Thank you all for the contributions here ! We are still developing the protocol and the app and we appreciate all the feedback added here.

We have tried to build an extensive library about Fedimint (https://fedimint.org/docs/intro), but we understand this is a large concept that can be difficult to communicate. We’re looking to expand on this and welcome your input via our telegram group (https://t.me/fedimint).

We added below some points that might help to answer some questions you raised. Again, we are super open to learn from you and we might have questions we won’t be able to answer right now, as we are still in the development stage. But they are key for us to build as much bulletproof product as possible. With that said, let’s go to some points to consider:

• Fedimint is a community custody protocol that allows you to more easily store your bitcoin with the people that you trust, whilst still being able to transact in a private way.
• This isn’t a new concept, it already happens either with physical money in communities around the globe or in Bitcoin - some of you might have the experience to assist friends or family members with custody.
• We know the best custody is self custody, but we believe that 2nd party custody with a simple product is better than 3rd party custody. We believe removing bitcoin from exchanges into the hands of communities will be a significant win for bitcoin.

https://fedimint.org/assets/images/fm-spectrum-custody.excalidraw-4db14732495b99429517511026155dfa.png

• We understand this is a first step on the journey of many to understand the importance of custody in general and adopt Bitcoin in a safer manner. That’s why guardians are assumed to be trusted parties in the community otherwise you would be unwise to place your bitcoin with them. So it isn’t like a bank or an exchange, but a collaborative form of custody.
• A key point with Fedimints is to understand that we are building for a world where there will be thousands to millions of collaborative Fedimints - decentralising the custodians. Each will have different trust models based on your relationship to the guardians of those federations. Larger federations may be useful for more private transacting and smaller federations would be more appropriate for custody of funds, we expect there will be a design space to explore here.
• Current custody models used in bitcoin provide the custodian with full visibility of the individual's balance and transaction history. We believe one significant improvement which can be made here is to use Chaumian eCash to ensure that the custodian does not have visibility of the balance or transactions of its members.
• When referencing backup the guardians only hold an encrypted shard of a master key which can be used to get access to funds. The guardians cannot reconstruct this key. They can, however, assist the member of the federation in retrieving this key so that they can decrypt it. Once decrypted they can recover their funds without further assistance from the guardians.
• Fedimint isn’t Liquid, but has some similarities. One way to think about this would be that Fedimint is a software platform that makes it simpler to deploy many federations as opposed to one federation in the liquid model, decentralising the custodians.
• Finally it is worth describing the relationship between Fedi and Fedimint. Fedi is not Fedimint, itself but a company committed to building on and educating about Fedimints as a platform. We don’t take any custody of federations funds, these will always remain with the communities supported by a federation.

Hope this clarifies some questions. When we have the app ready we would love to have an AMA, so you can see this concept translated into reality. But as a whole Fedi will be a safe place where individuals will communicate and move their money freely and privately with the ones they trust the most. We are getting there… ;)

I mean I wouldn't activate drivechain either but later in this thread:

Man is nuts.

Here's the money quote.

Going into the New Year, realize that bitcoin is just a tool. Bitcoin by itself does not create value. It creates value by enabling individuals to produce and to maximally benefit from the output of labor. Think about what it means to have an abundance mindset–creating something from nothing and growing the abundance of resources. It is actually the mindset that creates the flywheel of greater abundance and that requires a shift in culture, which will be accelerated by the adoption of bitcoin. The cultural shift in mindset and bitcoin are related but both must be adopted intentionally. Embrace the paradox of bitcoin and scarcity. Abundance is created through scarcity–first in the cultural mindset and then in resources.

I’m still getting the ins and outs after about a year of running a node, I think a follow of @alexbosworth on Twitter will help a lot