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Just from reading commentators here at HN, it doesn't seem like these issues were unforeseen. Rather, it seemed that whatever intense optimism exists around cry

Just from reading commentators here at HN, it doesn't seem like these issues were unforeseen. Rather, it seemed that whatever intense optimism exists around cryptocurrencies is capable of overwhelming investor sense in return for the promise of some ideological "win".

alistproducer2 10y ago
I used to run an Ethereum meetup and I was pretty much the only skeptic in the whole group. Everyone I encountered were "true believers."
skylan_q 10y ago
This is what it looks like to me. They couldn't see the problem happening because culture blinded them from thinking of things in such a way that would allow them to see this coming.
draw_down 10y ago
Yes, I agree with that. This was pretty clearly a bad idea from the start. But, to say so was being a "hater" and so forth.
notahacker 10y ago
Yup. To be honest, the bug with the implementation of the DAO that allowed someone to appropriate most of its assets is the least of the flaws behind the concept, which was fundamentally "let's put our money in a pool and let the anonymous votes of pool members decide what to do with it", complete with a big disincentive to opposing to stupid or malicious proposals since refraining from voting was the only way to ensure your funds weren't committed to a "contract", and absence of anyone, anywhere being accountable for anything as it's chief/only selling point. Since when was that a $150m opportunity?
plttn 10y ago
I feel like this might be a semi-unpopular opinion, but frankly I'm getting tired of the idea that a blockchain is the solution to every single problem the human race faces. There's this almost religious level of looking the other way whenever there's some sort of failure in a blockchain system, and they always say "that was a one-off situation"
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  I'm also finding the "blockchain all the things" concept ... perplexing. I really don't understand the mechanism or dynamics. It seems I'm not the only one. There's a growing set of evidence of breakdown among institutions founded on or around Blockchain: Bitcoin, MtGox, Ethereum, others. And a profound failure to either understand or acknowledge (and I'm not sure which of the two it is predominantly, or how much it varies by individual) what money, currency, and contract actually are.
  - plttn 10y ago
    I'm not a dumb person by any stretch of the imagination, and I actually got lost in the weeds when trying to read The DAO's website and what exactly it does and how it works. (which is a hilariously confusing thing to name a brand; "Which DAO are you talking about?" "The DAO" "Yes but which one") There's situations where blockchains are a good idea, but there's many cases where they aren't.

alistproducer2 10y ago

I used to run an Ethereum meetup and I was pretty much the only skeptic in the whole group. Everyone I encountered were "true believers."

skylan_q 10y ago

This is what it looks like to me. They couldn't see the problem happening because culture blinded them from thinking of things in such a way that would allow them to see this coming.

draw_down 10y ago

Yes, I agree with that. This was pretty clearly a bad idea from the start. But, to say so was being a "hater" and so forth.

notahacker 10y ago

Yup. To be honest, the bug with the implementation of the DAO that allowed someone to appropriate most of its assets is the least of the flaws behind the concept, which was fundamentally "let's put our money in a pool and let the anonymous votes of pool members decide what to do with it", complete with a big disincentive to opposing to stupid or malicious proposals since refraining from voting was the only way to ensure your funds weren't committed to a "contract", and absence of anyone, anywhere being accountable for anything as it's chief/only selling point. Since when was that a $150m opportunity?

plttn 10y ago

I feel like this might be a semi-unpopular opinion, but frankly I'm getting tired of the idea that a blockchain is the solution to every single problem the human race faces. There's this almost religious level of looking the other way whenever there's some sort of failure in a blockchain system, and they always say "that was a one-off situation"

dredmorbius 10y ago
I'm also finding the "blockchain all the things" concept ... perplexing. I really don't understand the mechanism or dynamics. It seems I'm not the only one. There's a growing set of evidence of breakdown among institutions founded on or around Blockchain: Bitcoin, MtGox, Ethereum, others. And a profound failure to either understand or acknowledge (and I'm not sure which of the two it is predominantly, or how much it varies by individual) what money, currency, and contract actually are.
- plttn 10y ago
  I'm not a dumb person by any stretch of the imagination, and I actually got lost in the weeds when trying to read The DAO's website and what exactly it does and how it works. (which is a hilariously confusing thing to name a brand; "Which DAO are you talking about?" "The DAO" "Yes but which one") There's situations where blockchains are a good idea, but there's many cases where they aren't.