What is Suggestion Box?

I like to think it's an example of what eCash makes possible. Not only because it leverages the XEC network to function, but because without this magic internet money, I wouldn't have been able to do this at all. How else would I have been able to anonymously pay a developer I've never met to take a mere idea and build a functioning website in a matter of a few short days.

So what exactly does Suggestion Box do?

Simply put, it's a way for people to send me their suggestions. Except unlike Twitter or Telegram, it will cost you XEC to do so. Suggestions will appear with those paying 10,000 XEC or more highlighted at the top of the page while those paying less will appear underneath. Please keep in mind this is still an alpha version with limited functionality, but I hope to add more features in the future.

Why would anyone pay to send a short message?

Hopefully for many reasons. Everything from suggesting what I write about next to telling me what you think I'm doing wrong. You can use it to promote something you care about, or maybe even just to lend your support. And it can all be done as anonymously as you want. Because while the messages are on the blockchain for all to see, forever, if you don't leak your identity, no one needs to know who the message came from.

I see this as a new form of communication. A way to get someone's attention by paying them for it as directly as possible: peer-to-peer.

When people say programmable money, they're usually talking about smart contracts, but what about money that comes with a suggestion?

A suggestion is defined as an "idea or plan put forward for consideration". Well, isn't that what all messages really are? Ideas put forward by the sender in the hope that the receiver will take it into consideration.

As Amaury has previously written about, our civilization has entered a new era where information is no longer scarce but overly abundant. There's so much noise it's becoming increasingly difficult to spot the signals that actually matter.

The funny thing is that at its core, money is also a signal. It signals what we demand more of from the market, or if that demand is waning. The market processes these signals to shape our economy, which shapes our culture, which shapes our lives.

If that signaling mechanism were to fail, not only would our economy struggle to produce the goods and services needed most, we would struggle, period.

This is why I support eCash, and why it's so important to me. Because it represents the opportunity to one day have a system that can't be manipulated in order to put the wants of the few above the needs of the many. But that's not all.

In addition to having the desired hard money properties that are absent from currencies that are created out of thin air, or working to become the most efficient medium of exchange the world has ever seen, eCash will also have the ability to communicate and make suggestions in a way that isn't possible with the money we use today.

This is where my new Suggestion Box comes in. I hope it gives you a sense of what I mean by money that can be used to not only send a market signal, but to attach a literal message along with it.

Imagine paying your restaurant bill with Cashtab and including a message along with your tip. Imagine buying your favorite product on Amazon and including a short review with your payment. Reviews that can't easily be faked because they have an actual cost associated with them.

To me, this is what people should mean when they say smart money. eCash obviously has a long way to go before reaching such heights, but until then, I hope you have fun with this new feature. Please be aware the functionality is fairly limited for now. Only the most recent 20-30 messages can be displayed at a time, and the amounts being sent aren't shown, but I hope to include that and other features in the next version.

As stated before, any XEC generated from the Suggestion Box will be paid out as dividends to POW token holders and everything will be transparent as it's all on chain. You can track the total amount of XEC sent and their messages here:

ecash:qr5g7wfc83xjv3qs7vxjk2xd4em4cel23cmmek9thu

Once again a big thank you to Alita Yin for helping me put this together so quickly. She's a rockstar and if you ever need someone for design work, I would give her a look.

Meanwhile, I look forward to seeing all your suggestions =)

Introducing: Suggestion Box