Frequently asked questions about Freicoin

Monetary system

Q: What's wrong with the modern financial system?
A: In the current system, money is created by private organizations (banks), which lend the money to people. This generates inequality - some have to earn the money, while others get it automatically.

Q: But money is created by the government, isn't it?
A: No. The government does not create money. Paper money is printed by an independent agency, called the Central Bank. But cash only counts for 3% of all money. Most of it is electronic/digital money. Commercial banks create the money when they give out credits. This means the government has almost no control over the money distribution.

Q: What you're saying doesn't sound reasonable. It can't be right?!
A: These facts have been confirmed by many researches. For example, Positive Money according to the UK economy and Web Of Debt according to the US economy. You can watch the documentary Money As Debt if you're still in doubt.

Q: So what is the Solution?
A: A gift based economy would probably be a better one, but such an economy can't be deployed rapidly. Right now we suggest that you consider Freicoin. In Freicoin, the money creation process is controlled by mathematical algorithms, implemented in the Freicoin software. It's a result of the modern achievements by mankind - powerful computing systems, distributed networks and applied cryptography.

Freicoin currency

Q: Alright! So the creator of this program plays the role of the Main Banker.
A: Freicoin is a distributed network. Since launch, it has been a self-controlled process. The quantity of freicoins produced is determined by the entire network. Nobody can produce "additional" money. Yes, it's almost like Skynet :)

Q: Freicoin relies on computers and the Internet, which means it can be turned off, doesn't it?
A: Yes, this is true. Most of the modern society depends on electronics, though. This means, if the Internet was shut down, it would severely disrupt our whole civilization, not only Freicoin.

Q: I've heard about something like this before. It already exists, and is called Bitcoin.
A: Imagine Bitcoin being a cake. Freicoin adds a small cherry on top of the cake, namely the demurrage fee.

Q: How can I get to understand the demurrage fee better?
A: Money degrades over time, and it's common for traditional "paper money". They slowly wear out. In that sense, you can think about Freicoin as cash.

Q: Why does Freicoin use demurrage? I'm worried that my coins will just fade away.
A: Worried? It's a good thing. If the amount of money was stable, people would prefer saving it as opposed to spending it. This would decrease the quantity of money circulated, which in turn would act against the main purpose of money - a medium of exchange. With demurrage in place, you should think about money as it's meant to be, not as a storage medium of wealth.

Q: How big is this demurrage fee?
A: Estimated 5% annually. Ultimately it depends on the speed of certain operations in the network.

Q: With a zero interest rate, investments will be impossible!
A: It's already possible, for example, in Islam banking. If the investor wants to profit, he must share and risk his investment. And thanks to the Internet, we have a great tool for investing directly - crowdfunding, where every participant can compare his/her own expectations for a new project and decide whether to fund it or not.

Freicoin project

Q: Do you want to compete with Bitcoin?
A: No, we want to coexist with Bitcoin.

Q: Where did you get the money for this project?
A: Freicoin was funded by a public crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.

Q: Sustainability, justice... You sound like communists!
A: Socialism claims money prohibition. Freicoin aims to fix a broken monetary system. Those are two different things.

Freicoin Foundation

Q: What is the Freicoin Foundation?
A: The Freicoin Foundation is a non-profit organization, aiming to support sustainability and biodiversity by integrating Freicoin into economical relations.

Q: You said that Freicoin is decentralized. But the Foundation makes it centralized!
A: You are right. But we have no other solution. Initial coins should be distributed to the society.

Q: Why can't you just give these coins to miners (as in Bitcoin). Why do we need a bureaucracy?
A: The mining community consists mostly of enthusiasts, not ordinary people who use computers to browse the Internet.

Q: How many coins does the Foundation have?
A: The Freicoin Foundation distributes 80% of the total Freicoin money supply through grants. The remaining 20% is a reward for miners, who support the network with their computing power.

Q: When, in the future, will all the coins have been distributed?
A: About 3 years after the project launched (December 2012), which means sometimes in 2015 or 2016.

Q: Why do you prefer giving the coins to producers instead of online merchants?
A: Most of the production has already moved from the EU and the US to China. We should support the small amount of producers, who remain in our countries. Online merchants are mostly resellers.

Q: Why do you want to share the coins between interested customers, and not between everyone?
A: Because if a customer isn't interested in Freicoin, he won't use it. So the coins that are granted to him would essentially be lost.

Q: You should fund hi-tech production, not farmers!
A: For the Freicoin Foundation, a sustainable future is the priority. You can live without a TV and a mobile phone, but without food... unlikely! Family farms are not funded by the state, and agriculture is a low-profit activity. They need our help.

Freicoin client

Q: My client is stuck at "catching up", what's wrong?
A: This happens when the network hashrate is insufficient compared to the current difficulty, it's nothing to worry about.

Q: The little icon at the bottom of my wallet says "8 active connections to the Freicoin network" and "downloaded 12213 blocks of transaction history..." What's this all about?
A: You can treat them as internal information about Freicoin. As long as the histogram and check marker are both green, everything is fine, the program is synced with the network and ready to be used.

Q: The histogram is mostly red & orange
A: Freicoin uses port 8639 for connecting to other nodes in the network. Make sure that your firewall allows connections to this port.

Q: Why is the client constantly downloading something?
A: To stay up to date with the Freicoin network. Every copy of the program keeps a history of all operations in the network. It has to be be synced.

Q: I ran it for the first time. Why is it so slow?
A: The initial download of the blockchain takes some time. Please be patient.

Q: What is a "block", a "hash", "generation", "mining"? I'm no scientist or programmer, so please, try to be clear.
A: If you just use Freicoin as a normal user would, you can forget about these cumbersome terms. They reflect the internal structure of Freicoin and aren't needed for everyday usage.

Q: Are there any special requirements for the Freicoin client?
A: It's not recommended to install it on an SSD. The Freicoin client actively uses the disk, and knowing that SSDs have a limited amount of rewrites, it could speed up the degradation of your SSD.

Q: Can I run the Freicoin client on my smartphone/tablet?
A: Ubuntu has been ported to handheld devices and was successfully launched on a Nexus 7. So in theory, yes, you can. In practice it's strongly recommended not to do so. The Freicoin client heavily depends on file storage and could damage your flash card.

Q: I still want to try Freicoin on my smartphone.
A: Support for online e-wallets will be available in the near future, we suggest that you wait until then.