Cryptocurrency Startup School • Hacker News Board

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#51

Post by CaptainZapp » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:16 AM UTC

fcolas wrote: post #38

rapsey wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately people are not 100% trustable, devices are not 100% secure and code is not 100% perfect. If someone steals my credit number, I will likely not be on the hook for the money and will not lose anything. If I make a mistake during banking, I can turn to people at the bank about it.

> Unfortunately people are not 100% trustable, devices are not 100% secure and code is not 100% perfect. - which is actually why you use crypto. > If someone steals my credit number, I will likely not be on the hook for the money and will not lose anything. - because the bank guarantees the safety of the payment means you use. The fact that you don't have to pay (as a private customer) doesn't mean that stolen credit…

Well,

https://coiniq.com/cryptocurrency-exchange-hacks/

So much for the safety, speed and cost efficiency of crypto currencies.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#52

Post by paulgb » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:17 AM UTC

electic wrote: post #30

egloo wrote: post #2

A startup school for a singular technical solution that has now gone years without any demonstrable killer app and which faces immense scaling and regulatory hurdles seems like putting the cart well before the horse here. I very much doubt that the key roadblock to realizing the crypto dream has been the lack of availability of a startup school around it.

There will never be a singular killer app for crypto. Just like there isn't a killer app for USD or Gold. It is the aggregate adoption, as a transfer of value, across numerous use cases that makes any currency valued.

How about a lower bar, then: has blockchain/crypto tech ever been demonstrated to be economically viable for anything besides a store of value? There has been a ton of hype about e.g. Cryptokitties but it seems to follow a hype and bust cycle every single time.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#53

Post by donkeyd » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:18 AM UTC

fasicle wrote: post #10

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #4

What does A16Z know about cryptography?

They have been talking about it and investing in crypto companies for a while. https://a16z.com/crypto/

I think 'blockchain' would've been a much better name for this page. Then again, their target market might be people who have heard 'crypto' on the news, not people who know what blockchain is.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#54

Post by theboywho » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:18 AM UTC

democracy wrote: post #42

theboywho wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of Blockchain's killer apps is...Bitcoin. There is no need to talk about "the crypto dream", people are using what they find useful (coinbase is currently #5 top YC company), and I personally see it inevitable that everything in banking/finance will move to a decentralized model, with smart contracts as a driving force, because of autonomy. Humans haven't really evolved much from say other Apes (or many more othe…

You saying like that is a bad thing, but in fact centralisation is something that let us survive through wars, hunger and other hardships.

Thinking is limited by intelligence, so just because you think it's the best solution, doesn't mean it's a universal truth, it only means that maybe the human level of intelligence can't think of a better solution.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#55

Post by elmar » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:18 AM UTC

egloo wrote: post #2

A startup school for a singular technical solution that has now gone years without any demonstrable killer app and which faces immense scaling and regulatory hurdles seems like putting the cart well before the horse here. I very much doubt that the key roadblock to realizing the crypto dream has been the lack of availability of a startup school around it.

Interesting to see A16Z trying to get on the really early investing as YC is going upstream to latter investing.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#56

Post by theboywho » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:19 AM UTC

arethuza wrote: post #46

paulgb wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We haven't yet discovered a way to organise a group without the need for a central entity (an alpha male, a government, central banks, etc.) Markets (at least, free markets) are exactly a way of organizing a group without the need for a central authority.

How many markets have there been in history that don't have some kind of central authority involved - to issue the money used if nothing else? Edit: Of course there have been barter based markets, but aren't markets actually more effective when there is a central authority?

One can argue black markets don't have a central authority and are more effective

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#57

Post by donkeyd » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:23 AM UTC

bernardlunn wrote: post #19

What is it about HN people and negativity about Crypto? Want a killer app? Just look at Bitcoin. Want to find people who use Bitcoin? Move out of your world and visit countries with failing currencies.

Can you give me a couple of concrete examples? Especially large scale usage that actually impacts the value of Bitcoin? I currently see value in it only as an investment for people with FOMO.

I visited Haiti and over there, people just use their phones to pay each other through their telecom provider, or they use USD. None of them use Bitcoin, they're not even aware it's a thing.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#58

Post by paulgb » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:25 AM UTC

arethuza wrote: post #46

paulgb wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We haven't yet discovered a way to organise a group without the need for a central entity (an alpha male, a government, central banks, etc.) Markets (at least, free markets) are exactly a way of organizing a group without the need for a central authority.

How many markets have there been in history that don't have some kind of central authority involved - to issue the money used if nothing else? Edit: Of course there have been barter based markets, but aren't markets actually more effective when there is a central authority?

Markets existed millennia before fiat currencies did. Even now, if you look at the world economy instead of an individual economy, there are lots of separate authorities rather than one central one (though, granted, the US government still has quite a bit of power.)

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#59

Post by theboywho » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:25 AM UTC

Nursie wrote: post #44

theboywho wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of Blockchain's killer apps is...Bitcoin. There is no need to talk about "the crypto dream", people are using what they find useful (coinbase is currently #5 top YC company), and I personally see it inevitable that everything in banking/finance will move to a decentralized model, with smart contracts as a driving force, because of autonomy. Humans haven't really evolved much from say other Apes (or many more othe…

> I personally see it inevitable that everything in banking/finance will move to a decentralized model, with smart contracts as a driving force, because of autonomy. People don't want autonomy. I don't want to be my own bank. My bank is insured, they are secure, they provide me with a ton of services, and there is an identifiable party to go to if it all goes wrong, or if liability needs to be established. This idea…

That's like saying "Open Source" won't work because I don't want to be my own maintainer. It's not about one person. You not wanting autonomy or being your own bank doesn't matter. People on coinbase aren't their own bank either.

Re: Cryptocurrency Startup School

#60

Post by democracy » Thu, Oct 03, 2019, 9:27 AM UTC

bernardlunn wrote: post #19

What is it about HN people and negativity about Crypto? Want a killer app? Just look at Bitcoin. Want to find people who use Bitcoin? Move out of your world and visit countries with failing currencies.

Oh please. As a former citizen of a country where the name of a local currency was used for jokes only, I can assure you - noone in their right mind would exchange the local awful shit currency for any of the existing cryptocurrencies. People would rather buy 5 fridges and three tv-screens or euro/dollars (and there is always black market in the toughest of the toughest dictatorships out there) anytime. When I was reading Mr. Antonopoulos about giving advice to his mother in Greece to invest in Bitcoin I was laughing like crazy (2018, bitcoin falling fast and steady).

There are two great lies (dreams??) crypto shills: 1) replacement of the 3rd world country dying currencies and 2) 3rd world country unbanked people desperately waiting for someone to "bank" them.