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<p class=""></p><div dir="auto"><span class="">Dear Mert Ali,</span><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><span class="">Thank you for the careful reading - this is the right question to ask, and worth addressing directly because Montana’s entry economics differ from token-purchase systems in a way the inflation curve alone does not reveal.</span><br></div><p></p><p class=""><span class="">The key point: network entry does not require buying any Ɉ. A new operator competes in the same lottery as an existing one - the same 13 Ɉ per window, the same selection process, weighted by chain length but not by capital. The entry cost is fixed in physical resources: a commodity VPS, roughly 10 hours of candidate VDF computation on a commodity x86_64 CPU, and an ML-DSA-65 keypair derived from a 24-word seed. None of these costs inflate with adoption. An operator joining in year 5 spends the same as one who joined in year 1.</span><br></p><p class=""><span class="">The high percentage inflation in the early years is a consequence of the base being small: with constant absolute issuance of 6.83M Ɉ/year, year 1 shows ~100% nominal inflation; year 10 ≈ 10%; year 100 < 1%. The function 13/(W+1) is asymptotically disinflationary. Crucially, this dilution falls on existing holders, not on new entrants. It is the inverse of the ICO cap-table pattern, where late participants must purchase at speculation-driven prices and the entry cost rises with adoption. In Montana, the relative share available to a new operator is actually largest in the early years when percentage inflation is highest, because each new operator immediately competes for the same constant per-window emission as everyone else.</span><br></p><p class=""><span class="">For end users, entry is simpler still. An AccountRecord is created atomically with the first incoming Transfer (Mode B in the protocol spec). There is no pre-funding, no registration fee, and no minimum balance. The user receives Ɉ from any existing account — typically a friend, a service, or one of the regulated edge exchanges in jurisdictions where local fiat - Ɉ conversion will be legally available.</span><br></p><p class=""><span class="">One honest caveat: Ɉ has no liquid market price today, and will not until the first edge-exchanges open conversion paths. So the inflation question is partly academic in the immediate term -a numerical rate that does not yet convert to fiat is an accounting fact in the chain ledger, not a barrier to entry. It becomes a real consideration only once exchanges go live, by which point the asymptotic curve will already be in territory where annual dilution falls below most adopted PoS networks at comparable adoption stages.</span><br></p><p class=""><span class="">On the practical side: I personally run Montana nodes and use the Montana VPN layer with my immediate circle. The VPN is free at the protocol level; a personal mesh emerges naturally from sharing access with people one trusts.<span class=""> </span></span><br></p><p class=""><span class="">For commercial VPN operators - directly relevant in Turkey, where Reality-class obfuscation is already in production demand against TSPU-style DPI -joining Montana adds an Ɉ stream and a post-quantum identity layer on top of existing fiat revenue, with no cannibalization of their current business. The infrastructure cost is already paid by operators of this kind; Montana adds federation and presence-proof as overlay properties.</span><br></p><p class=""><span class="">We are running the technical layer now and will keep running it as users arrive. That sequencing - infrastructure first, adoption second - is the deliberate order, and you correctly identified it as the project’s priority.</span><br></p><p class=""><span class="">- Alejandro<span class=""> </span></span><br></p><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">-- <br></div><div dir="auto"> Защищено с помощью Tuta Mail: <br></div><div dir="auto"> <a href="https://tuta.com/free-email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tuta.com/free-email</a><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">18 мая 2026 г., 14:23 От mrtblt@hotmail.com.tr:<br></div><blockquote class="tutanota_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid #93A3B8; padding-left: 10px; margin-left: 5px;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"><div dir="auto">Dear Alejandro,<br></div></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);">The project's technical infrastructure is really good but as you said, the idea that inflation will decrease as the number of users increases seems logical on paper, but wouldn't the high inflation that will occur in the initial period make it difficult for
people to join this network?<br></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"><br></div><div id="ms-outlook-mobile-body-separator-line" data-applydefaultfontstyles="true" dir="auto" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);">-Mert Ali<br></div></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12pt;color:rgb(33, 33, 33)" id="ms-outlook-mobile-signature"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_MSFontService, -apple-system, Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(33, 33, 33);"><br></div></div><div dir="auto"><hr style="display:inline-block;width:98%" tabindex="-1"><br></div><div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><span class="" style="font-family:Calibri, sans-serif"><span class="" style="color:#000000"><b>From:</b> alejandromontana@tutamail.com <alejandromontana@tutamail.com><br> <b>Sent:</b> Monday, May 18, 2026 5:01:47 PM<br> <b>To:</b> Mert Ali Bulut <mrtblt@hotmail.com.tr><br> <b>Cc:</b> Bill Woodcock <woody@pch.net>; Cryptography <cryptography@metzdowd.com><br> <b>Subject:</b> Re: [Cryptography] Montana: A Post-Quantum Blockchain with Time as Scarcity</span></span></div><div> <br></div></div><div><div dir="auto">Dear, Mert Ali<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Montana is predictably disinflationary, given its limited absolute issuance.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The Weimar hyperinflation analogy is inapplicable.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Montana’s issuance—defined as `supply(W) = 13 · (W+1) Ɉ`—is a closed-form formula based on the specific "window" number. This does not constitute unlimited issuance; rather, it is algorithmic, monotonically linear, and non-discretionary.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The Weimar scenario involved issuance driven by the Finance Minister's political decision to cover war reparations; in Montana, no one can—in principle—simply "print more" without a hard fork supported by a majority of network operators. Drawing
