261–270 of 497 posts
Web3 is less centralized in that the user data is exposed and freely available to be composed upon. For example, when someone makes a deposit (say of ERC20 USDC to earn interest, around 3.0% currently) on https://compound.finance , that data is freely available and the "receipt" becomes another token (the ERC20 USDC cToken). [1] This token can now be used for other things, on any other protocol, without the involveme…
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> With web3 there is gatekeeping and centralisation as I cannot spin up my own server any more without buying crypto and then paying someone on a centralised database just so that I can do everything I could do before for free on my own. Web3 includes all of the previous web technologies and adds optional layers on top. It is a superset of all web tech. You can totally setup an HTTP server on a Raspberry Pi, that's t…
> allow someone to login with their Ethereum wallet and use their ENS domain name as a username in your chat app rather than adding Google Auth You're basically describing OpenID, which predates cryptocurrency by several years.
That being said, I think EVM-compatible wallet login will be stickier and have broader network effects as there are exclusive services you cannot access without it (unlike OpenId, which is merely an alternative to other logins).
There is also a major economic incentive to build user-friendly wallet experiences (such as Rainbow, Argent, and Dharma mobile apps) as well as browser plug-ins (Metamask, Coinbase Wallet, etc) and hardware devices (Ledger, GridPlus, etc) and I think that ecosystem of competition is going to produce some big UX wins that OpenId will never really be able to compete with.
I too, believe that while blockchain technology holds a lot of promise, it is not fulfilling the purpose of decentralization, due in large part to so many transparent cash grabs. The current crypto craze is nothing more than a fancy gold rush. It will be interesting to see where blockchain technology ends up after the gold rush is over.
So many people complaining about web3 being: - more centralized - more controlled by VCs - less performant / reliable / secure than web2 These are probably all true for now. They failed to see the key features web3: 1. the possibility (but not guarantee) to operate in a hostile government / regulatory environment 2. the possibility (but not guarantee) to operate without a legal entity without shareholders / boards We…
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Helium is very much centralised because it has to (by the nature of their offering) lock down the end-user devices heavily. They have a single approved manufacturer last I checked. It essentially operates as a unregistered and unregulated ISP and that isn’t something to be taken lightly. It does that by pushing all legal and regulatory liability to operators. There’s also a lot of scams with operators faking their si…
> Helium is very much centralised because it has to (by the nature of their offering) lock down the end-user devices heavily. They have a single approved manufacturer last I checked. As far as I can see there are currently 19 approved device manufacturers [0]. > It essentially operates as a unregistered and unregulated ISP and that isn’t something to be taken lightly. It does that by pushing all legal and regulatory…
This isn’t about Web3 though - Starlink for eg started accepted beta signups in India without a ISP license and was forced to go back on that. This is exactly kind of regulatory questions that Uber brought with it and it deserves the same level of scrutiny. Uber for eg, was forced to get a Taxi license in various jurisdictions.
Nice to see that they have more manufacturers though.
So many people complaining about web3 being: - more centralized - more controlled by VCs - less performant / reliable / secure than web2 These are probably all true for now. They failed to see the key features web3: 1. the possibility (but not guarantee) to operate in a hostile government / regulatory environment 2. the possibility (but not guarantee) to operate without a legal entity without shareholders / boards We…
Isn't it harder to operate in a hostile government with a centralized ledger? Once the government somehow gets a hold of which wallets you use, they will be able to track down all your steps.
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Agree completely. There is a ton to criticize about crypto and "Web3" (I hate the term, tbh). It's rife with scams and unearned wealth. Even the things that aren't outright scams are mostly people selling hype. But this technology does enable something novel. Digital self-custody of scarce assets is a new thing. A thing that nobody could do before this stuff. And if that has utility, then the infrastructure for tradi…
Literally every online game has been doing digital scarcity forever. Let's see if any of the NFT collections end up having the success and lifetime of Eve Online or World of Warcraft. I realise there are hypothetical advantages to NFTs over in-game items, but I am not yet sure they will be worth it in the long term.
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Isn't it harder to operate in a hostile government with a centralized ledger? Once the government somehow gets a hold of which wallets you use, they will be able to track down all your steps.
I don't about other block chains but that's a problem that Monero has (partially?) solved by tying transactions to two other wallets each transaction so that it is hard to follow your steps. Of course it doesn't solve all other blockchains problems but I would be curious to see it discussed more. The main criticism I have seen about it is that it allows criminality to move funds under the govts radar, which is not a…
That's certainly better than bitcoin, but it's still worse than using cash or gold. In which case you may have no traces of transactions left behind.
If I was living under an oppressive regime, I'd be weary of using crypto instead of cash. However, the advantage that crypto has is to reduce control that democratic governments have over the economy. But it could actually be an asset in combating tax evasion. You'd be able to get a lot more with subpoenas and warrants.