You Do Not Need Blockchain: Popular Use Cases and Why They Do Not Work

Post by AnthonyMouse » Fri, Feb 22, 2019, 8:41 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #179

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In other words, anything illegal. Not exactly. It's anything for which the legal system is not effective. For example, you can have a perfectly legal contract, but the other party is in a corrupt foreign jurisdiction that would never find in your favor in the event of a breach. Then you can't contract with them because they have no incentive not to breach, without an alternative method of ensuring compliance that d…

Still though, in this scenario, (and which is why I think smart contracts themselves are waaaaaaay oversold) is that most real-world contracts deal with real-world things: e.g. you will deliver a set of goods, at a specified level of quality, at a set time. But as the author points out so well (I really like his "Blockchain is not IOT" mantra) once you're dealing with real-world objects, you are relying on an oracle…

Post by naasking » Fri, Feb 22, 2019, 8:44 PM UTC

Barrin92 wrote: post #225

naasking wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Guys, this works. It's literally how the world works. There's no question that it works. The question that blockchain-like solutions seek to explore, is whether it works better than a technological solution which can eliminate most of the layers you describe. The world is deeply complex, more complex than any single human can understand. If operating in the world can be simplified to the point of being understandab…

But you're not making anything simpler. There is a reason we have lawyers and courts and insurers and whatever middle men are supposed to be cut out, and that is because contracts, and insurance and law are hard, and nobody wants to write 200 smart contracts a day where one mistake empties your wallet in unrecoverable ways. These institutions exist because division of labour and trusted institutions are a way to hand…

Post by ThomPete » Fri, Feb 22, 2019, 8:47 PM UTC

gregschlom wrote: post #33

I've said this several times before on this site but will keep repeating it: there's exactly one use case where the blockchain is a superior (and, in fact, the only) solution: when you can't use contracts and the legal system to ensure trust between the parties. In other words, anything illegal. For any other conceivable use case, a database and a contract between parties are a superior solution. Edit: To clarify wha…

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Feb 22, 2019, 8:51 PM UTC

shepardrtc wrote: post #197

bunderbunder wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak to banks, but I have some personal experience with this sort of thing in the case of trading. I'm guessing it's at least somewhat similar to how it works among banks. All the big players have got real-time feeds they're sharing with each other to keep track of who's made what transactions, and they're constantly reconciling them against each other, to make sure that everyone's looking at the same pictur…

> All the big players have got real-time feeds they're sharing with each other to keep track of who's made what transactions, and they're constantly reconciling them against each other, to make sure that everyone's looking at the same picture. That is exactly what blockchain is. It is literally doing that. > None of this is strictly necessary, because there is a central source of truth that you can rely on. But who i…

Post by pjc50 » Fri, Feb 22, 2019, 8:53 PM UTC

scoopitywoop wrote: post #229

gregschlom wrote: post #33

I've said this several times before on this site but will keep repeating it: there's exactly one use case where the blockchain is a superior (and, in fact, the only) solution: when you can't use contracts and the legal system to ensure trust between the parties. In other words, anything illegal. For any other conceivable use case, a database and a contract between parties are a superior solution. Edit: To clarify wha…

> when you can't use contracts and the legal system to ensure trust between the parties what about transmitting value over the internet without relying on an external system? You know, like digital cash (but actually cash, not airline points that require a central actor to approve the transaction).