Thank you for the detailed breakdown.
Though all points made in this seem quite valid, I feel it is important to identify some key features of the current methodology.
What is the purpose of staking on Harmony?
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Is this process meant to lock up tokens, for the purpose of lowering liquidity on the market for a reward, there-by assisting the underlying value of the token?
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Is staking a method that is meant to reward an active community for becoming more educated on a protocol, for interacting more with developers and validators?
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Is staking simply a way inflate the market, and reward participation by catering more to temporary or long term token holders?
The current system seems to reward the most dedicated to the network, the most educated in the harmony ecosystem and those that are committed to developing on the protocol.
I believe that this change will benefit a very specific type of temporary institutional participation above individuals. As has been demonstrated by many competing POS systems, lock up periods, ranging from days to weeks actually seem to improve the stability of the validators operating as they are more consistently able to participate in consensus (improvements: economic, development, server mgmt, etc.). It is evident that a truly ethical proof of stake system needs to include a form of friction that rewards those that are the most dedicated to a network. I believe the economic system we have today does just this.
Rather than changing the system, Harmony should make more effort on educating the community on how the system works, and on the importance of staking to trusted validators.
We have 1 week of data today, I believe more research and feedback should be gathered before making such a high impact decision.
The decision outlined today may:
- Encourage institutional participation
- Make it more challenging to manage BLS keys for a community validator or individuals
- Reduce the importance of education in the current staking economy.
Ultimately leading to the true value of staking being temporary rewards, instead of the long term value of the token.
Thank you
Juliun.