121–130 of 465 posts
Scam after scam, that's all blockchain is. Just another way to fleece the average consumer. There has not been a single valuable use, a single product, that actually improves anyone's day / process / life / anything. I am very open to changing my stance if someone presents evidence to the contrary.
The really obvious weakness in any blockchain setup is the software. Whoever controls the software upgrade channel will always have potential control of the blockchain, whether that's the official entity in charge, or some intermediary. If you want really widespread distribution of full nodes, you need to make a consumer-friendly distribution of the node software, and package it and keep it updated in a way that regu…
Scam after scam, that's all blockchain is. Just another way to fleece the average consumer. There has not been a single valuable use, a single product, that actually improves anyone's day / process / life / anything. I am very open to changing my stance if someone presents evidence to the contrary.
Blockchain, Decentralization and Smart Contracts have had nearly a decade to prove their value and disrupt the marketplace. So far nothing but whitepapers, pipe dreams and exit scams - nothing my mother can use. What's the point? Nobody is using crypto as an alternative to fiat. Prove me wrong.
But coming from a third world country, the promise of a decentralized, permissionless market seems extremely promising. Particularly if it doesn't restrict me because of my location or capital or identity.
If the internet broke geographical barriers, this tech can break barriers of capital and identity and credentialsm.
While I won't talk about the idealized vision of blockchains, smart contracts can automate away a large number of fairly complex interactions. There is already a pretty thriving decentralized financial market that anyone can access from any part of the world with any amount of capital - no KYC or questions asked.
A very basic usage: using Curve.fi to swap between tokenized USD (USDC) and tokenized EURO (EURS) with minimal slippage and fees, all permissionless, all freely accessible. If I was an American and wanted to have Euro to spend on my vacation, would this not be a better way to go about it instead of going to the bank, dealing with someone, and paying their exorbitant fees?
The only missing part is the ability to easily spend this tokenized EURO, but that - I'm hoping - will come later. The core tech - smart contracts, blockchains - work.
A more advanced use case: deploy tokenized USD into a vault that lends it out according to a set strategy, earning the lender interest passively. The individual who created the strategy, in term, earns a fee based on their returns generated. Again, this individual can be from anywhere and doesn't have to have a fancy office and degrees to get investment "clients". Nor does the lender have to deal with anyone to lend out their money.
If this tech allows Raj from India to build a "hedge fund", and for Joe from America to invest with as little as $1, and the two never have to know each other, and can interact entirely with a smart contract available 24x7, what's there not to be excited about?
In the serious crypto world, there is a maxim: Code is Law.
I would reckon that alone should make HN bullish on crypto. When was the last time you worked at a tech company where Code was truly the Law?
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Some links if anyone wants to explore this further:
1. Uniswap.org - anyone can set up trading between any two tokenized assets. Want to trade between the price of gold and Venezuelan Bolivar? Sure, go ahead and use the price oracles from Chainlink to create these two tokens, set up a trading pair, and allow anyone to speculate on these two assets. Or you can just be a market maker (something only big funds can do in TradFi) and earn fees on the trades.
2. Curve.fi - swap between tokenized stable coins, such as EURO > USD, without ever having to visit the bank or paying their fees or doing their KYC.
3. AAVE.com - Lend or borrow between tokenized assets
The notion of 'decentraliztion' as presented by the blockchain community is basically extremist/absolutist, and it's ruining their own projects. Our entire civilization and everything in it depends on networks of trust. Without it, we'd fall down instantly. To require a system of 'absolute decentralization' when 'partial decentralization' would work just as well, doesn't make sense. We technical people have an odd wa…
The notion of 'decentraliztion' as presented by the blockchain community is basically extremist/absolutist, and it's ruining their own projects. Our entire civilization and everything in it depends on networks of trust. Without it, we'd fall down instantly. To require a system of 'absolute decentralization' when 'partial decentralization' would work just as well, doesn't make sense. We technical people have an odd wa…
Blockchain, Decentralization and Smart Contracts have had nearly a decade to prove their value and disrupt the marketplace. So far nothing but whitepapers, pipe dreams and exit scams - nothing my mother can use. What's the point? Nobody is using crypto as an alternative to fiat. Prove me wrong.
Maybe I'm wrong but I see this perspective so often on HN. And I can't help but feel that this is because so many people on HN are already privileged - living in the first world, making software salaries, and generally have a world of opportunities available to them, especially when it comes to their money. But coming from a third world country, the promise of a decentralized, permissionless market seems extremely pr…
Your entire argument is about the promise of blockchain and not the actual current applications people are using. Your argument is theoretical when OP is asking for practical use cases. You mention many hypotheticals but not a single "I use blockchain for X" or "my mother uses blockchain for X" which is what actually matters.
> While I won't talk about the idealized vision of blockchains
As far as I'm concerned that's all you talked about, and you don't even realize it.
I used to be a skeptic of blockchain, but then I actually investigated what is going on in the industry. Yes there is a lot of fud, poor ideas, etc, but there are also lots of interesting cool ideas that just will not go away. Reminds me of the dotcom boom, actually.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do quote everything, while you're at it. > The first production of automobiles was by Karl Benz in 1888 in Germany and, under license from Benz, in France by Emile Roger. There were numerous others, including tricycle builders Rudolf Egg, Edward Butler, and Léon Bollée. Bollée, using a 650 cc (40 cu in) engine of his own design, enabled his driver, Jamin, to average 45 kilometres per hour (28 mph) in the 1897 Paris-T…
> 11 years from introduction, no one has come up with a use-case for blockchain This seems an odd claim to make. Currently there's hundreds of Cryptocurrencies using blockchains as a foundation, and more than half a trillion dollars tied up in them. Right now it seems like they're at least speculative investments. If this does not count as a use-case then we'd better break the news to essentially all of finance. Year…
I heard it best put as: blockchain provides trustlessness at very high operational cost -- do we have a business case where trustlessness is a competitive advantage? If not, just use a database or equivalent
So like yes, you can implement insurance and messaging and contracts with blockchain. Is there a need to do that? Does it make sense? Would that business work? (Zero percent of such businesses have worked)
The sending money part is certainly a legitimate use. Unfortunately it's being totally broken by speculation on all the coins (not to mention high gas).