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Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

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Re: Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

#81

Post by ThomPete »

joe_the_user wrote: post #65
ThomPete wrote: post #29

People always overestimate the short term and underestimate the long term. Go to any country perhaps with the exception of Estonia and you will see that digitalization was supposed to change governments for the better. Instead they mostly have created very sporadic successes but a lot of failed implementation sometimes even making it worse. Yet there is no doubt that in the long run things are changing for the better…

The problem isn't the technology but the problems around legality and implementation and who it disrupts. The immediate problem is that an "automatic" contract circumvents the regular legal system and thus is going to be ... not-legal. The larger problem is that this is how things should be. That the regular system isn't automatic but rather includes considerations of intentions and individuals involves is not a bug…

The US might default. People still invest in the USD.

Sure everything can fall apart, nothing is perfect. But it doesn't need to be perfect to be useful.

The blockchain is, directly and indirectly, undermining nation states so I am under no illusion that it will be easy peasy spread.

But why should that ever be a bigger problem than spending millions of dollars on all sorts of foundational research that never goes anywhere?

Opportunity cost.

Re: Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

#82

Post by kens »

As a serious question, is there a service (other than the blockchain) that provides a public, timestamped, immutable database? For applications such as putting supply chain data on the blockchain, I assume there's an easier service to use, but I couldn't think offhand of what would be a replacement.

Re: Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

#83

Post by tom_mellior »

eksemplar wrote: post #69

Maersk is using blockchain to validate container ownership claims. Revolutionary tech in a world where crime meant the confirmation papers cost more than the container to ship. Several countries outside the west are moving to do registration of land ownership on blockchain tech because their bureaucratic system is corrupt. Banks have moved to cryptocurrencies for transfers. Sure it's not the unregulated ones, but it'…

> Several countries outside the west are moving to do registration of land ownership on blockchain tech because their bureaucratic system is corrupt.

Do you have a source for this? I can't imagine how it might work.

Re: Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

#84

Post by svantana »

There is one obvious use case where it's already in use: illegal trade. The article mentions it as an aside but it's definitely not small business; if half the world's drug, weapon and human trafficking trade were to happen in bitcoin, it would justify the current exchange rate and then some. Of course, that would force governments to outlaw the exchange services, which would make bitcoin way less attractive to criminals and law-abiders alike. To me that seems like the most plausible outcome of all this.

Re: Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

#85

Post by ThomPete »

claudiulodro wrote: post #77
ThomPete wrote: post #29

People always overestimate the short term and underestimate the long term. Go to any country perhaps with the exception of Estonia and you will see that digitalization was supposed to change governments for the better. Instead they mostly have created very sporadic successes but a lot of failed implementation sometimes even making it worse. Yet there is no doubt that in the long run things are changing for the better…

> digital art certification Interesting. So you have an original piece of digital art and the owner of the art is verified on the blockchain? How would that work? Can't I just take a screenshot or something of the art and have a copy? What's the advantage of having one "true" piece of digital art and is it feasable? Genuinely curious how this would work. It's a very intriguing idea.

I went to Ars Electronica in Linz years back (highly recommended) one of the big discussions that year was digital art and how it could be sold (and things like do you pay for a software upgrade)

The "problem" with digital art is that if you get a hold of the source code you could just reproduce it and "double spend" and thus it has diminishing value.

If you use the blockchain to verify you have the original you make it possible for the value to follow the owner.

Same thing with ebooks. You could be buying the version of a book that Eminem owned and it could increase in value.

Many people misunderstand what value can be. Sometimes it's the actual "thing" (ex. the chair) but often, very often, it's the idea of the thing.

The whole art scene is based on this principle.

Re: Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

#86

Post by deckard1 »

ThomPete wrote: post #29

People always overestimate the short term and underestimate the long term. Go to any country perhaps with the exception of Estonia and you will see that digitalization was supposed to change governments for the better. Instead they mostly have created very sporadic successes but a lot of failed implementation sometimes even making it worse. Yet there is no doubt that in the long run things are changing for the better…

> Digital Pokemon cards, 2nd hand ebooks market, 2nd hand digital assets market

None of these are realistic examples. Do you think Nintendo won't want a piece of that digital trading market? Or Amazon, for ebooks?

Digital assets aren't going to be decentralized. Never. Corporations are going to maintain their walled garden platform, and make sure all transactions are conducted within that platform so they scrape off a few dollars here and there. You don't need all the complexity of a blockchain when a centralized architecture works just fine.

Re: Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

#88

Post by ThomPete »

svantana wrote: post #84

There is one obvious use case where it's already in use: illegal trade. The article mentions it as an aside but it's definitely not small business; if half the world's drug, weapon and human trafficking trade were to happen in bitcoin, it would justify the current exchange rate and then some. Of course, that would force governments to outlaw the exchange services, which would make bitcoin way less attractive to crimi…

So basically like cash?

Re: Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain

#90

Post by lordnacho »

kens wrote: post #82

As a serious question, is there a service (other than the blockchain) that provides a public, timestamped, immutable database? For applications such as putting supply chain data on the blockchain, I assume there's an easier service to use, but I couldn't think offhand of what would be a replacement.

Something close enough is perhaps proofofexistence.com

Pretty simple idea, you hash a any document and you get a blockchained stamp of that hash.

Now you can prove to anyone that the document (eg contract) existed at that time.

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