new version of Diamond was based on Mintcoin and had a completely different emission model. Instead of 8 years of constant PoS rewards, it will now take over 40 years to produce all 4.38 million DMD coins at a steadily decreasing inflation rate.
With the slow release and more reliable code, DMDv2 was poised to become a popular store of value. But the community wanted to go further and decided to introduce the increasingly popular masternodes — nodes that store a complete and constantly updated copy of the blockchain and provide additional services. Masternodes have helped make transactions faster and more anonymous, and have made the Diamond blockchain more reliable. However, a new, much more powerful technology was required — and it appeared in Diamond 4.0.
Today DMDv4 supports smart contracts, fully compatible with Ethereum and EVM. We are also implementing the new HoneyBadger BFT consensus algorithm. This is the first time that a newly created Ethereum-based blockchain will use HBBFT, which is why the Diamond community is once again pioneering.
What are the biggest challenges you have faced while building your company/project?
Over the years the biggest challenge was to make people believe this is real. People couldn’t just believe that this was driven by a few enthusiasts. A true decentralized (controlled by no one) project can not only survive in this hard environment but also work on a revolutionary code upgrade that will be in many areas an industry-first solution. Also, they couldn’t believe it would stay true to the ideals of Satoshi Nakamoto as a system that’s not under the control of a company but instead by its stakeholders, everyone who owns coins and runs nodes.
Exchange example: Bittrex asked for legal statements, so we wasted 20000$ on USA-based lawyers just to see Bittrex delist us a few months later. The world is not ready for projects that are not owned by some company or person. Many difficulties arise from that tech-wise. A blockchain project means constant evolution. That was also the nickname of the first upgrade we designed DMD v2 evolution back in 2014.
Through starting the company/project, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous about the crypto/blockchain “space”?
Nearly everything I know about blockchain I learned after I started getting involved in DMD Diamond. I was so green behind the ears. That did change a lot in the last 8 years. People look at you as if you are a walking blockchain history encyclopedia because of what you did experience in that timeframe. But the most important part I learned has nothing to do with blockchain. It’s “if you have a vision and you don’t give up to make it true, your vision comes closer to being a reality each day”.
Also, technology doesn’t remove the fact that it’s all about the people. A blockchain without a community that run nodes, code updates, and tell the world that it exists is just a zombie (as long as there run 2 nodes somewhere it’s not dead but it’s not alive too)
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
Busy days to get DMDv4 ready for open testnet. Once an open testnet is running, it will be a different kind of beast. You can write a lot but it’s not the same as seeing it in action with your own eyes! We see this a lot as we have already launched several alpha test nets. For everyone but the team, the open testnet will be a revelation.
As we said earlier, our community is preparing for the transition to the new DMDv4 blockchain model. Diamond DMDv4 uses a suite of technologies that integrate the latest proven technologies, allowing for fast transaction time, full smart contract support, and on-chain governance.
In recent months, we have been also actively developing the code, which can now be seen in the public domain on GitHub. Thanks to this transition (from standard Ethereum towards DMD enhanced Ethereum compatible codebase with HBBFT Honeybadger consensus + POSDAO node election engine), important parts of the consensus mechanics have changed, which is now working 20 times more efficiently and with almost no energy wasted, and with many additional functions compared with standard Ethereum. The situation with updating all adaptations of our code to open Ethereum 3.1 continues.
The future goal is to see how DMD Diamond runs on its own feet driven by a DAO governance system to reward positive project proposals out of its own sustainable ecosystem.
When my grandchildren ask me what I did back in the days of blockchain wild west when it all started I will just answer: DMD Diamond is my legacy!
What have been the most helpful crypto/blockchain books, podcasts, and/or other resources?
As for me, it was the Bitcoin White Paper and, of course, many hours of talking with crypto enthusiasts all over the globe. To be technically prepared, read Satoshi Nakamoto’s, White Paper. It is small but will give a basic understanding of the blockchain. The philosophy instead of the technology is what impressed me the most. Also, check everything that tries to sell itself as blockchain because if it is truly decentralized it will be permissionless, open-source, and not under the control of a company or other central authority.
I would also recommend The Blockchain Revolution, which looks at how blockchain technology can change our way of life and our trade in the future. But always remember that communication with crypto enthusiasts and blockchain developers is the most effective tool for your development.
What is your advice for someone just starting out in the crypto/blockchain space?
Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are an exciting world. For those who are just starting to dive into this, I would give a few of the following tips:
First, I would start from the very basics. I studied how the blockchain works, what projects there are, I was looking for like-minded people because it is easier and more effective to develop and learn new things together. Having a community is a great incentive to move and develop, to try something new. Study the topic of blockchain from all angles. Anyone who develops and constantly searches for something new and introduces new technologies will certainly be able to achieve a lot.
Second, Get in touch with the people on the team to get an idea of the potential if they truly stand for their vision and seem to have the skills to make it happen. Don’t get involved in projects where it’s impossible to get in touch with their team. By following this logic, I could have avoided wasting time and resources as I started out as a blockchain investor. I paid a lot to learn this lesson the hard way. The positive side of this experience is that you establish an enjoyable network with people from the ecosystem that helps you later when you try to build your projects.
Third, always proceed with caution. Don’t forget about the risks. Risk is an integral part of any investment, and investing in bitcoin is no exception. When planning their investment in cryptocurrency, novice bitcoin investors should keep this in mind. Always start small and constantly analyze what you are doing.
Finally, be prepared for instability. Don’t be alarmed. The cryptocurrency market is known for its excessive volatility, which discourages many traditional investors in regulated markets. A sharp drop in the price of bitcoin does not mean complete disaster, but it is difficult to stay true to an investment decision made when yields slide into the red. Follow your strategy in everything.
Are you looking to hire certain positions right now?
DMD Diamond is an open-source community-driven project, so everyone is able to contribute via GitHub: https://github.com/DMDcoin.
Where can we go to learn more?
Join DMD Diamond!
Website: https://bit.diamonds/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmdcoin?lang=en
Medium: https://dmd-diamond.medium.com/
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/dmd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmdcoin/
Telegram: https://t.me/dmd_coin
Telegram chat: https://t.me/DMDcoin
Source: HodlersHub