an analogy to Weimar amounts to attacking a straw man: it critiques a characteristic that Montana simply does not possess.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Moreover, linear issuance represents a deflationary model over the long term, not an inflationary one. Given a fixed addition of 13 Ɉ per window (approximately 6.83 million Ɉ per year) and assuming growing demand for Ɉ, the real value per unit
should rise, not fall.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Montana exhibits asymptotic disinflation. While the issuance remains absolutely constant (13 Ɉ per window), the total supply base continues to grow; consequently, the annual inflation rate—expressed as a percentage—converges toward zero.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Year 1: Supply grows from zero to 6.83 million Ɉ; inflation is technically undefined.<br></div><div dir="auto">Year 2: 6.83 million Ɉ is added to the existing 6.83 million Ɉ; annual inflation stands at 100%.<br></div><div dir="auto">Year 10: 6.83 million Ɉ is added to a base of 68 million Ɉ—approximately 10%.<br></div><div dir="auto">Year 100: Less than 1%.<br></div><div dir="auto">Year 1000: Less than 0.1%.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">This function—13 / (W+1)—asymptotically approaches zero. This trajectory mirrors that of Bitcoin prior to the completion of its halving cycles, differing only in its implementation: it utilizes a constant *absolute* issuance rather than a *diminishing*
issuance capped by a fixed supply limit. Bitcoin will reach zero inflation around the year 2140 (due to its hard cap of 21 million units); Montana—never formally—though within 200 years, the percentage rate will be indistinguishable from zero.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">In crypto slang, both models are often described as "deflationary by design," but this is terminologically imprecise; a more accurate description would be "disinflationary with an asymptotic zero."<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The second property is price deflation amidst rising demand—and this is where the behavior is truly deflationary in a macroeconomic sense.<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">If the adoption rate of Ɉ grows faster than its absolute issuance (and you have stated a target of 1 billion users—a rate that is demonstrably faster than the 6.83 million Ɉ issued per year), then the price of a single unit of Ɉ, denominated
in fiat currency, will rise, and goods priced in Ɉ will become cheaper over time. This constitutes "price deflation" in the Keynesian sense, and it is precisely this phenomenon that gives rise to the "hoarding incentive" I previously mentioned: it becomes
rational to hold Ɉ rather than spend it, because tomorrow it will purchase more. Bitcoin has exhibited this characteristic since 2009; Montana will inherit it in an amplified form, as the absence of transaction fees lowers the barrier to holding (there is
no "penalty" for inactivity, and one's balance is not eroded by network fees).<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">- Alejandro<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">--<br></div><div dir="auto">Защищено с помощью Tuta Mail:<br></div><div dir="auto"><a href="https://tuta.com/free-email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://tuta.com/free-email</a><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">18 мая 2026 г., 13:07 От mrtblt@hotmail.com.tr:<br></div><blockquote class="" style="border-left:1px solid #93A3B8; padding-left:10px; margin-left:5px"><div dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)">Dear, Bill<br></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)"><br></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)">Inflation is indeed necessary, and money needs to be spent, but if there's no limit to the supply, it leads to inflation that becomes a crisis, like in Germany after World War I, and the value of money increases. If the use of money increases, inflation may
fall in the short term, but after a certain period, it will lead to a full-blown recession.<br></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)"><br></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)">-Mert Ali<br></div><div id="x_ms-outlook-mobile-body-separator-line" data-applydefaultfontstyles="true" dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt"><div dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt"><br></div></div><div id="x_ms-outlook-mobile-signature" dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)"><div dir="auto" style="font-family:Aptos,Aptos_MSFontService,-apple-system,Roboto,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size:12pt; color:rgb(33,33,33)"><br></div></div><div dir="auto" id="x_mail-editor-reference-message-container"><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><hr style="display:inline-block; width:98%"><br></div><div id="x_divRplyFwdMsg" dir="auto" style="font-size:11pt"><div dir="auto"><b>From:</b> Bill Woodcock <woody@pch.net><br></div><div dir="auto"><b>Sent:</b> Monday, May 18, 2026 3:21:27 PM<br></div><div dir="auto"><b>To:</b> alejandromontana@tutamail.com <alejandromontana@tutamail.com><br></div><div dir="auto"><b>Cc:</b> Mert Ali Bulut <mrtblt@hotmail.com.tr>; Cryptography <cryptography@metzdowd.com><br></div><div dir="auto"><b>Subject:</b> Re: [Cryptography] Montana: A Post-Quantum Blockchain with Time as Scarcity<br></div></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">> On May 17, 2026, at 20:39, Alejandro Montana via cryptography <cryptography@metzdowd.com> wrote:<br></div><div dir="auto">> The protocol dictates a flat reward of 13 units per window, forever, with no halving or supply cap. You are essentially baking infinite, linear inflation into the baseline. Why would rational node operators continue to burn real-world energy
(and pay real electricity bills) to sustain a network whose native token is mathematically guaranteed to dilute infinitely over time?<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Because that’s how a currency is supposed to work, and they want to have something to spend? Because they paid attention in grade-school economics, and know who Keynes is?<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">-Bill<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><br></div></div></blockquote><div dir="auto"><br></div> </body>
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