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Beyond the Bitcoin bubble

nytimes.com

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Re: Beyond the Bitcoin bubble

#241

Post by CryptoPunk »

v64 wrote: post #229
CryptoPunk wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You didn't respond to the fact that cryptocurrency is a technology class or my reasoning for my cryptocurrency is vital for blockchains to have the property of being distributed.

The way I view cryptocurrencies is that they're a service like HTTP or SMTP on top of a blockchain, which would be analogous to TCP/IP. Cryptocurrencies are only one of many uses of blockchains. I disagree with the notion that a cryptocurrency is a vital property of the distributed nature of blockchains. The purpose they serve now is to incentivize individuals to participate in the network who wouldn't otherwise part…

>>But for instance, you could also have private blockchains where the incentive for running a node is access to that blockchain's data.

That's not a decentralized blockchain. It's the decentralized consensus that is novel. Without decentralization, it's just an append only database.

Re: Beyond the Bitcoin bubble

#242

Post by v64 »

CryptoPunk wrote: post #241
v64 wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The way I view cryptocurrencies is that they're a service like HTTP or SMTP on top of a blockchain, which would be analogous to TCP/IP. Cryptocurrencies are only one of many uses of blockchains. I disagree with the notion that a cryptocurrency is a vital property of the distributed nature of blockchains. The purpose they serve now is to incentivize individuals to participate in the network who wouldn't otherwise part…

>>But for instance, you could also have private blockchains where the incentive for running a node is access to that blockchain's data. That's not a decentralized blockchain. It's the decentralized consensus that is novel. Without decentralization, it's just an append only database.

Just because it's private doesn't mean it's decentralized in a protocol sense. The nodes in the private blockchain would still be distrustful of each other and would still undergo decentralized consensus.

As for compensation, rather than receiving a coin as a reward for doing proof of work mining, you would gain a key to enable you to read certain encrypted data on the blockchain, for instance.

Re: Beyond the Bitcoin bubble

#243

Post by CryptoPunk »

v64 wrote: post #242
CryptoPunk wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>But for instance, you could also have private blockchains where the incentive for running a node is access to that blockchain's data. That's not a decentralized blockchain. It's the decentralized consensus that is novel. Without decentralization, it's just an append only database.

Just because it's private doesn't mean it's decentralized in a protocol sense. The nodes in the private blockchain would still be distrustful of each other and would still undergo decentralized consensus. As for compensation, rather than receiving a coin as a reward for doing proof of work mining, you would gain a key to enable you to read certain encrypted data on the blockchain, for instance.

What you're describing is not an open AND decentralized (however way you want to define 'decentralized') platform, and its applications are much more limited.

And your scheme does require some amount of trust. Induction into the consensus node set would need to be controlled to prevent bad actors from disrupting the flow.

Re: Beyond the Bitcoin bubble

#244

Post by miscreanity »

tehlike wrote: post #235
miscreanity wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ultimate use case is control and tracking beyond any form created thus far. Paper currency that may be in your pocket has serial numbers printed on it. Those numbers cannot be readily associated with an individual. Bitcoin and all other blockchain systems can be connected to a user directly or through alternative methods. This is ideal for government and is the direction most are taking - control over blockchain…

Not if you use coins like monero, zcash and thr likes.

I don't have the link offhand but all privacy coins can be unmasked by large enough organizations. Monero is currently the most resilient to direct analysis.

Keep in mind that enough data points from outside the system can be used to associate an identity with an address.

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