A new cryptocurrency has been unveiled called Decred. The developers of the the new currency have left Bitcoin in order to create a new product that keeps all of the good things and gets rid of some of the darker possibilities inherent in Bitcoin. The main difference is that Decred will be based on an open governance model.

Several core developers of Bitcoin have left the project and formed Company 0 (zero) LLC. According to the Decred website, “Decred is an open and progressive cryptocurrency with a system of community-based governance integrated into its blockchain,” and “The fusion of technology, community, and governance the Decred way means development is self-funding and remains sustainable,” the website states. Bitcoin is shrouded in secrecy and a small secretive power group commands the direction the currency takes. An open governance model of the new project is seen as a transparent way to escape that.

The group says that the currency is not responsive to the needs of all users and that Bitcoin’s controlling interests only allow changes that will benefit themselves. Jacob Yocom-Piatt, CEO at Company 0 says, “The Bitcoin software is controlled by a small group of people who decide exclusively what can and cannot be changed.

“This is in part due to a lack of mechanisms and pathways for funding development work directly from the community, and, as a result, Bitcoin development is funded by external entities that create conflicts of interest between the developers and the representative power of the community that uses Bitcoin,” he added.

The former Bitcoin developers have teamed up with operators of the btcsuite project to form the new currency.