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Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

reuters.com

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Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#281

Post by jsutton »

kerkeslager wrote: post #161
rsynnott wrote: post #97

> The project, which had successfully tested with startup Digital Asset Holdings (DA), was shelved because banks and other potential users believed the same results could be achieved more cheaply using current technology, he said. This is more or less the curse of the almighty blockchain; it's very hard to think of a plausible, actually useful, application which can't be accomplished far more cheaply and simply using…

It's really not hard to think of useful applications for blockchain. The problem HN has with blockchain is that a lot of HN users are the problem which decentralization solves. The basic startup monetization strategies these days revolve around centralizing user data and then collecting rent (usually in the form of ads) or centralizing transactions and then collecting a percentage. Decentralization is the antithesis…

This is a great point, I've been trying to wrap my head around why so much of HN is almost irrationally anti-blockchain.

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#282

Post by 7ero »

kerkeslager wrote: post #161
rsynnott wrote: post #97

> The project, which had successfully tested with startup Digital Asset Holdings (DA), was shelved because banks and other potential users believed the same results could be achieved more cheaply using current technology, he said. This is more or less the curse of the almighty blockchain; it's very hard to think of a plausible, actually useful, application which can't be accomplished far more cheaply and simply using…

It's really not hard to think of useful applications for blockchain. The problem HN has with blockchain is that a lot of HN users are the problem which decentralization solves. The basic startup monetization strategies these days revolve around centralizing user data and then collecting rent (usually in the form of ads) or centralizing transactions and then collecting a percentage. Decentralization is the antithesis…

I think Conway's law is something important to note in this context, where there are benefits to running centralized businesses over decentralized (ie communication). Decentralized communication between people is a problem itself, namely, decentralized decision making and the speed at which decision are made.

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#283

Post by c06n »

throwawaylolx wrote: post #105
sebringj wrote: post #92

Isn't the core still being worked on? Meaning things like the lightening network and proof of stake? There has been tremendous buzz about this tech even in its limited state so imagine when it becomes very friendly/usable/stable/focused/possibly efficient... in use case and where things like Mt. Gox don't happen anymore. I think its a work in progress and we are at the whim of the impatient and non-technical media.

It is. These speculation cycles come and go regularly. HN general knowledge of blockchain is similar to HN general knowledge of AI: slightly above average. There are many smart engineers laying down the foundations of the Bitcoin protocol as we speak, and the hype cycle will come back.

You bought your crypto in December/January, haven't you?

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#284

Post by [deleted] »

donmatito wrote: post #210
asynchrony wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is generally my main source of skepticism relating to blockchain solutions. The ledger is 100% trustable as long as it describes digital assets that are entirely confined within the distributed ledger, but a digital token doesn't stop men with guns from taking your house. Just like a digital signature provides no guarantees that the associated information is true.

No but it certifies who has entered the info, right? That might be part of the solution here

[deleted]

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#285

Post by craigc »

52-6F-62 wrote: post #280
craigc wrote: post #222

I would take any article like this with a grain of salt. There is not a lot of useful or technical information here, and I believe it is more designed as click bait and FUD to create shock value and hurt the public sentiment about Blockchain technology and investing in crypto currencies. That said, on the flip side, a lot of people have been considering Blockchain as some kind of magic solution to all of the world’s…

> I would take any article like this with a grain of salt. There is not a lot of useful or technical information here, and I believe it is more designed as click bait and FUD to create shock value and hurt the public sentiment about Blockchain technology and investing in crypto currencies. There's a wave of this sentiment lately— which is funny timing. Goldman Sachs apparently will have an operational cryptocurrency…

That’s a pretty interesting perspective. I have definitely been thinking for a while that they are trying to drive the general public out so that they can accumulate more for cheaper, but I never considered the idea that they want you to use THEIR tools.

It actually makes a lot of sense cause the SEC has also been going pretty hard lately to try to shut down trading of tokens that had ICOs and to make life difficult for current exchanges.

I have always believed that Wall Street does not like the fact that the regular public got first stab at crypto currencies, and they didn’t. This could be their way to try to rectify that.

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#286

Post by saalweachter »

stale2002 wrote: post #273
simias wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that so far it remains to be seen if that can work at scale. Bitcoin is moving towards the lightning network which changes things quite a bit, in particular potentially adding some centralization and giving some nodes advantages over others (well connected nodes with large open channels will have an advantage over a newcomer without connections for instance). Bitcoin cash is trying an other route with bigger b…

I take issue with your criticism of deflationary currencies. Deflationary currencies worked well for literally thousands of years, when people used precious metals for their currency. Inflationary monotary policy is a fairly recent invention of the 20th century.

The gold supply increases at a rate of about 2% per year.

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#287

Post by QML »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #167
KirinDave wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If distributed trustless consensus is useful, there are cheaper ways to get it than PoW mining. It's just that most folks don't understand them. The principle value of Bitcoin as a protocol is its incredible (even detrimental, from a technical perspective) simplicity.

Are there other means of distributed trustless consensus as secure as PoW? Secure being the operative word here. Lots of attempts, but none yet convincingly as or more secure.

Nakamoto consensus isn't the only protocol that exists; there's also things like Raft and Paxos with different tradeoffs.

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#288

Post by mooneater »

johnchristopher wrote: post #6
scrooched_moose wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what was all that effort being spent on Not being left behind if you're wrong. I'm in a tech-adjacent industry and see it all the time. Competitor A comes out with "shiny new technology" and markets the hell out of it. My company panics because we're suddenly lagging behind and rushes a competing project into development. Competitor B sees all of this and hops in too. All of a sudden it's the new direction of the i…

An example from the top of your head ?

X. M. L.

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#289

Post by QML »

alexbeloi wrote: post #183
KirinDave wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If distributed trustless consensus is useful, there are cheaper ways to get it than PoW mining. It's just that most folks don't understand them. The principle value of Bitcoin as a protocol is its incredible (even detrimental, from a technical perspective) simplicity.

Could you provide a couple sources please, I believe many of us are not well read on blockchain literature.

This is a good primer [1].

[1] https://softwareengineeringdaily.com/2018/03/26/consensus-sy...

Re: Wall Street rethinks blockchain projects as euphoria meets reality

#290

Post by DINKDINK »

bduerst wrote: post #141
DINKDINK wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Payment by credit card is instant Hardly. Chargebacks on credit cards can occur up to 3 months after payment. Good for customers who need that dispute feature but bad for others because those costs are socialized onto merchants and other consumers.

Chargebacks are a feature for settling disputes, not a bug. Payment is still instant unless there is a dispute.

>Payment is still instant unless there is a dispute

If that was the case a merchant could withdraw cash immediately after someone paid them with a credit card. Which patently isn't the case. So no, Payment cards are not instant.

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