10 Apr Symbol blockchain news update – 10/04/22

Goodbye Hatchet

I’m still getting my head around this myself but I will try to bring you up to date on the latest happenings and decipher what this means for Symbol, NEM and our community. I can’t include the original tweet thread as Hatchet’s Twitter account is no more. This is a real shame in itself since there was a lot of useful information in her posts which is now lost to the world. It also breaks a large chunk of the content on my blog! 😅

So if I remember correctly (and to be honest I’d had a few drinks last night when the news broke so I may not be recalling it accurately 😂) there were a series of tweets that went out from a Japanese node owner that I think were quite critical of the current state of Symbol and NEM. They demanded more be done and then Hatchet was no longer. It may seem like an extreme reaction at first glance but it was a case of the straw that broke the camel’s back I think. I haven’t really been exposed to much Twitter trolling, two or three negative comments in 9 months of running the blog but you have to understand that there is a constant stream of negativity funneled at the core developers and I think that the lion’s share probably went to Hatchet. This is not cool and it is not fair, you really can’t expect miracles to happen in a few months and the developers are not here to make us a quick buck, they have set out a vision and want to build it. The choice is simple really, if you are not happy with the direction that has been taken or feel like progress is too slow or that you could profit more from another coin then it’s time to move on. Patience is key, perhaps Symbol will never be a top 10 coin but you certainly can’t expect to achieve this status and recognition within a few months so don’t be so quick to judge and point fingers, especially when you give nothing to the project.

I know that there is some frustration but the objective for the developers is not to make a get rich quick scheme for us. They have set out their plans for all to see so let's give them the time and support they need

Maybe I am naive but I believe that in time we will succeed 🙂

— Symbol Blog (@blog_symbol) April 9, 2022

We have been through quite a transformation over the last year and contrary to what some people think we have made some significant progress under Hatchet’s watch. Breaking away from the old and laying the foundations for the future has enabled us take some responsibility and become an integral part in the growth of the projects.

It’s in our hands

I strongly believe that there are a lot of really passionate and talented community members that actually care deeply about Symbol and NEM, unfortunately there are a significant number that care about sitting back, contributing nothing and making demands because they are not profiting as quickly as they would like from other people’s hard work. They are not community members, they are leeches.

So, no more Hatchet? Well yes and no 😁 She will be staying on as part of the team but her persona unfortunately is dead as of last night. What of Jag and Gimre? I am not sure as there is no word from them at present. They obviously will be continuing to develop the protocol (thank god!) but there seems to be a move away from having a set of “leaders” and we the community are being handed the reins. It will be up to us to be the voice of Symbol and NEM going forward.

Now it is time for us all to play our part, no more standing on the sidelines, no more sitting back and demanding. If we want this to work, and let’s face it, it’s in our interests that it does, we need to make it happen.

So it’s time for new leaders and I know that we already have them in our ranks 😊

I just hope that we have some voice in the English speaking world too – this for me has always been the nut that is impossible to crack, bringing that passion we see in Japan to the Western world. We have plenty of “investor” types, the old guard, the whales that got rich from their original stakes, but not a lot of creativity or people that are having fun developing on Symbol. Would be great to see this change, I really hope it happens and I feel like I may need to put in some more hours as a Twitter warrior and blog writer 😁We have become a blockchain for the people by the people so I guess it’s time for us to step up or move on.

So what now?

This is where I am a little unclear. If I understand correctly the three core developers will kind of carry on as usual but I guess will step back from being the faces we associate with the project. They will work on subChains and the NEM merger into “Symbol 2.0”. The wider pirate crew will (I think) continue on as usual and be paid from the treasury, I hope that the new hiring will continue so that existing plans can be pushed forward. I assume that the entities will still be set up and so it is kind of business as usual, just that we are being given a larger responsibility for our own success. Seems fair to me.

I don’t know how future information will be disseminated from the Syndicate to the community. Discord will remain the same but not entirely sure what will happen with the official Twitter accounts, maybe this will become a community run thing or perhaps this will continue to be run by the pirates. One thing we can be sure of though is that Hatchet has been sent to Davy Jones’ locker and I think that this might free Kristy up to actually do some more meaningful work rather than arguing with the leeches 😁

Thanks Hatchet – we will miss you!