Live data from Hacker News

I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

weh.wtf

191–200 of 359 posts

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#191

I keep saying this, but: Bitcoin is well over 10 years old by now. In 10 years, the internet was already clearly adding a ton of value all over the place. Bitcoin is not really a 'young technology' anymore, and the only thing it has enabled so far is risky, unregulated investment strategies, and an staggering amount of crime.

The technology has promising applications. It's not clear that it's superior to existing alternatives (at least not enough that we're seeing many big moves to use it and publicize it's use).

The Internet took 30+ years, granted "the start of the Internet" could be debated.

Were we to do some word replacements Internet to radio, and Bitcoin to Internet your words would sound just as accurate following the dot-com bust.

I do think we can agree some of the early decisions have led to disastrous consequences (proof of work power consumption is concerning high).

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#192
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What if they just turn off the external internet? No government is capable of this. Even North Korea has people smuggling phones over the border. A single cell or satellite connection that can sustain 2-3 KB/s is all you need to keep the rest of the country connected.

Okay, now think about this a bit further. Bitcoin is banned in your country and it's extremely risky to make a network connection to either the Bitcoin network, the client applications (better hope you disabled automatic updates and telemetry…), or industry sites. How are you paying for that sat-phone? That's expensive, so you need real money and amounts of it which are beyond, say, the average North Korean. If you h…

I was just responding to the specific question I quoted. More broadly I agree with you that it's a risky idea to immortalize your criminal activity on a public, immutable ledger.

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#193
post #4

I kinda question the scientific methodology of "take the first N Google results". Not only for obvious reasons, but also for the reason that a lot of infrastructural projects that have a lot of real world effects are not routinely discussed in the press (because they are extremely boring to everybody but specialists, also because nobody but the specialists knows they exist, or understands how they work) and thus woul…

> first of all, on a decentralized blockchain you can not really censor a transaction This is not true. Even though blockchain is decentralized there could be a single chain/few chains of truth if you want to convert it to real money. And that chain could only be the one that would be approved by coinbase, bitfinex etc. If they want to censor an address they simply could stop accepting those transactions, and then mi…

> This is not true. Even though blockchain is decentralized there could be a single chain/few chains of truth if you want to convert it to real money. And that chain could only be the one that would be approved by coinbase, bitfinex etc

I don't think this is fair to say because what you are describing here is a situation that is occuring off a blockchain or one that is occurring on the blockchain but where the individual transacting has chosen to allow someone to censor their transactions.

Your overall point that a decentralised system consists of centralised links that can and will be attacked by a hostile entity or node(s) is valid though.

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#194
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would not call the "survey of 2,079 respondents" by Stellar Development Foundation [0] "woefully-lacking-of-legit-citations". [0] https://www.stellar.org/

Your provided link does not take me to any kind of survey results. Regardless, I think it's safe to assume the Stellar Foundation polled their own users , and not a representative sample of the general population. "Cryptocurrency enthusiasts use cryptocurrency" is not exactly an interesting or surprising survey result.

The link includes an invitation to download the report leading to these survey results:

https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/PYMNTS-Cro...

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#195
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What country do you live in? Because I know plenty of folks in certain countries with massive inflation and projects such as bitcoin are their refuge from 100-1000% inflation a year. When you say “in 10 years” when did that 10 year time frame start and end? Are talking about the 1960s or the 1990s? Because most people I knew didn’t start using the internet regularly until the mid to late 90s or about 30 or so years a…

I hear this a lot. I want details: - Which countries? - What portion of the population are benefiting from crypto? Is it a tiny portion of nerds or has it become more mainstream now? - With the crash in cryptocurrency over the last few months are these people in those countries still glad that they used this, or are they regretting it? I don't doubt that there exist individuals in countries with high inflation who ha…

Argentina. 100% of annual inflation. People use crypto everyday to get money in and out of the economy.

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#196
post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm ... that was an exact quote from the article.

I think most people are rightfully skeptical of survey results where survey methodology is not disclosed.

