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Awesome Critique of Crypto/Web3

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Re: Awesome Critique of Crypto/Web3

#11

Post by yulaow »

tromp wrote: post #5

Even as a cryptocurrency developer myself, I concur with most of the criticism. I detest all the cash grabbing, speculation, hype, and scams. Where I diverge from most criticism is in PoW. In its early years, when Bitcoin was used as currency rather than for speculation, mining only consumed moderate amounts of energy, in line with the lower prices of a few dozen dollar per bitcoin at most. My hope is for Tether to c…

PoW already brought us to huge wealth concentration so it is not the solution either. This is one of the hard-not-so-talked problems of cryptos at the moment, and I can't see how to solve it.

Re: Awesome Critique of Crypto/Web3

#12

Post by syncerr »

Web3 has many reasons it could fail. I choose to be optimistic.

> The truth is no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.

https://www.newsweek.com/clifford-stoll-why-web-wont-be-nirv...

Re: Awesome Critique of Crypto/Web3

#15

Post by jkarni »

k__ wrote: post #7

Isn't Stephen Diehl a grifter who sells private blockchain tech and hates on everyone who could threaten his business? I wouldn't call such a source an awesome critique.

I've seen this claim snowball over time as blockchain people desperately try to ad hominemate him.

I do think he did once (quite a few years ago) consult for a blockchain company. That's about the only factual basis I've discerned for it.

(Disclaimer/source: I met Stephen once or twice a while back, via the Haskell community.)

Re: Awesome Critique of Crypto/Web3

#16

Post by user-the-name »

tromp wrote: post #5

Even as a cryptocurrency developer myself, I concur with most of the criticism. I detest all the cash grabbing, speculation, hype, and scams. Where I diverge from most criticism is in PoW. In its early years, when Bitcoin was used as currency rather than for speculation, mining only consumed moderate amounts of energy, in line with the lower prices of a few dozen dollar per bitcoin at most. My hope is for Tether to c…

There is no safe way to wind down mining. As mining becomes unprofitable, mining equipment will be shut down. But it will still exist, and it will be in the hands of people desperate for cash.

This means that the price of 51% attack will drop massively, and that completely undermines the safety that PoW provides.

A large drop in price followed by a large drop in mining completely destroys the security of bitcoin.

Re: Awesome Critique of Crypto/Web3

#17

Post by b0sk »

k__ wrote: post #7

Isn't Stephen Diehl a grifter who sells private blockchain tech and hates on everyone who could threaten his business? I wouldn't call such a source an awesome critique.

His thesis is pretty much that crypto is just layer and layer of scams. So what benefit is he going to get by poisoning the word "blockchain"?

Re: Awesome Critique of Crypto/Web3

#18

Post by user-the-name »

vl wrote: post #6
tromp wrote: post #5

Even as a cryptocurrency developer myself, I concur with most of the criticism. I detest all the cash grabbing, speculation, hype, and scams. Where I diverge from most criticism is in PoW. In its early years, when Bitcoin was used as currency rather than for speculation, mining only consumed moderate amounts of energy, in line with the lower prices of a few dozen dollar per bitcoin at most. My hope is for Tether to c…

With settlement time of 60 minutes Bitcoin was never designed as true currency, but more as a holdable asset. While some of the critiques are valid, as system matures, there will be less and less of it. Crypto is here to stay.

The first line of the Bitcoin white paper:

> A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.

Now, if you want to say that it was badly designed for its purpose, that is a different matter.

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