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IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

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Re: IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

#21
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there some kind of binary backing https://blocksteam.info ? Information doesn't just appear on the internet.

Bitcoin is not one of the scams with no working software I was talking about. The information comes from a leveldb database you can download from peers after installing this client: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin

> Bitcoin is not one of the scams with no working software I was talking about.

OK, why'd you use this example as your entire response to "how do people know who has how many coins, for a coin which has reportedly never shipped a working binary"?

Can you answer the original question instead of linking an unrelated bitcoin topic?

Re: IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

#22
post #15
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every coin is implemented with straightforward, non-blinded accounting ("UTXO" model) such that everyone knows how many coins are associated with each public key. For example, this one belongs to Hal Finney (the creator of Bitcoin) and you trace the balance of and movement of coins transparently: https://blockstream.info/address/1BgoUL3Mf8vDSDU4jjpFARKBJ6z...

> Hal Finney (the creator of Bitcoin) To be clear, this isn't definitive, as he is one of many individuals suspected to be Satoshi Nakamoto.

Really speculating people are some anonymous person that doesn't want to be identified is at best, rude, otherwise dangerous. Don't make assertions you can't prove, despite the man being dead.

Re: IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

#23
post #10
post #7

Still waiting for a use case of blockchain outside cryptocurrency also.

Consider a timestamping service that's based on mathematical proof instead of social proof.[0] But I agree, most often blockchain outside of a cryptocurrency doesn't make sense. This use case also depends on the security of an existing cryptocurrency. [0] https://whycryptocurrencies.com/timestamping_service.html

Decentralized timestamping is literally what Bitcoin is, there's no other way of describing it. Ordering transactions canonically is timestamping.

Re: IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

#24
post #7

Still waiting for a use case of blockchain outside cryptocurrency also.

There isn't. If there are, none of them would be viable for-profit business entities like they're claiming. I can see a nameserver (like DNS) using a blockchain. Or maybe a distributed identity service can use a blockchain. These would have to function as public goods owned by no one; otherwise why not use existing DNS or existing government IDs. This pretty much rules out any mention of "blockchain" in a for-profit company's pitch deck as ever being useful to the world.

Re: IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

#25
post #10
post #7

Still waiting for a use case of blockchain outside cryptocurrency also.

Consider a timestamping service that's based on mathematical proof instead of social proof.[0] But I agree, most often blockchain outside of a cryptocurrency doesn't make sense. This use case also depends on the security of an existing cryptocurrency. [0] https://whycryptocurrencies.com/timestamping_service.html

A cryptocurrency is basically a timestamping service. This was mentioned in the original whitepaper.

> The solution we propose begins with a timestamp server. A timestamp server works by taking a hash of a block of items to be timestamped and widely publishing the hash, such as in a newspaper or Usenet post [2-5]. The timestamp proves that the data must have existed at the time, obviously, in order to get into the hash. Each timestamp includes the previous timestamp in its hash, forming a chain, with each additional timestamp reinforcing the ones before it.

https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

Re: IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

#26
It would be nice to read an attack on the technology rather than an article highlighting hater quotes on the feuding misogynist, ego-maniacal founders.

Iota remains a speculative cryptocurrency. It does not rely on the technology before it and is not a copy-paste crypto like many that came out of the last boom cycle.

I still think it is quite innovative. That said, it may eventually fail due to its poor implementation. The value of it on the exchanges reflects the fact that it may survive this latest fiasco.

Re: IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

#28
post #8

Crytpocurrencies are not valued on its software (even though paradoxically, what makes it different from other currencies is that it's only software). Otherwise the best software would have the highest market cap, which obviously isn't the case. This is true to such an extreme degree that it doesn't even matter if the cryptocurrency is used, works, or even have a single working implementation. Seriously, there are to…

> there are top >100M market cap coins that have never shipped a working binary. How do people know who has how many coins?

In many cases tokens were distributed on ethereum, which could later be used in the product once it got released.

Re: IOTA being shut off is the latest chapter in an absurdist history

#29
The larger issue here is that the wallet was built in a very similar way to many crypto wallets. They sort of sell the fact that private keys are not stored in a central DB as a silver bullet for decentralization. But since the private keys are copied into memory, and the software is automatically updated, the location of the key storage becomes irrelevant.

The only real way to keep your keys safe is in a hardware based solution that has been audited by multiple parties. Our credit cards have that level of security, crypto wallets need at least that much.

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