Live data from Hacker News

Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

coywolf.news

411–420 of 433 posts

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#411
post #60

The relentless number of anti-crypto and anti-web3 articles on HN is tiring. Nobody is forcing anyone to partake in this new technology. Skepticism is healthy, but criticism without being constructive is not. There are clearly _some_ novel ideas in the crypto space, even if you think the state of the community today is not healthy. Thousands of teams are exploring ideas on many different fronts (e.g. L1s, L2s, NFTs).…

Imagine if nicotine, which may or may not have beneficial effects on your mental & physical health, was hyped up as much as web3. why not simply discuss the studies of these effects instead of opinions thereof?

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You underestimate things quite a bit. Decentralized ideologies are what's being practiced right now; and in fact, it's part of the USA's geopolitical strategy of pushing democracy onto countries, whether subtle or otherwise. And in any case, any individual should be focused on empowering other individuals to the point they can at least vote with their own wallets and migrate to another country or group should the nee…

Right, but if they empowered to move, they have only a limited list of countries to select from. Those countries could be puppet states, corrupted, etc.... So what if one of those countries were to be formed on decentralized, open source principles? I guess what I'm saying is we should start a new country that will be constitutionally immune to some of the new challenges of modern times.

Again, I think there's an underestimation of what it takes to make a country, especially in a world of organized hostile players.

You're far better off with spreading ideology.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing that bugs me is that 25 years in the tech industry and I never heard a single person, engineer or business person, ever use the term "web 3." Then one day a few months ago it seemed like a ton of news outlets dropped articles on the exact same day which started using the term. It smells like a made up buzz word that did not originate organically. Someone coined this termed and released a bunch of press rele…

Maybe it's just me but the only time I see "web 3" is when people/articles on HN are complaining about it.

You might want to consider sampling a broader source of news or discussion. HN is prone to insulation and echo chambers like any other social media. I can tell you that there is a large contingent of Twitter, for example, fully on board with "Web 3" -- generally in the context of NFTs and the latest coin offering.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#414
A healthy criticism of things is great, however, I feel context needs to be brought to the table too. What is this Bitcoin being compared against?

We need to understand the current fiat system, how is fiat money is made? How exactly is the USD brought into the world?

Many of you might be quite shocked on how the current system works, all based on debt, or just arbitrary printed to suite the needs of big government. Its quite interesting. Did you know 40% of all USD in existence was create last year based on nothing for instance?

Fiat, and crypto have their merits, and failures. Some obvious issues, others underlying, and needing to be addressed.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cryptocurrency does nothing, nada, zilch, zero to address corruption in any shape. In many ways, it helps corruption, by providing a way to secretly transfer funds.

> Cryptocurrency does nothing, nada, zilch, zero to address corruption in any shape. Those are nice nouns, but have you any specific argument? Bitcoin's origins were designed to redress this very issue.

[deleted]

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nobody is forcing anyone to partake in this new technology Absolutely, completely wrong. Bitcoin is using HALF A PERCENT of the electricity on the ENTIRE PLANET. That affects every single person living on this planet. It will affect people living here into the future. It is an absolute catastrophe that is hurting everyone. We don't get to "not partake" in that. Bitcoin is the one single thing that has enabled the r…

By that logic, we're all participating in the remaining 99% of electricity usage. But this isn't even close to being the case. Are northeastern American states being forced to participate in air conditioning because the southwestern states use so much of it? I don't see the reason in that.

They are forced to participate in the consequences.

You can't tell someone who is arguing for decreasing excessive use of air conditioning that "well if you don't like it, don't use it".

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cryptocurrency does nothing, nada, zilch, zero to address corruption in any shape. In many ways, it helps corruption, by providing a way to secretly transfer funds.

Sure many illegal activity goes on on crypto, but as a person who doesn't trust the authorities, I'd still prefer crypto. Lots of illegal activity goes on fiat too, at least I have more control over my assets on crypto.

So you agree it does nothing to address corruption?

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cryptocurrency does nothing, nada, zilch, zero to address corruption in any shape. In many ways, it helps corruption, by providing a way to secretly transfer funds.

> Cryptocurrency does nothing, nada, zilch, zero to address corruption in any shape. Those are nice nouns, but have you any specific argument? Bitcoin's origins were designed to redress this very issue.

This is what Bitcoin was designed for:

> Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments. While the system works well enough for most transactions, it still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the trust based model. Completely non-reversible transactions are not really possible, since financial institutions cannot avoid mediating disputes. The cost of mediation increases transaction costs, limiting the minimum practical transaction size and cutting off the possibility for small casual transactions, and there is a broader cost in the loss of ability to make non-reversible payments for non- reversible services. With the possibility of reversal, the need for trust spreads. Merchants must be wary of their customers, hassling them for more information than they would otherwise need. A certain percentage of fraud is accepted as unavoidable. These costs and payment uncertainties can be avoided in person by using physical currency, but no mechanism exists to make payments over a communications channel without a trusted party.

> What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party. Transactions that are computationally impractical to reverse would protect sellers from fraud, and routine escrow mechanisms could easily be implemented to protect buyers.

Nothing in there about corruption.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have read countless research papers and press releases and blogs and open source code relating to web3 over the past few years, so if I'm ill informed then it sounds like you're suggesting that pretty much everyone else is also. If there is some secret I'm missing, now is your chance to say it. Please try to make more substantial comments. Thanks.

I don't need to write an essay to point out you are wrong.

Actually, no, you do need that.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cryptocurrency does nothing, nada, zilch, zero to address corruption in any shape. Those are nice nouns, but have you any specific argument? Bitcoin's origins were designed to redress this very issue.

This is what Bitcoin was designed for: > Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments. While the system works well enough for most transactions, it still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the trust based model. Completely non-reversible transactions are not really possible, since financial institutions cann…

Satoshi mentions later in the paper that BTC is impossible to inflate by design. Inflation enables much of the corruption in our current financial system. "Just print more money bro! ;)"

Also, designing a means of transaction that is independent of governments and banks - two of the most corrupt institutions in every society - is surely a deliberate move against them?

Finally, the genesis block of Bitcoin specifically mentions bailouts of banks. The arrival of Bitcoim amid the 2008 financial crisis is no coincidence.

I welcome anything that weakens their hold and means my money doesn't lose half its value over my lifetime.

Post reply on HN