Live data from Hacker News

SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

cryptoslate.com

101–110 of 577 posts

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#101
post #31

A point that most crypto heads miss is that the world does not run algorithmically. Legal contracts do not work like a software program and that characteristic is a feature not a bug. Not being able to reverse transactions that were part of an exploit is in infact a bug. Businesses need that tolerance for error. You need an oracle in your system. The oracle can maintain transparency of the attestations carried out if…

This is the reason crypto enthusiasts are enthusiastic in the first place.

Crypto enthusiasts want to defect from the system of democratic law in favor of algorithmic law.

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I'd like to figure out how to build a cryptocurrency that is useful for conducting actual business but toxic to investors. An economy that lacked parasitic middle men would be a good thing for the status quo to have to compete with.

Every day the largest wallet is confiscated, divided into ten equal portions, and each piece is randomly awarded, lottery-style, with every transaction from the previous day serving as a lottery ticket.

Ironically that's not far from what SafeMoon purported to be. But people would "invest" in it as a form of a lottery.

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#103
post #15

There is no such thing as a stablecoin, it's a made up term to try to lend legitimacy to new crypto scams. And I say this as someone who just bought some Ethereum in the hopes of making a profit :)

Maybe the world just needs less people trying to get something for nothing. If the scammers operating these currencies teach the greedy traders a lesson we'll all be better off.

I think that's just human nature.

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#104

These incidents really illustrate the main flaw of smart contracts: a single bug in your code can lead to incredible losses. I simply don't think it's possible for human beings to write good enough software for smart contracts.

That’s not even close to the main flaw. The main flaw is that it incentivizes crime, human trafficking and accelerates environmental destruction. None of these are huge problems if you can afford a private bunker in New Zealand. It’s a major problem for ordinary citizens, especially those of poorer countries. Everything involving code has bugs. Bugs aren’t a reason not to use code. Bitcoin isn’t a problem for the ver…

That it incentivizes human trafficking and crime is pure hyperbole. Also turns out that the barrier to entry for crypto is lower in the 3rd world than you might think:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvHN0MEBoZo

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#106

These incidents really illustrate the main flaw of smart contracts: a single bug in your code can lead to incredible losses. I simply don't think it's possible for human beings to write good enough software for smart contracts.

Until lawyers become coders or coders become lawyers I don't even see who could review them.

I actually know a guy who does both. Nothing further to add, just thought it was funny that I actually know a lawyer who does some programming.

I think he was going to college for computer science and then switched to law. Last I heard from him, he was running for a judgeship.

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#107
post #38

Is this a bug in Polygon? Just this weekend I was listening to Software Engineering Daily "Polygon: Connecting Ethereum Compatible Blockchain Networks with Denis Ermolin" (from June 2 2021) [1] There was a lot of talk about how secure Polygon is. [1] https://softwareengineeringdaily.com/2021/06/02/polygon-conn...

No, this was purely a bug in the SafeDollar code.

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#108
The fact that this is trending on HN shows how little hacker news knows about the cryptocurrency space. A relatively unknown, recently launched stablecoin collapsing is not big news in crypto.

Now if dai, usdc or usdt had failed, that would be a big deal.

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#109
post #80
post #31

A point that most crypto heads miss is that the world does not run algorithmically. Legal contracts do not work like a software program and that characteristic is a feature not a bug. Not being able to reverse transactions that were part of an exploit is in infact a bug. Businesses need that tolerance for error. You need an oracle in your system. The oracle can maintain transparency of the attestations carried out if…

> that the world does not run algorithmically Sure it does: moving gold and commodities between countries in non-mutually-friendly regimes, very much resembles crypto. Fiat finance is a system of contract law built on top of a de-facto "state of nature" of irreversible no-arbitrator commodity transfers. It exists in places where people can agree on who the arbitrating party should be. It does not exist outside of tho…

I can't tell if this is a joke or not but the example of moving gold between non-friendly countries (do you mean smuggling?) is probably the least algorithmic thing out there... It's something where you absolutely will fail if you don't have tolerance for faults and flexibility to recover potential losses or change course while transacting...

The parent comment's real point was that the world isn't run algorithmically. An enterprise which tries to smuggle goods may not be able to reverse transactions if they transfer too much, but they should be able to react to an overcharge and shut down operations before they lose everything. Or they should be able to stop a shipment before it reaches the border. Or they should be able to change the rules of their trade if government rules change in between.

That's the kind of stuff smart contracts tend to ignore or forget about. They have little flexibility in them in a world that's constantly in flux.

Re: SafeDollar ‘stablecoin’ drops to $0 following DeFi exploit on Polygon

#110
post #94
post #31

A point that most crypto heads miss is that the world does not run algorithmically. Legal contracts do not work like a software program and that characteristic is a feature not a bug. Not being able to reverse transactions that were part of an exploit is in infact a bug. Businesses need that tolerance for error. You need an oracle in your system. The oracle can maintain transparency of the attestations carried out if…

I don’t disagree with you, but I think the only fallacy here is that it’s an extremely zero-sum way to look at things. Are we perhaps better off for many — maybe even all — of our status quo legal contracts not working like software programs? Sure. Is there a class of legal contracts — either already in existence, or made possible by crypto — that’d make much more sense if ran like software (with different requiremen…

Where does the legality of a contract get determined?

The execution of a contract seems distinct from is legal validation.

Post reply on HN