Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

361–370 of 463 posts

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#361

Post by Reelin »

ballenf wrote: post #195
nodesocket wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am closing on a house, and this is quite terrifying. How in the world did the scammers know all the exact details of the house? I am guessing the $12k was good faith money? In my case, I was able to write a plain old check for my good faith money.

It was the down payment on the house in this case. And was actually a lot more than $12k. It has to be a wire transfer since checks take so long to clear and the title can't transfer with that uncertainty. My advice to anyone buying or selling is to get the attorney's phone number from a known good source in advance, and call them to verify the wiring instructions before submitting. Also compare the bank account name…

> It has to be a wire transfer since checks take so long to clear and the title can't transfer with that uncertainty.

Why was an escrow service not an option?

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#363

Post by ur-whale »

This paper is really worth a read, if only because it shows how much smart contracts is a brand new territory, mostly unexplored, full of opportunities (and therefore dangers).

If you're a blockchain naysayer [1], I'd invite you to go read this paper to measure how deep, rich and complex the world of smart contracts is, and at the very least get a feeling that you may simply not know how uninformed your negative opinion is.

[1] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Incorrect_predictions

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#364

Post by biolurker1 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #61
Analemma_ wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And let's be honest, the competition is still "Oops, I accidentally sent $900M to the wrong party." [1] The counterargument there is that Citibank is currently pursuing a resolution in the courts to that issue, and if they win they will get their $900M back. If you flub a DeFi transaction, you're shit outta luck.

And of course, if cryptocurrencies ever become anything more than Internet play money (and environmental disaster), the legal systems of countries worldwide will make sure the same protections apply. So yes, your newest cryptoanarchist token may have totally irreversible transactions (cross my heart, here's the math proof!), but the court can still order the thief to send back the money they stole in a separate trans…

no environmental disaster at all with POS or other systems different than POW

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#365

Post by ur-whale »

pjc50 wrote: post #3

As an elaborate real-money PVP system, Etherum is amazing. As a means of doing relatively normal business, being sniped, frontrun, or exploited is hugely off-putting.

You do realize that replacing "ethereum" with "the stock market" or "the USD" in your sentence pretty much yields another truism, right?

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#366

Post by biolurker1 »

dimmke wrote: post #145

The environment described in this article is horrifying and definitely sounds worse than our current financial system. That person just lost $12k to fraud and has no recourse at all. I agree with the other comments on here. Blockchain/crypto has always made me uncomfortable. I think it's a mix of the slimy get rich quick aspect of it that draws a lot of people and the cyberpunk/dystopian rhetoric around it. I also th…

A car breaking down in the middle of the street sounded worse than horses at some point

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#367

Post by Joeri »

dimmke wrote: post #145

The environment described in this article is horrifying and definitely sounds worse than our current financial system. That person just lost $12k to fraud and has no recourse at all. I agree with the other comments on here. Blockchain/crypto has always made me uncomfortable. I think it's a mix of the slimy get rich quick aspect of it that draws a lot of people and the cyberpunk/dystopian rhetoric around it. I also th…

I used to think the same way about blockchain, but I then saw a presentation about self-sovereign identity and I think it could be blockchain’s killer app.

This is being spearheaded through the UN and the ID2020 alliance.

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#368

Post by TeMPOraL »

dmihal wrote: post #357
Jasper_ wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ethereum is switching to proof of stake, which uses a normal amount of electricity and forever solves this issue This has been said for a few years now. The originally deadline for this was January 2020. Suffice to say, it didn't happen. I'll believe it when I see it. Ultimately, Blockchain seems to me to be a solution in search of a problem. There are a lot of issues with the current implementations, and a lot of…

> This has been said for a few years now. The originally deadline for this was January 2020. Suffice to say, it didn't happen. I'll believe it when I see it. Definitely not the first time a tech product has been delayed! The beacon chain (first phase of the PoS transition) is on it's final testnet right now and operating well. The community is hoping for a mainnet launch in November.

> Definitely not the first time a tech product has been delayed!

True! But in this case, the issue for most part wasn't just a delay because work took longer - but the question of whether or not it can be mathematically proven to work was open (and if it can't be proven to be possible and working, there's no point in trying). My intuition told me the result will be "it's not possible; waste in PoW is fundamental to these kinds of structures". I'm relieved to see I was wrong.

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#369

Post by spotman »

um_ya wrote: post #230
xg15 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh great, so we'll solve the problem of insurmountable complexity by putting another layer of complexity on top that is supposed to understand the first layer of complexity for us.

That's the entire state of computer science. Over time, strong systems become black box tools for more complex systems.

and less strong systems , also, become black boxes for other systems...

Re: Ethereum Is a Dark Forest

#370

Post by TeMPOraL »

seibelj wrote: post #243
xg15 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Open Source didn't have as its only unique feature the ability to evade regulation.

I work in the crypto space and the ability to side step regulations that I find ridiculous is a main selling factor. Red tape has stifled not just the financial space but the entire economy. If you want to cut hair you need 2000 hours of training and tens of thousands of dollars paid to scam schools, when YouTube and brochure on how to sweep hair from the floor is perfectly adequate. How is regulation fair again?

Let me contribute a prayer for all crypto folks:

"Satoshi, grant me the serenity to accept that some regulations are good, paid for in tears and blood. Grant me the courage to work towards changing ones that are bullshit, and not just ignoring them. And grant me the wisdom to understand Chesterton's fence."

Post reply on HN