461–470 of 704 posts
Actually, you can have private digital currency without a blockchain that would be perfectly usable for crime. You'd need a server coordinating a scheme like that of https://www.chaum.com/publications/Chaum-blind-signatures.PD..., preferably accessed through Tor for additional privacy.
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For some reason all ransoms are requested in cryptocurrencies as of late. There must be a reason, hmm...
" as mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency has grown, the percentage of transactions used to promote or conceal crime has also decreased." - FinCEN Chief Digital Currency Advisor, Michele Korver https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2021/07/06/fincen-hires-doj-...
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HN’s attitude is very surprising to me. I would think that they could get very excited about flash loans, decentralized exchanges (automated market makers), daos, and other concrete innovations coming out of crypto asset projects. I think it’s mostly jealousy and a feeling that they missed the boat, so they want to see it sink. I think that because I’ve had the feeling many times. They may not realize these are early…
> automated market makers Are you claiming that this is an innovation associated with crypto? Can you elaborate or clarify, as the case may be?
Most people on HN are rational people who look at the world in a rational way. Bitcoin and friends are not operating in a rational market, therefore we don't understand them, and most of us would probably be pretty lousy investors since we would try to make decisions rationally instead of memeing and YOLOing. But, and this is a key point, that doesn't make us right and them wrong . It's just a different kind of marke…
HN’s attitude is very surprising to me. I would think that they could get very excited about flash loans, decentralized exchanges (automated market makers), daos, and other concrete innovations coming out of crypto asset projects. I think it’s mostly jealousy and a feeling that they missed the boat, so they want to see it sink. I think that because I’ve had the feeling many times. They may not realize these are early…
If crypto and defi live up to their promise, no one is going to "miss the boat". People at large will start getting paid in cryptocurrencies and they will start using them in transactions. If there are only a limited number of boats for this thing, that means it's a bubble and it's going to pop.
Personally, I struggle to see any real uses for cryptocurrency that are not at odds with it being deflationary. So, paradoxically, for as long as it keeps going up, I don't trust it will hold its value. Once the curve flattens and adoption picks up, then sure, I'll consider it, but at that point it doesn't matter if you get in early or not.
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That sounds like regular old cryptography, which I don't think anyone would argue isn't important. It's a very different discussion than "crypto" a.k.a cryptocurrencies.
Author is making an argument against any blockchain or distributed ledger. To quote from article. "Any application that could be done on a blockchain could be better done on a centralized database. Except crime." I'd like to see people look past the noise of cryptocurrencies to see how important digital trust and new applications of cryptography will be as we try to scale the ability of humans to work together effect…
I believe this is exactly the point of the author - there's lots of handwavy bubblebabble about this technology, but we're now well into the second decade of blockchain/distributed ledgers, and yet to see one single non-criminal real world application.
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I was excited 4 years ago when I first discovered these crypto concepts. As time has gone on and I've learned more about them, they are less interesting and come with a ton of baggage. There are interesting things like formal verification, but I expect that these types of things will be taken without the blockchain. You shouldn't dismiss HN attitudes as jealousy or asleep, that is derogatory.
Yeah the language is a bit strong. I’m serious about the jealousy though - perhaps it’s just me. But when I see someone making a boatload on Tesla and I’m sitting there thinking it’s ridiculous, where does that really come from? All I know is I probably wouldn’t care either way if I’d owned some…and since my experiences with day trading and algorithmic trading, I’m convinced 90% of finance is emotional. It clouds the…
Don't give yourself a hard time :) I think the Tesla stock price is ridiculous. It's not a jealousy thing. I don't think Google or Apple share prices are ridiculous, and more people made more money out of those two.
If someone makes money in a ridiculous way, it's ok to think it's ridiculous.
This is the second time this week I've seen an article from Diehl on the front page that is critical of cryptocurrency but has next to zero substance. Weird that people regard him as a crypto expert, he doesn't seem to understand the space very well. - Comparing Bitcoin to doge and shiba is laughable - Re progcoins, he says "After twelve years of these technologies existing" - Ethereum is only 6 years old... - Like m…
> This is the second time this week I've seen an article from Diehl on the front page that is critical of cryptocurrency but has next to zero substance. Weird that people regard him as a crypto expert, he doesn't seem to understand the space very well. What is stated without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. These unfounded personal attacks is not what HW was about, I remember. > Comparing Bitcoin to doge a…
Lol, there is no evidence in this article, it's pure conjecture.
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True but opening foreign bank accounts is difficult and like western countries physical cash can be legally seized by authorities even if it was acquired legally.
Cryptocurrencies can also be legally seized. Anything can be.
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> the ability to trust that the ledger is accurate seems extremely valuable Maybe it "seems" valuable, but why exactly is it valuable? For what use case and which situation (besides crime)? I think the issue is that many don't see value in its "primary value proposition" because the features they want from banks are already there (stability, FDIC insurance). The only thing I personally see missing is no/low-fee insta…
> ...(besides crime) First you have to define "crime." If by "crime" you mean "any activity outside the purview of regulatory authorities" then you're defining everything that isn't a bank account as crime. It is circular logic. "Its only use case is crime because using it is crime." If you more narrowly define crime as criminal acts besides just unregulated financial activities, then you can start to see the value p…
I'm genuinely not sure what a use case for unregulated financial activity would be that doesn't fall into those buckets.
Someone mentioned retaining assets in countries with hyperinflation. To me it appears a central bank digital currency would be more appropriate there.