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Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

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Re: Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

#71

Post by stefano »

jraines wrote: post #19
ttul wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but... the crypto algorithm chosen for Bitcoin is about as energy intensive as they come. Other algorithms which are more equipment intensive - scrypt etc - provide the same benefits but without the same disgusting externality of power consumption. I wish I grasped proof of stake better. I’m not yet convinced it can be made to work as well as PoW.

It seems like nobody really knows, yet. But Ethereum is about to run a $100bn experiment to find out :)

Market cap is very different from the actual money invested in the ecosystem. I don't know the exact number, but I bet it's a lot lower than $100bn.

Stupid example: I create 100bn coins. Then I sell one to myself for $1. Am I now running a $100bn experiment?

Re: Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

#72

Post by endorphone »

It is interesting how grievance posts have such an easy time on HN, and how willing the audience is to put aside basic cynicism (AMP is another easy target for these sorts of posts).

I am going to be a little more suspicious and say that the OP never had a job offer for a "blockchain implementation", but instead posted the standard, rather empty cynical fare with the job offer justification. Lumping in all blockchain implementations and then trying to hang every possible downside is as absurd as decrying a hypothetical video handling job because pornography exploitation exists. It doesn't follow, and makes the argument asinine.

Re: Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

#73

Post by root_axis »

Sangermaine wrote: post #59
alex_duf wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So did the blockchain Edit: not trying to defend bitcoin here, just pointing that the blockchain brought a new solution to a trust issue

No, it didn't. Blockchain technology is perhaps the biggest recent example of a solution in search of a problem. It's interesting but still not clear at all what it would be useful for over what already exists: >"Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain" https://hackernoon.com/ten-years-in-nobody-has-come-up-with-...

I agree that it is a solution in search of a problem, but it was able to find a problem, namely, facilitating darkmarket transactions; that's a real use-case that wasn't practical before blockchain tokens. Unfortunately, that use-case does not satisfy the enthusiasts and they have been determined to find some other use-case that has yet to materialize. The closest they've come up with are smart-contracts but those are generally useless as well because a smart-contract is only capable of enforcing rules on a blockchain and nowhere else.

Re: Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

#74

Post by LAMike »

Bitcoin mining will spur competition for the cheapest energy in the world once there is parity with mining chips (12-18 months away). We're hitting the upper limit on what is possible in the ASIC chips.

Every 10 minutes, a $200,000 bounty is given to the Bitcoin miner with the cheapest electricity + computing power. So once everyone has the same chips, what's the advantage miners can use? Cheap electricity.

Bitcoin miners will do more for renewable energy than many governments around the world.

Re: Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

#77

Post by jstanley »

Sangermaine wrote: post #66
nemild wrote: post #24

The danger in a space like this is throwing the baby out with the bath water. - Yes, there are an insane amount of scams, and lots of dumb money flowing in - Yes, many use cases of blockchains should really be databases - Yes, many blockchain job posts are just PR initiatives for companies who want to differentiate themselves That said, it's an early time to have a tremendous amount of impact. Don't like "proof of wo…

>Go figure out ways to remove custodial risk, so that we may not need as onerous financial regulations that stifle innovation. Demonstrating the value of, and rationale for, those "onerous financial regulations" has been the one actual good result of this blockchain nonsense. The endless tsunami of scams and fraud that has been the blockchain space has been useful in wiping away the original idiot libertarian impulse…

Libertarian idiot here: no, it hasn't.

Re: Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

#78

Post by simonbyrne »

ChrisLomont wrote: post #61
nemild wrote: post #24

The danger in a space like this is throwing the baby out with the bath water. - Yes, there are an insane amount of scams, and lots of dumb money flowing in - Yes, many use cases of blockchains should really be databases - Yes, many blockchain job posts are just PR initiatives for companies who want to differentiate themselves That said, it's an early time to have a tremendous amount of impact. Don't like "proof of wo…

>Get angry at banks? I've found in many fields that are as complex as finance, that when I think something in that field is stupid, unnecessary, or onerous, it is I that am wrong because I simply didn't understand the why of how that thing came about. So I find it fascinating how many people/groups in history have gotten mad at banks/finance, tried to make a "better" product, gotten stung or robbed others, only to ev…

see Chesterton's fence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton#Chesterton.27...

Re: Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

#80

Post by SamPatt »

Sangermaine wrote: post #66
nemild wrote: post #24

The danger in a space like this is throwing the baby out with the bath water. - Yes, there are an insane amount of scams, and lots of dumb money flowing in - Yes, many use cases of blockchains should really be databases - Yes, many blockchain job posts are just PR initiatives for companies who want to differentiate themselves That said, it's an early time to have a tremendous amount of impact. Don't like "proof of wo…

>Go figure out ways to remove custodial risk, so that we may not need as onerous financial regulations that stifle innovation. Demonstrating the value of, and rationale for, those "onerous financial regulations" has been the one actual good result of this blockchain nonsense. The endless tsunami of scams and fraud that has been the blockchain space has been useful in wiping away the original idiot libertarian impulse…

The idiot libertarians are the only people actually using cryptocurrencies for anything other than speculation.
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