Clearing up some confusion

There are some who posted about the drop in the price of Manna and how it is affecting them.

We feel that based upon some of what we read, some clarification is needed.

Manna is a cryptocurrency just like bitcoin and ethereum. For this reason, there are certain properties that apply to them as well as Manna. There are, however, also some things that separate it.

Cryptocurrency is money. This was the intended design of bitcoin. The blockchain is a public ledger of transactions which take place in the currency called "bitcoin". This currency is not backed by the "faith and trust" of any government. Bitcoin is without a nation; it operates across all borders.

Value of any currency is derived from the trust people place in it. The U.S. dollar enjoys strong appeal to many around the world because the U.S. government is rather stable compared to many in the world. We also see the U.S. economy tends to be more resilient than a lot of others.

The events in Venezuela shows that "faith and trust" in a government currency is not guaranteed. We see that "value" is driven in the same way.

Manna is a cryptocurrency that has a utility. The utility is that it is distributed each week to anyone who signs up and verifies. It is a basic income meant to help reduce poverty. That is what the token was designed for.

All cryptocurrencies reside on networks. Surrounding this network is an ecosystem. Bitcoin, ethereum, and steem are all cryptocurrencies that have ecosystems associated with them. There is a community that develops where people contribute. The same thing occurs outside the cryptocurrency realm with Apple, Google, and Facebook.

We are in the process of creating the Manna ecosystem. Essentially, Manna is 11 weeks old since we only began distributing the token to the masses starting March 1. Before that, we have a few thousand people in the trial under the Grantcoin name.

Manna is very new in this regard.

Prices of cryptocurrencies rise and fall based upon market forces. Actually, this is true in all currencies as evidenced by the forex market. Manna is no different on this point. We all would like to see the price always moving up but it is not realistic. The free market decides what it wants to do at all times.

Manna is an optional system. Unlike governments, we cannot force people to take nor accept Manna. We do not have the power to declare that all establishments are required to accept Manna as payment. This is where cryptocurrency differs from traditional fiat currencies. The U.S. government requires companies to accept USD as payments.

Much like steem and other blockchains, a large part of the development comes from outside the core Manna team. Blockchain is open meaning anyone can create what interests them. Over the past two years, a few hundred applications were built on steem. This is laying the foundation for a well-established ecosystem. We feel that it is safe to say that some of this is reflected in the price of steem.

We believe Manna will be similar. This is not a get rich quick scheme. Nor it is likely a get rich slowly token either.

Manna is meant to be a currency that is used to buy goods and services as needed. That is the ultimate goal. We are not to that point at this time yet we are confident with the developments such as https://www.mannabasics.com. This is a project that was developed outside the core Manna team. It is the first, to our knowledge, store that accepts Manna as payment.

Blockchain success comes from developers and entrepreneurs creating and operating businesses on the different networks. This is how an ecosystem grows. Decentralization means that growth does not come from top down but, rather, bottom up. It is the masses who drive the adoption.

The decision one makes with a currency is a "vote" about it. At this moment, it seems the Venezuelans do not have a lot of faith in their government's money. There is a lot of selling (getting rid) going on. People are voting against it. They are moving into anything other than the Bolivar.

Manna is no different. Until we get to the point where the ecosystem has enough uses for Manna in its native form, we are going to see people "vote" by their actions. Those who swap Manna for other cryptocurrencies are showing their distrust in this. That is fine. We realize not everyone sees the vision that we have.

The flip side of this is those who choose to not only hold the tokens they receive, but also buy Manna on the open market. Those are the people who understand what we are trying to accomplish and want to support it. Buying the token is an affirmation that one believes in what is being created.

When putting together something like this, there is always a choice to be made. We can focus our attention upon the price of the token or the actions we need to take to expand and grow the ecosystem. Those are the two choices.

Many in the cryptocurrency world focus upon the price of the token. That is called the proverbial "pump and dump". This is not the path that interests us. Our goal is to reduce or eradicate poverty around the world. That is not accomplished by pumping the token up only to watch it collapse.

Instead, we are taking measures to give the token some underlying value outside just a marketing ploy. Ultimately, the value of Manna will be by those who receive the currency.

We are fully aware that for Manna to make a difference as a basic income, the value of the token needs to move up. This is something that also needs to be done with the long-term in mind. Just moving the price of the currency for a few months only to see it collapse does not align with what we are trying to accomplish.

This is our commitment to the Manna community. We understand there are many who need the money each week. However, for the rest, we ask that you join us in taking the long-term view of things.

Collectively, we can make a difference on a large scale.