111–120 of 360 posts
tl;dr - A16Z is reclassifying themselves as an "investment advisor", which will allow them to make riskier bets (crypto, real estate, etc). They'll still invest in startups like any other VC firm.
Yes, that's the interesting thing here, so we've put it in the title above. Hopefully that will nudge the discussion to be more specific and less lame.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you provide a single problem where the right solution space is blockchain? Ive thought about this a good amount, and cannot come up with a single use case where current established centralized technology is not a better solution.
US expat trying to receive money overseas. US banks won't serve you unless you have a US address. Many lie and say it is illegal. The usual work-around is to establish some kind of US address through a relative or friend. Still ends up being costly and slow to do transfers. Some startups have tried to address it but it is still not very good. Coinbase like to claim they have solved this issue but it is total BS becau…
Skepticism might be warranted, but it should be noted by now that decentralized finance has a place in the present and future of our planet and it's not going away. I strongly encourage technologists to keep an open mind and do in depth research into the space. Yes, 2017 was over-hyped. The tech was not mature then, and while it has matured some since then, there's still quite a ways to go. Bitcoin Lightning network…
You mean stuff like not supporting hate groups such as white supremacists, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers or something else?
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Can you provide a single problem where the right solution space is blockchain? Ive thought about this a good amount, and cannot come up with a single use case where current established centralized technology is not a better solution.
Handshake.org decentralizes the root zone and obsoletes certificate authorities. Basically, it lets you register new TLDs that are censorship-resistant, seizure-resistant, and tamper-proof.
A16Z’s unapologetic bet on cryptocurrency and blockchain companies is big for the industry. As crypto heats up again and blockchain 3.0 projects emerge (Cosmos, Polkadot, Ethereum Proof of Stake) VC will help legitimize the industry.
Can you provide a single problem where the right solution space is blockchain? Ive thought about this a good amount, and cannot come up with a single use case where current established centralized technology is not a better solution.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One problem that I think blockchains could be well suited for is the storage of police evidence. Not physical evidence of course, but anything that could be turned into data. There was a scene in the show Billions where U.S. prosecutors tampered with evidence in the from of notes taken while interviewing persons of interest. Since blockchains are at their core a tamper-proof append-only data store, if those notes had…
Why does this need a blockchain rather than being simply cryptographic signing?
Writing data on a decentralized blockchain inherently provides a secure timestamp that cannot be modified without being noticed. Not to mention the extreme costs involved with trying to rewrite a blockchain's history. [2]
I disagree with the parent comment on one thing-- I would much rather trust a public blockchain with a respectable hashrate over a private blockchain. You could simply store a salted hash of the data on the public blockchain, and still keep the actual evidence private.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_third_party [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_timestamping
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Why don’t you think companies can inflate the crypto money supply in the same way that they inflate the fiat money supply?
I don't understand this question. Why do you think Bitcoin is inflatable as such?
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Why does this need a blockchain rather than being simply cryptographic signing?
Securely signing a cryptographic message with a provable timestamp still requires a trusted third party, as far as I know. A trusted third party can be corrupted.[1] Writing data on a decentralized blockchain inherently provides a secure timestamp that cannot be modified without being noticed. Not to mention the extreme costs involved with trying to rewrite a blockchain's history. [2] I disagree with the parent comme…
That would be the judiciary. If they -- the people with the guns and the resources of the state -- become corrupted, you'd be unwise to think that your cryptographic signatures are going to help much.
In the example given, having lodged the evidence with the court would have prevented the abuse.
Skepticism might be warranted, but it should be noted by now that decentralized finance has a place in the present and future of our planet and it's not going away. I strongly encourage technologists to keep an open mind and do in depth research into the space. Yes, 2017 was over-hyped. The tech was not mature then, and while it has matured some since then, there's still quite a ways to go. Bitcoin Lightning network…
And for all this technical progress there's still the human problem that the core team/individuals decided exploiting vulnerable contracts' and hard forking the failed DAO were morally right ideas.
As long as those team members are involved then the truth is that no one in the Ethereum ecosystem can escape the Spectre of their will. They've historically proven to be operating as simply a different centralized body of power that isn't a government issuing fiat.