After more than a year of continual disappointments, can we say that DeSo is a scam ?
The question we have to ask ourselves is: was Nader sincere when he explained that he believed that DeSo was going to compete with Facebook?
First published on August 11, 2022.
17 months after the launching in March 2021, most users have lost their investments, and the number of daily active users barely exceeds 1000, can we say that Deso was actually a scam?
To try to answer, we must first define what qualifies as a scam?
Without getting into a legal debate, I would say that if the seller's promise is knowingly a lie, it's a scam.
For example, if a drug seller says that a remedy cures this or that disease when he knows perfectly well that it is false, it is a scam. Or if a company sells investments and says that the remuneration comes from financial investments when they actually come from new investors, this is called a Ponzi scheme, therefore a scam,
So what was Nader's promise?
NADER'S PROMISES
During an interview on Zoom last year, Nader explained that Bitclout was a demo app for testing the validity of a social network on blockchain. After six months of successful testing, Bitclout.com was ready to become one node among many others on a blockchain now called DeSo (short for Decentralized Social).
Nader would be the boss of this new node (DiamondApp) as well as of the DeSo blockchain, which would aim to accommodate all nodes in all countries and in all languages.
Nader promised that DeSo foundation of which he is the president would use part of its funds amounting to 200 million dollars to help financially the developers, the creators of NFTs and the small creators.
Nader mentioned that he was in contact with several NFT platform managers, including Opensea, and that the question was not whether an integration of DeSo on these platforms was going to happen, but when.
In such a way that we would be able for example go to Opensea to buy DeSo NFTs or buy Opesea NFTs and pay in $ DESO.
In interviews with mainstream media like CNBC News Channel, Nader said DeSo was meant to compete with social media giants like Facebook.
How?
As on the blockchain all data is open source, what will happen, explained Nader, is that all developers around the world will be able to access it to create their social networks on the DeSo model. « That can create the scale economy that is needed to actually being able to compete with centralized monopolistic platforms », said Nader. « We can unlock the ingenuity of anybody anywhere in the world, not just of one company: the best researchers in the world can build models on the DeSo data ».
This technological revolution will be, according to Nader, “extremely disruptive” for centralized platforms in a monopoly situation which will have a hard time adapting because they are prisoners of a closed model which relies on advertising and for this reason cannot share their data.
HOW I LOST 3 THOUSAND DOLLARS
This ambitious vision communicated by a very convincing Nader was extremely tempting.
Personally, it seduced me and I started investing in Creator Coins that seemed promising to me. This is what most users were doing: betting on a Creator and hoping the value of their token would go up.
However, I remember talking to someone last year who didn't believe in Creator Coins. Her name is @sandirose, well know very active and talented user. She said that she was not interested in CC and that she would not invest.
For my part, I thought that the main attraction of the platform was precisely to bet, to try, to risk a little money in what seemed to be undervalued Creators, fingers crossed that it turns out to be a good deal.
As a poker player I know it is always risky to bet.
I bet, I started winning and if I had withdrawn my winnings in June 2021 before Bitclout was listed on the exchanges and its value fell, I would have continued the game with a positive balance. But I continued to play hoping to multiply my bets.
Like the vast majority of members, I lost 95% of my investments, concretely, about 3 thousand dollars. It is both a lot and a little. As they always say, "don't invest more than you're willing to lose". I bet according to my possibilities, I lost. I assume.
HAS NADER BEEN SINCERE ?
Nader's promises did not come true. Some optimists say "not yet" come true.
The question we have to ask ourselves is: was Nader sincere when he explained that he believed that DeSo was going to compete with Facebook? Or was his only goal to take the profits ASAP, allowing Core Team members to take extended vacations (as @MaeBeam said in her last post: “I'm on an extended vacation 🙂”)?
I hope he was sincere but given the result - hardly more than 1000 active users per day-, one may wonder.
If he really wanted to compete with Facebook, it is, so far, a monumental fiasco. But if it was to make a mountain of money in a few months, it's a phenomenal success.
So, scam or not? How to decide?
It is very difficult to decide because the information does not circulate. Nader has maintained from the beginning a lack of transparency, not to say complete opacity on what is happening behind the scenes. The only information that reaches us looks more like public relations releases than sincere explanations of the real goals and decisions of the Core Team.
And to compound the lack of clarity, it's unclear among the top Creators, who received an Octane Fund and who didn’t. Because, let's face it, someone who has received funding is in a situation of conflict of interest when he gives his opinion on the Core Team. We are only humans and if I would receive an Octane Fund, honestly, there is a good chance that I would refrain from criticizing those who fund me. Nader, if you can hear me :-))
WHY AM I STAYING ?
Why am I staying? Even though I think they took out almost all the money (maybe I am wrong, who knows), and the development prospects are rather unlikely, the tool is still cool and there are a lot of very interesting people on the platform. There is always room to experiment with things, develop your creativity and have fun with new acquaintances around the world.
Do I think DeSo can bounce back? Hey, who knows! The fact is I strive to do my bit every day to the best of my bipolar ability.