This is overlong and pretty florid, but its conclusion (that a long record of forked changes, each being good for big ETH holders but bad for miners, is roughly equivalent to the self-dealing of wealthy insiders in the traditional financial world) doesn't seem wrong.
The Problem with Ethereum
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Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#22That this gets upvoted to #2 speaks poorly of HN. Why on earth are we still talking about the DAO? This is a collection of tired, irrelevant arguments that entirely ignores product-market fit and a large, vibrant community of developers. [edit] ah, of course. a bitcoin maximalist. how dare there be an alternative use-case for crypto that involves people using it. the thing bitcoin has going for it is a large communit…
Uhmm.. what product market fit? And why is proof of steak good?
Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#23I lost interest in Eth when the “code is law” law was broken. I’m glad I did. I don’t believe proof of steak is the correct solution to the energy required for proof of work. To be clear, a lot of good insight has come from Eth, but I’m not ideologically bought in anymore. Recently I have been exploring Chia as a farmer. Rather than the ruling class being a group devs and random early miners, the ruling class is a (s…
As far as I understand it, Chia suffers from the problem of just filling hard disks with useless data.
https://www.backblaze.com/blog/chia-analysis-to-farm-or-not-...
Filecoin is a more viable and useful option imho.
Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#24> As a Bitcoiner I find these actions intolerable and unacceptable. I know none of them would ever be accepted in Bitcoin.
This sums up the whole piece in my view. Bitcoin development stagnated years ago exactly because nobody involved wanted to change/hard fork it to implement improvements.
For people who want a Bitcoin-like Ethereum with no DAO fork or staking there's Ethereum Classic.
Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#25The great part about cryptocurrency is that if you don’t want it, don’t buy it - don’t read about it - don’t do anything. It is a purely voluntary system. If you want to avoid US Dollars, it’s essentially impossible for most people.
There is no problem with Ethereum.
Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#26Ethereum is and has always been the toy of Vitalik Buterin and his cronies. They control roughly 64% of all ETH. Everyone else is just share cropping suckers.
Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#27Seems like one of the core arguments of this is that the the core devs have pushed the difficulty bomb multiple times because they've missed their original timelines for switching to PoS without any repercussions. It seems to me that this is actually the correct thing to do. I'd rather the core devs take their time and iron out the issues instead of being incentivized to play fast and loose with a system that manages…
Agreed. The article feels a bit like it's salty about a very complex software project behaving like a very complex software project.
My understanding of the changing of the rules "as you go" is that it's based on the reality being faced by the system. Bitcoin's proof-of-work is simultaneously one of it's strengths and one of its weaknesses, and Ethereum has chosen to move from PoW to PoS because of the belief that it's the right path to follow in attempting to solve the problems the system is facing in reality.
I don't think the "working class" vs. "ruling class" analogy is particularly fitting. However, to continue the analogy, the profitability of Ethereum mining (from what I've heard) would have allowed pretty much all of the early "working class" to have climbed the social ladder to "ruling class" if they held onto some percentage of their earnings (you know, like "savings" or "investments" in this real-world analogy). If the "working class" believed in the longevity of the project they've chosen to work for, wouldn't they see the investment opportunity? Otherwise they're just there for the immediate profit, and there's no long-term contract or agreement that's been broken. The system is evolving, like what happens in the real world.
> As a Bitcoiner... > We wouldn’t dare... > We would never... > doesn’t have a ruling class to take advantage of other classes
Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Satoshi Vision. Take off the rose-coloured glasses, "your community" isn't sunshine and roses either.
Personally, I think PoW may be what brings Bitcoin down in the long-term.
Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#28This article actually explains certain aspects of Crypto way better than actual articles that try to explain Crypto. E.g., I've been wondering why a certain Bitcoin podcaster, who is very popular, has never mined a Bitcoin. He/she talks all day about "stacking Sats", but he/she only buys them. Reading this article made me realize that he/she might see him/herself as a member of the ruling class.
Bitcoin mining isn't something you can do on your own anymore. Unless you're accidentally located at a place with the cheapest electricity you'll have no chance.
Not to mention the ASICs, by the time end-users can acquire them they're usually outdated.
Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#29That this gets upvoted to #2 speaks poorly of HN. Why on earth are we still talking about the DAO? This is a collection of tired, irrelevant arguments that entirely ignores product-market fit and a large, vibrant community of developers. [edit] ah, of course. a bitcoin maximalist. how dare there be an alternative use-case for crypto that involves people using it. the thing bitcoin has going for it is a large communit…
Uhmm.. what product market fit? And why is proof of steak good?
I prefer, nay, demand proof of cake!
Re: The Problem with Ethereum
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you saying you would like to purchase and use such a currency? Or would you like other people to purchase and use it?
No, I would like to mine it. Imagine: a network where the only gains you get are from spending your money quickly. The anti-hodl. It would be completely worthless as a store of value or investment vehicle. Its only conceivable use would be as a fast and efficient transaction ledger. Which is what I wanted out of blockchain to begin with! I'd be happy to support a network like that, even if my income was rapidly vanis…
Right... and who will be buying and using this money?