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Friendly reminder that people still aren't using decentralized exchanges in 2016 even though Coinffeine (Crypto / USD), Bitsquare (Crypto / Bank), and Bithalo (

Friendly reminder that people still aren't using decentralized exchanges in 2016 even though Coinffeine (Crypto / USD), Bitsquare (Crypto / Bank), and Bithalo (Crypto / Crypto) exist which are all quite mature now. Technically we've had the smart contracts to solve these trust problems since 2013 but still nobody is using them. Mostly the problem is these projects haven't received the funding (or attention) they need so there's no money to build momentum and overcome the initial brutal networking effect. It's also surprisingly hard to bootstrap an exchange, much less a next generation exchange using smart contracts (first hand experience) because of the serious engineering required, especially when you can probably make far more money with a traditional exchange by cutting corners. I think there will eventually be a legitimate VC backed company who fixes this horrible security mess but for now we're forced to watch history repeat itself. Sorry for the rambling post hacker news, but as a guy who tried to fix these problems myself after Mtgox was hacked and failed for non-technical reasons, it's depressing to keep seeing the same hacks and thefts in the news. Startups in the FinTech space really need to stop being such hypocrites and learn what Bitcoin has to teach us. Protip: Bitcoin is a lot deeper than a currency or consensus system. It can also be used as a general purpose philosophy for designing high security systems in general.

HappyTypist 10y ago
I think the reality is that most people want a directly responsible entity to whom they can get support from.
- riprowan 10y ago
  ... and since the premise of Bitcoin was to free users from precisely these third-parties, it seems that Bitcoin is a bad use-case for these people.
  - Steltek 10y ago
    But "these people" are also "most people". "Most people" also don't use PGP, for many reasons, but IMO chiefly that it's hard to manage keys without outside (centralized) help. If Google managed PGP keys for you, there'd be little problem with muggles sending and receiving encrypted (albeit insecure) email. Since Bitcoin needs a critical mass to be successful, centralized exchanges and wallets are needed to build it up so it's generally useful.
joosters 10y ago
These services are far from mature. For example, Coinffeine's 'getting started' page is empty, other than a link to join the development mailing list !

HappyTypist 10y ago

I think the reality is that most people want a directly responsible entity to whom they can get support from.

riprowan 10y ago
... and since the premise of Bitcoin was to free users from precisely these third-parties, it seems that Bitcoin is a bad use-case for these people.
- Steltek 10y ago
  But "these people" are also "most people". "Most people" also don't use PGP, for many reasons, but IMO chiefly that it's hard to manage keys without outside (centralized) help. If Google managed PGP keys for you, there'd be little problem with muggles sending and receiving encrypted (albeit insecure) email. Since Bitcoin needs a critical mass to be successful, centralized exchanges and wallets are needed to build it up so it's generally useful.

joosters 10y ago

These services are far from mature. For example, Coinffeine's 'getting started' page is empty, other than a link to join the development mailing list !