Their disclosed survey methodology:

"The Cross-Border Remittances Report, a PYMNTS and Stellar Development Foundation collaboration, draws from a census-balanced survey of 2,079 U.S. consumers who made cross-border peer-to-peer payments, conducted between June 23 and July 12, 2021. Respondents were an average of 39 years old, and 41 percent were female. Also, 47 percent held college degrees and 48 percent earned more than $100,000 in annual income." [0]

[0] https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/PYMNTS-Cro... (Page 25)

EDIT: BTW I have absolutely no affiliation with either PYMNTS or the Stellar Development Foundation.

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#197

I think Helium is a pretty well known, real-world blockchain project. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/06/technology/helium-cryptoc...

Excellent decision to cite the company that today was caught lying that Lime and Salesforce were their “real world” customers: https://web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=helium-caught-lying-that-li...

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#198
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin and crypto has an immediate, obvious value that was previously held back by technology. Similar to the rest of the examples you've listed. We live in an age where we are forced to own nothing and be happy. Bitcoin, Blockchain and crypto solves this.

>> "we are forced to own nothing and be happy. Bitcoin, Blockchain and crypto solves this." Serious question, what/where does this apply to? I get NFTs for digital authenticity, but PKI solves this too. How does one "own nothing without blockchain" when we have property deeds, automobile titles, jewelry and fine art certificates of authenticity all without blockchain? Your comment comes off as a solution looking for…

All of those things requires us to trust somebody, which is a glaring single point of failure in the system. Things can go wrong.

When any of these deeds, titles or certificates are lost, burnt or stolen. You have to rely on an outside body to keep a backup safe for you.

Blockchain allows us to be super efficient too. Which is a perk. Rather than the need of waiting for someone to certify, deliver, inspect, notify, return, process. Depending on the industry, this could take years. Blockchain tech allows everyone to see the validity of a claim in real time.

My family sold out family home a few years ago. It took 6 years of unnecessary admin work to get it sold. If we relied on blockchain tech, it would've been processed in a day.

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#199
post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin and crypto has an immediate, obvious value that was previously held back by technology. Similar to the rest of the examples you've listed. We live in an age where we are forced to own nothing and be happy. Bitcoin, Blockchain and crypto solves this.

>> "we are forced to own nothing and be happy. Bitcoin, Blockchain and crypto solves this." Serious question, what/where does this apply to? I get NFTs for digital authenticity, but PKI solves this too. How does one "own nothing without blockchain" when we have property deeds, automobile titles, jewelry and fine art certificates of authenticity all without blockchain? Your comment comes off as a solution looking for…

> a solution looking for a problem

This phrase pretty much sums up almost everything related to cryptocurrency/blockchain.

Re: I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To

#200
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you live in a wealthy country, yes, but if you have limited bank access and consequently likely a country with unstable fiat, which assets would you suggest are more stable for long term holding? Certainly not physical assets, as people without banking access aren't likely to have vaults or some way to protect something like gold.

Usually in stone (buildings/sheds), farmland, or readily usable goods that keep well/provide value (rice, dry beans, generator, fridge). Sucks if you need to run though. But usually if you're wealthy in an unwealthy/poorly banked country and can't leave for some reason, you keep your assets in the place you'd run to if you really had to.

all of those things are fine and good, but they aren't something you can easily put your savings into - you have to save up to buy most of that stuff, and you can't just horde physical items without necessary storage and protection. Further for some people these things all pose substantially more risk than bitcoin. If someone burns your sheds down or salts your farmland because you can't payoff the local rebels, you risk losing everything, with bitcoin, having poor timing on exiting the market is risky, but certainly not 100% wealth loss risk and that's without even considering the aspect that memorizing a wallets secret phrase is the only upkeep you need to hold bitcoin. All of those physical assets bear some form of time/energy to maintain/upkeep and as you mention have a strong downside of making you immobile.

I'm not saying everyone should store their savings in bitcoin, but I am saying it serves a very real, potentially life changing purpose for some people and that shouldn't be discounted.

Post reply on HN