How to Buy ProtoShares Guide
ProtoShares is an exciting new addition to Bitcoin-inspired ideas, but unlike the other altcoins, ProtoShares is more of a crpto-equity than crypto-currency. This is a first of its kind, and frankly, I am quite excited about its prospects, especially given the promise that BitShares is going to be forked off of ProtoShares.
If you’re new to ProtoShares or haven’t heard much about them, here’s a quick and dirty guide:
- ProtoShares is created by Invictus Innovations, a startup in Atlanta, in order to fund their future projects, most notably BitShares, which is very promising and well-discussed in the community.
- ProtoShares is crypto-equity. Invictus has made a social promise that every new release (new DACs, Decentralized Autonomous Corporations, as they like to call it) will be forked from ProtoShares. This means you get an automatic share in everything that Invictus is going to release in the future through your ProtoShares.
- You don’t exchange your ProtoShares for BitShares or other shares in DACs. These are present in the genesis block itself. This means if you hold 100 ProtoShares today, you’ll automatically get 100 BitShares when they are released, in addition to your existing 100 PTS. After BitShares are released, you’ll have 100 ProtoShares + 100 BitShares.
BitShares is definitely the most exciting project of Invictus, which competes directly with Mastercoin (the price of which, by the way, has gone through the roof since its initial fundraising just a few months ago). In fact, I believe one of the best ways to own BitShares is through ProtoShares, as you’ll get in on the ground floor of the idea. If not, you can always sell your BitShares to buy more ProtoShares, in order to get a higher percentage of value from future DACs such as DomainShares, AP DAC and other ideas that are to be implemented after BitShares and DomainShares.
ProtoShares is relatively new, being less than a month old, and is already in the top 10 crypto-currencies tracked by CoinMarketCap. At the time of this writing, ProtoShares is ranked 6th on the list, with a total market cap of $7.9 million. Also, if you’re interested, check out the official ProtoShares forum.
NOTE: February 28, 2014 is the cut-off date for converting ProtoShares to BitShares. Please transfer all your ProtoShares purchased into your personal wallet (you need to control the private keys to this wallet) before this cut-off date.
Now that you know about ProtoShares, here are some ways to buy ProtoShares
- Bter: My favorite exchange to buy ProtoShares. I’ve bought several hundred PTS from this exchange and never had a problem. They confirm your BTC funds right after 2 confirmations. This was one of the first exchanges to have listed PTS/BTC and is definitely a great choice. In fact, I have started moving some of my other currency trading pairs to this exchange as well, since their fees are the lowest among exchanges I’ve seen.
- Cryptsy: Cryptsy has recently started trading PTS/BTC, as of 2 days ago. The volumes are pretty high already and there is a lot of interest here. Cryptsy being a big exchange for a lot of alt-coins, this is good news for crypto-currency enthusiasts.
- Coins-e: This is a relatively new altcoin exchange but has quickly made a name for itself and is especially good for traders who buy and sell multiple times a day. They recently added PTS/BTC. Another advantage to buy Protoshares on Coins-e is that the exchange seldom experiences problems due to higher traffic, which is common for both Bter and Cryptsy. If you’re considering multiple exchanges, definitely a good addition to your repertoire.
- BTC38: This is a Chinese exchange that has taken the lead over other exchanges and has begun selling ProtoShares on its exchange. If you’re in China, this is a great way to buy some PTS. They have healthy volumes too.
- BitsharesTalk Forum: You can always involve yourself with peer-to-peer buying and selling on the official forum. However, I can’t stress this enough – please take your precautions. Always use Escrow unless with a very trusted member of the forum.
Stay away from CoinGrounds and btc-u. These have been hacked and the users here are getting a partial refund of their money.
Do you own ProtoShares? Do you trade ProtoShares? Where do you buy or sell ProtoShares? Share with us!
P.S. Currently, there’s a ProtoShares giveaway from BitshireHashaway at https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=346832.0