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A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

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Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#151

Post by School-Cotton »

solotronics wrote: post #148
School-Cotton wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cryptocurrencies are not a replacement for banks; they are a replacement for gold. If cryptocurrencies ever become mainstream, banking services will be built on top of them, just as they were originally built on top of gold. The only thing I can think of that cryptos let you do cheaper than banks is rapid, relatively frictionless funds transfer, so I’ll admit their utility there. But other than that, what banking ser…

absolute control over your money

Again, nothing stops you from keeping gold under your bed. The reason people don’t do this is because most people don’t actually need, want, or care about having absolute control over their money. And the probability of your home being robbed is much higher than that of your bank (and the FDIC) becoming insolvent.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#152

Post by sowbug »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #32
malloreon wrote: post #16

I have long wondered how cryptocurrency fans would answer the question: ‘Would you be happy if the crypto-utopia you bring up happens in the next 10 years, and all value is stored/transacted through a cryptocurrency, but it was a coin that you do not possess now, nor could you transfer any of you current currencies into it?’ Say tomorrow someone releases the one true coin, but no one notices. All other cryptocurrenci…

I want a cryptocurrency which is egalitarian - evenly distributed among people in the world, rather than one in which a few people own the majority and profit hugely.

What happens on Day Two?

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#153

Post by usrusr »

ses1984 wrote: post #48
malloreon wrote: post #16

I have long wondered how cryptocurrency fans would answer the question: ‘Would you be happy if the crypto-utopia you bring up happens in the next 10 years, and all value is stored/transacted through a cryptocurrency, but it was a coin that you do not possess now, nor could you transfer any of you current currencies into it?’ Say tomorrow someone releases the one true coin, but no one notices. All other cryptocurrenci…

The anarchist in me wants to believe that cryptocurrency will diminish the power of the state but I don't actually have enough faith in humanity that we will come up with something better than crypto-oligarchy.

When new technology or some other fundamental change makes enforcement of the rule of law harder, We The People will grant enforcers more privileges to make sure that they are still able to do their job. It's a job We want done. The road to police state is paved with anarchist intentions.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#154

Post by KineticLensman »

pepesza wrote: post #116
skohan wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The story of cryptocurrency over the past couple years has been a really interesting case-study in the application of Libertarian principals. It's interesting how something which was built on the idea of decentralization by design has given way to a clear power structure, where those who have the sway to control the fate of the technology have largely used it to pursue their own personal enrichment over the health an…

> It's interesting how something which was built on the idea of decentralization by design has given way to a clear power structure, where those who have the sway to control the fate of the technology have largely used it to pursue their own personal enrichment over the health and success of the system as a whole. Care to elaborate? Some examples?

> design has given way to a clear power structure

Example? Community decision making when forks occur.

> largely used it to pursue their own personal enrichment

I'll let someone else provide examples of that one :)

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#155

Post by airstrike »

arisAlexis wrote: post #121
brazzy wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Also why would I trust them, when there is no need to? Because your alternative is to trust the crypto infrastructure, which is far less trustworthy.

what do you mean by crypto infrastructure? you mean the code or the miners? actually banks have failed in the past, this infrastructure not yet

First link on Google for "Bitcoin Hack":

https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-exchange-zaif-hacked-in-60-m...

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#156

Post by petertodd »

jcfrei wrote: post #107
DenisM wrote: post #87

This gets asked often, but in case something changed recently - what are the use cases of cryptocurrencies that are not: - Attempts to side-step the law (however misguided the law is) - Trivial to do using a typical centralized database (e.g. Federal Reserver or VISA) - Tantamount to waiting for a greater fool to buy out the current players I am not looking for answers of the form "well whenever you want to avoid a t…

One possible use case: A notary for digital goods. Crypto currencies have a built-in incentive mechanism that keeps a ledger running and verifiable. This allows for a decentralized way to verify ownership of digital goods. More concrete, you could verify that you are the owner of a very rare sword you obtained in an online RPG. Even when the company goes out of business or stops the servers you could still prove that…

You don't need a cryptocurrency specifically to do this. Rather you can piggy back on a different consensus system: https://petertodd.org/2017/scalable-single-use-seal-asset-tr...

For example, while it'd be a bit of a hack, you could fairly easily re-use even the various Certificate Transparency blockchains to trade stocks.

Also, I wouldn't say that the incentive mechanisms keep the ledger running. Rather they keep the PoW consensus mechanism running; in all existing trustless decentralized currencies it's your node that verifies the ledger is working correctly, and other people are voluntarily distributing the data without a reward.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#158

Post by buboard »

malloreon wrote: post #16

I have long wondered how cryptocurrency fans would answer the question: ‘Would you be happy if the crypto-utopia you bring up happens in the next 10 years, and all value is stored/transacted through a cryptocurrency, but it was a coin that you do not possess now, nor could you transfer any of you current currencies into it?’ Say tomorrow someone releases the one true coin, but no one notices. All other cryptocurrenci…

It's not like gold's price went to 0 (more precisely, to the level of other noble metals) after the end of the gold standard. Bitcoin might well remain forever as a sort of digital gold with its (entirely stochastic) ups and downs. And why would people invest in a currency just because it is circulating? People invest in dollars because it's stable, not because it circulates a lot (more accurately, in derived products such as bonds, anchored to the US State, not on the dollar printing machines).

and yes i think most cryptocoin loonies want any one of them to succeed , the potential is so crazy high, that wishing otherwise would be foolish

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#159

Post by neokantian »

pjc50 wrote: post #103
neokantian wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine 3 parties: buyer, seller and third-party shipper. When the buyer has paid to a specific address, he will also email an irrefutable, digital proof of payment to the shipper, who will then ship the goods. It is trivial to look up the signed transaction to the specific address in the digital currency's blockchain. Hence, the shipping company can handle that situation. On the other hand, try to get an irrefutable…

Why does the shipper care that you've paid a third party?

Escrow situations work like that. You cannot use a bank in an escrow situation, because they are not capable of providing digital proof of payment.

Whenever you need to digitally prove payment to a third party, you need to use a payment method that can provide such proof.

Re: A faster, more efficient cryptocurrency

#160

Post by paulgb »

SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #134
sametmax wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you think bitcoin started ? You'd had to be crazy to believe in it 9 years ago, and spend time and energy in the community, nlt to lention monney, to foster the project. My family and friends said i was stupid, utopist, being conned, wasting my time, and so lany things. Btc was banana money at first, and only people believing it would be a great thing as a concept made it work. We didn't expect to make banks,…

> My family and friends said i was stupid, utopist, being conned, wasting my time, and so lany things. ... All great things start like that. "But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." -- Carl Sagan https://www.brainyquote.com/qu…

“First they think you're crazy, then they fight you, then you change the world.” - Elizabeth Holmes
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