6 ms·
You guys really need to let go of the blockchain trope. It's a hammer seeking nails.
by debacle 11y ago
You guys really need to let go of the blockchain trope. It's a hammer seeking nails.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- occsceo 11y agobut its ... blerkchain terkonology. ha ha
- Aqueous 11y agoThe blockchain represents trust-less global concensus, the first time such a thing has occurred in history. From remittances to microtransactions to voting there are very few economic and political problems that the blockchain can say nothing about. The current market capitalization of BitCoin is $3.7 billion. Did all that money just appear out of thin air because blockchains are worth nothing and solve no problems?
- zakk 11y agoThe market capitalization of Bitcoin has NOTHING to do with the value of its technical solutions. A low tech solution like the good old check (ink on a piece of paper) can be worth more than all Bitcoins.
- Aqueous 11y agoReally? Nothing? If the technical solutions were worth nothing wouldn't the value tend towards zero? Surely sustaining a market cap in the billions says something about the economic value it represents.
- zakk 11y ago> If the technical solutions were worth nothing wouldn't the value tend towards zero? Nonsense. The value of Bitcoins is not the value of the algorithms behind it. People agree to trade Bitcoin for that amount of money and that's it. Market laws. Just like the value of cash is not determined by the technical solution behind it (essentially colored inks on a piece of paper).
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- Aqueous 11y agoSo all market valuations exist in a vacuum, and say absolutely nothing about how much something is actually worth? And how do you think this economic theory applies to the stock market or commodities markets? Are shares in companies and commodities inherently worth nothing but the price people agree to pay for them? Don't they say something about their collective belief in that asset's future? Market valuations can become decoupled from intrinsic value, but that doesn't mean the intrinsic value is zero. In the long term if something really repesents zero value its market valuation will approach that.
- seiji 11y agoBitCoin is $3.7 billion. That's about 1/14th of an Uber. It's literally nothing on a global scale. The value of all "bitcoin companies" is larger than the value of all bitcoins themselves. there are very few economic and political problems that the blockchain can say nothing about. That's just crazy talk.
- Aqueous 11y agoYes, $3.7 billion is less than some things are worth, but it is more than most things are worth. The valuation of Uber means people believe Uber has future growth potential. Similarly, the high valuation of BitCoin companies means people believe BitCoin has future growth potential. Rightly or wrongly, I guess the future will tell in both cases. Obviously I think rightly. That's just crazy talk. Ok.
- debacle 11y agoI didn't say block chains are worth nothing. Just because something solves one problem does not mean it solves all problems.
- CyberDildonics 11y agoBut when something is a decentralized immutable ledger and global consensus, it tends to solve problems of decentralized immutable ledgers and global consensus.
- jtuente 11y ago>decentralized immutable ledger and global consensus These aren't problems, they're potential solutions to problems. Bitcoin and Blockchains are solutions to specific problems in currency and trust.
- CyberDildonics 11y agoThey are the structure of of decentralized systems. A comment system can be seen as (and is possibly already implemented as) an immutable ledger of transactions - adding comments, voting, edits etc. So decentralizing those things that can be represented at their core as a ledger of transactions is very much a problem which blockchains solve.
- ssharp 11y agoBitcoin is horrible for microtransactions. I don't know if there's another blockchain besides Bitcoin's that's better for microtransacations, but Bitcoin ain't it. The transaction bandwidth for Bitcoin is laughably small, the ability for bandwidth to be added is limited (see how long current block size debate has gone on), and transaction fees required to get placed into a block add substantial fixed fees that represent a large % fee for micro transactions. If a Bitcoin microtransaction service ever hit it big, it would immediately cripple the entire network.
- this_user 11y ago> The current market capitalization of BitCoin is $3.7 billion. By definition only publicly traded companies have a market capitalization. BitCoin is not a publicly traded company and therefore does not have one.
- vomitcuddle 11y agoMy biggest issue with all the investment in blockchain-derived technologies that aren't cryptocurrency related is that it's hard to apply proof-of-work systems to real world problems. How do you incentivize people for mining blocks? How do you ensure you have enough distributed computing power, so that a single actor can't take over the entire network? The company using a blockchain to track diamonds is a good example. Do I get diamonds for mining blocks? Then what's the point? Companies like Everledger claiming to run a "private blockchain" are only using the word as marketing bullshit, because that effectively becomes a centralized database/linked list.
- debacle 11y agoYou bring up a compelling point and the fact that you're being downmodded is kind of sad.
- ssharp 11y agoCrpytocurrency/Money isn't the only way to incentive people. If a group of decentralized entities have a common interest that could be solved with a blockchain-type technology, it might make sense for them to throw computing power at it because it still creates value, even without a currency.
- vomitcuddle 11y agoFor the blockchain/proof-of-work concept to truly work, everyone should be offered some sort of incentive to participate in the network. It's the best way to ensure that a single actor can't gather enough computing power to take control of more than 50% of the network.