Opening this topic on the forum for any discussions, feedback, comments on the newest article “Understanding the MASP/CC” by @bengtlofgren.
Would love to hear some feedback 
A bit long of an article, but at least a lot to talk about (hopefully)!
Hi @bengtlofgren , thanks for the interesting article.
I have to admit - still struggling to understand. In particular, I am looking at “The Convert Circuit” section. There, it defines a conversion list to be a sequence of tuples
[(A_1, V_1), (A_2, V_2), ..., (A_n, V_n])
What is the semantics of the (signed integer) V_i (for some i)?
In the following text, V_is are used to define the asset generator.
Asset generators are introduced as
"The asset generator (also known as the value base) is a valid ctEdwards curve point on the Jubjub curve, whose compressed bit representation is the BLAKE2s image of the asset identifier”
Knowing nothing about cryptography, I am understanding this as some kind of asset identifier counterparty, but one that does not carry information about values or amounts.
That is why I got additionally confused when reading in the next paragraph that
"we can define the conversion of
vb_INF := vb_i - vb_(i-1) + [rewards factor] vb_i
"
In this context, what is the meaning of [x], for a number x?
I know there are many questions in this one, but that’s because I am utterly confused. Any clarification or pointers to a more beginner-friendly explanation would help a lot.
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Hey Ivan!
It’s been a while since I visited this topic, so I’ll have to refresh my knowledge as well. There could possibly be some mistakes that I’ll see if I can tackle here.
Please allow me to respond to this in full on Sunday. I’m quite busy at the moment, but I’ll try and get the time in :))
Bengt
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Great, thanks!
In the meantime, I found a video that explains basics well - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r25azD2MFnI
Having seen it, I now believe that V_i are obtained by some hash to curve from A_i, and that vb_... are “magical assets” as referred in the video, the ones created to encode reward per passing of epochs.
Let me know if that makes sense, and if there is any additional info that may help. Sunday is perfect!
And thanks a lot for going back to the old topic to assist me, I appreciate it!
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