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unaceca/idea.md

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+# idea
+
+A draft scratchpad.
+
+
+## Problem statement
+
+Some people want to exchange Bitcoin and fiat currency in physical cash.
+
+Why?
+
+Motivations specific to Bitcoin buyers:
+- Are sitting on large amounts of physical cash and want to turn part of it into Bitcoin.
+
+Motivations specific to Bitcoin sellers:
+- Want to use their Bitcoin to buy stuff, but can't find the proper shops/rails to spend. Must go through fiat first.
+- Want to keep their Bitcoin selling private to avoid capital gains tax, or simply The Man knowing stuff generally.
+
+Motivations for any of the two:
+- They want to exchange P2P and don't like going through digital fiat systems.
+- They don't have access to banking system.
+- Appreciate massively the privacy and are willing to go the extra mile to leave no trace.
+
+But executing this trade is rather hard. Main problems and frictions:
+- Finding reliable and convenient partners. Topics here:
+    - Trustworthy: finding someone who you know won't fuck you over, or someone unknown but under a context where you feel confident they won't fuck you over.
+    - Meetable: person must be easy to meet, both in terms of physically going places and also overlapping schedules.
+    - Matching trade conditions: you must find a partner who will deal the way you want. Ie:
+        - Onchain vs Lightning vs other protocols on the Bitcoin side
+        - Details on fiat cash (avoiding large denomination bills and avoiding junk coins mostly)
+        - Price and premium
+- These trades sometimes tend to be unprofessional and excessively informal, causing pains and sourness. Common issues:
+  - Unclear terms around trading steps (Bitcoin first? Cash first? Same time? Onchain confirmation?)
+  - Lack of clarity around price (fixed price? market + premium? what is the reference for market?)
+- Meeting and doing the transaction requires meeting physically. This is troublesome both in terms of arranging time and place, and actually going there.
+
+
+## Current solutions
+
+### Cash by mail markets
+
+### Vexl
+
+### Informal networks
+
+### Limitations and issues of the current solutions
+
+## unaceca proposal
+
+### General description
+
+- The idea revolves around a ceca.
+- A ceca is a web app instance.
+- The web app is a private, walled garden. 
+  - There is no public access: either you have a user, or you see nothing.
+  - There is no public sign-up: accounts are only created through invites.
+- The purpose of the ceca is to facilitate bitcoin <> cash trading. It focuses on this and supports no other market.
+- The ceca has two types of users: admins and traders.
+  - Admins run the place and have ultimate power on certain things.
+  - Trades are there for trading.
+- Inside the ceca, traders have a user and can:
+  - Post offers to buy/sell Bitcoin for cash.
+  - Find others offers.
+  - Provide feedback (both positive and negative) on other traders.
+  - Invite more traders (if allowed by admins).
+- Admins can:
+  - Ban traders.
+  - Create new generic invites.
+  - Provide existing trades with more invites.
+  - Top up traders with 
+
+### Q&A
+
+- Q: This is centralized.
+  - A: Yes. It makes the idea simple and executable. No fancy cryptography, not asking the user to be a sovereign shadowy super coder. Login, check the orderbook, send a message, leave a thumbs up.
+- Q: Law enforcement will want to destroy this.
+  - A1: Nothing illegal happening besides not declaring income.
+  - A2: the ceca would need a significant size and notoriousness before it draws poor attention.
+  - A3: private nature keeps it laying low for longer, makes it harder for the wrong kind of eyes to find it.
+  - A4: could be, fuck 'em. Nothing lasts forever.
+- Q: This faces a bootstrapping problem.
+  - A: Yes, see section below dealing with the topic.
+
+
+### Monetizing
+
+### Dealing with the market bootstrapping
+
+### Why is a ceca better than current alternatives
+
+### Rough features&business roadmap
+
+### Risks