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A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

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Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#251

Post by throwaway415415 »

good-idea wrote: post #242

I'm shocked and disheartened by how infrequently environmental concerns are brought up when discussing crypto. Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake, security, storage size - these are problems for the network and those that want to see it become a real part of our economy. (I am one of those) But the amount of energy being used to mine bitcoin is a real problem - it's not just a technical challenge (like the problems abov…

There is no energy waste with Algorand's pos. It doesn't use bitcoin's pow. So yeah the environement doesn't matter here.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#252

Post by sbenitoj »

hanniabu wrote: post #240
ryan_j_naughton wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A predetermined monetary policy would be great when a financial crisis or credit crunch hit, causing a collapse in the velocity of money /s While I have invested in crypto and believe it has great potential, one of its touted benefits by its supporters is also one of its biggest pitfalls, namely that its money supply is predetermined. The inability to actively manage a money supply given exogenous shocks to the econo…

I think it makes sense. You have an economy built on an economic model rather than an economic model based on an economy. With the latter you're constantly guessing and tweaking the model and roughly every 10 years there's a crash and the economists say okay, NOW we have it perfect and we'll never get it wrong again. Why do you need an unlimited money supply? The only thing causing these shocks is that the economy is…

Exactly, any supply of money will do, no need to permanently increase the amount in circulation — this is why the market settled on gold (which has an inherently low inflation rate due to the difficulties of mining) and impossible to pass off counterfeit gold at scald.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#253

Post by DenisM »

mindcandy wrote: post #120
DenisM wrote: post #87

This gets asked often, but in case something changed recently - what are the use cases of cryptocurrencies that are not: - Attempts to side-step the law (however misguided the law is) - Trivial to do using a typical centralized database (e.g. Federal Reserver or VISA) - Tantamount to waiting for a greater fool to buy out the current players I am not looking for answers of the form "well whenever you want to avoid a t…

Cryptocurrencies are definitely an “Innovator’s Dilema” situation when it comes to general use. It’s much worse than the established solutions. It’s confusing, error-prone, unreliable, cheap and janky. It’s also not a great business case for the establishment who are currently making billions and billions serving very rich customers. But... it also brings financial service options to people who have no opinions or on…

> if you are one of the unbanked billions around the world.

I think I can buy that. The unbanked could become centrally-banked like all of us as their countries develop, but there is a competition between that and the cryptocurrency which could wedge itself in at this point and outcompete the local government simply because the government is small and lacks in experience (maybe corrupt too). Another contender here is WeChat and similar centralized payment technologies, but they too are hamstrung by their own current governments (I'm sure that Payapal is) giving breathing room to competition.

It is not obvious to me which one of the three will win among the unbanked.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#254

Post by [deleted] »

smokeyj wrote: post #131
notyourwork wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are conflating bad with unjustified. They aren’t the same but can appear similarly themed. HN is skeptical of the utility and validity of crypto.

That's what I thought too! But no - HN is against crypto at the moral level. One day the almighty father Paul Krugman declared crypto as thought-crime, and ever since, progressives have dutifully towed that line. It's tiring . I think they subconsciously see it as an attack on state-sovereignty or something like that. The ability to tax and redistribute. That's just me reading between the lines.

[deleted]

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#255

Post by throwaway415415 »

scabarott wrote: post #183

Hadn't heard of vault or Algorand before, but woah, what a team of heavy hitters: Micali, Goldwasser, Andrew Lo, Kenneth Rogoff, Herlihy etc. basically a who's who in CS, Cryptography, Econ & finance. If any group will do crypto right then at least on paper it would look like this team

Yup. It's a shame that HN isn't willing to talk about the interesting new research instead of debating around the same philosophical discussions.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#256

Post by throwaway415415 »

_Kristijan_ wrote: post #47

A "faster, more efficient cryptocurrency" is already in productive operation since 2015. Called "Nano" https://nano.org/en

Unless you're willing to provide information about the tech and how it is better than algorand or coda, I see your comment as just promotion scam.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#257

Post by throwaway415415 »

Ar-Curunir wrote: post #173
shadowfiend wrote: post #123

Another approach to similar problems is Coda: https://codaprotocol.com .

Coda takes an entirely different cryptographic approach than Algorand. Different layers of solutions.

No it doesn't. Coda can work with Algorand's byzantine agreement protocol.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#258

Post by PeterisP »

manifestsilence wrote: post #44
Synaesthesia wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want a cryptocurrency which is egalitarian - evenly distributed among people in the world, rather than one in which a few people own the majority and profit hugely.

Yes! And I think there is one aspect of Bitcoin that is precisely backwards in relation to both this and the energy crisis: proof of work is a substitute for proof of identity so it can be anonymous. Imagine a currency that everyone is born with a certain amount of, with the only price of admission your ability to prove your identity. Suddenly, we have solved the problem of proof of work for allowing this to be a dis…

Okay, let's "imagine a currency that everyone is born with a certain amount of". Assuming that I predict that this currency is going to be valuable, then I can invest $100,000 to organize a shipment of rice to some poor African areas where this thing isn't gaining traction yet, and offer to trade everything that they've been born with for a hot meal. And it (or similar strategies) would plausibly succeed to some extent. See the biblical example of Esau's birthright for an obvious analogy.

Would that be a new age of fairness?

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#259

Post by etherael »

good-idea wrote: post #242

I'm shocked and disheartened by how infrequently environmental concerns are brought up when discussing crypto. Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake, security, storage size - these are problems for the network and those that want to see it become a real part of our economy. (I am one of those) But the amount of energy being used to mine bitcoin is a real problem - it's not just a technical challenge (like the problems abov…

No, we don't, because what it replaces is already much more energy intensive than it.
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