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This satiric white paper is really, really worth the read: https://ponzico.win https://ponzico.win Written by a former cryptocurrency dev who later joined Lyf

by finnh 9y ago

This satiric white paper is really, really worth the read: https://ponzico.win https://ponzico.win Written by a former cryptocurrency dev who later joined Lyft. Some choice quotes: "Context—and wide margins—are the bedrock of every white paper." "We’re living in a world where developers are Kickstarting Pets.com every week"

FlailFast 9y ago
Author of PonzICO white paper here (proof: https://keybase.io/cin https://keybase.io/cin )—thank you! Still optimistic about cryptocurrency but the impending ICOpocalypse does not bode well for anyone in the space...excepting satirists I suppose. ;)
- finnh 9y ago
  Great to see your reply. I only came across your paper a few weeks ago, through fortuitous circumstances: A very smart but non-engineering friend of mine was asking about cryptocurrencies, and - in trying to explain why i think ethereum's "improvements" over bitcoin are anything but - I directed him to read about The DAO. He promptly rabbit-holed and came up an hour or so later with your gem of a paper. So ... nice work! A sanskrit professor found, understood, and thoroughly enjoyed the paper. And then hipped his programmer friend to it :)
  - delhanty 9y ago
    Straight question: do you have a good link for the main technical differences between ethereum and bitcoin?
    - delhanty 9y ago
      OK - I've read the paper on arXiv - can see that ethereum (for better or worse) has smart contracts layered on top where as bitcoin does. I seem to recall that there was another more fundamental difference at the blockchain level, was wondering whether there was any link for that ...?
      - finnh 9y ago
        re: blockchain differences: I hear that Ethereum is planning to move to proof-of-stake, rather that proof-of-work, but I don't have an opinion on that. There may be other salient differences I'm unaware of. It's the 'smart contracts' that I think are foolish. Replacing the legal system with code only makes sense if all of the following obtain: (a) the code is 100% bug-free (b/c accidents cannot be rewound) (b) all code-writers are 100% honest (their code does what they say) (c) all contract participants are 100% perfet code readers (so as to not enter into fraudulent contracts) (Strictly speaking, only one of (b) and (c) needs to be true). None of these conditions will ever obtain.
        dragonwriter 9y ago
        And even then you haven't really replaced the legal system if you are dealing with any goods that exist outside of the blockchain, since no matter what the "smart contract" code does, those ultimately need to be transferred outside the smart contract system and subject to the legal system. (And, actually, even transactions entirely within the blockchain may trigger legal consequences, so even for them you've merely supplemented, rather than replaced, the legal system.)
        delhanty 9y ago
        Thank you for your detailed & useful clarification.
- kimcheekumquat 9y ago
  Damn nice. 3,203.09 in eth in that wallet hehe
  - njarboe 9y ago
    About 15 eth, worth about $3,200. But he can hope for more.
- boznz 9y ago
  Good luck in buying the Tesla with all the profits, certainly put me off investing (and my dream of buying my Tesla by Christmas with the profits from my $1 investment)
sputknick 9y ago
This is brilliant, thank you for finding this. My personal favorite quote "But reality is divorced from this vision—indeed, the destruction of value after most of these scams are revealed will ironically employ more lawyers than Ethereum would otherwise claim to make redundant."
bduerst 9y ago
"kudos to the developers for discovering a class of rich, pseudo-intellectual suckers willing to value the work they haven’t done at multipliers that would give a private equity partner an aneurysm" This is pretty great.
- fivestar 9y ago
  Well stated. Were I to design a Ponzi for the 21st century, it would look and feel like Bitcoin. The essence of a good scam is to capture the imaginations of people who believe themselves to be smart and unable to be conned.

by finnh 9y ago

FlailFast 9y ago

Author of PonzICO white paper here (proof: https://keybase.io/cin https://keybase.io/cin )—thank you! Still optimistic about cryptocurrency but the impending ICOpocalypse does not bode well for anyone in the space...excepting satirists I suppose. ;)

finnh 9y ago
Great to see your reply. I only came across your paper a few weeks ago, through fortuitous circumstances: A very smart but non-engineering friend of mine was asking about cryptocurrencies, and - in trying to explain why i think ethereum's "improvements" over bitcoin are anything but - I directed him to read about The DAO. He promptly rabbit-holed and came up an hour or so later with your gem of a paper. So ... nice work! A sanskrit professor found, understood, and thoroughly enjoyed the paper. And then hipped his programmer friend to it :)
- delhanty 9y ago
  Straight question: do you have a good link for the main technical differences between ethereum and bitcoin?
  - delhanty 9y ago
    OK - I've read the paper on arXiv - can see that ethereum (for better or worse) has smart contracts layered on top where as bitcoin does. I seem to recall that there was another more fundamental difference at the blockchain level, was wondering whether there was any link for that ...?
    - finnh 9y ago
      re: blockchain differences: I hear that Ethereum is planning to move to proof-of-stake, rather that proof-of-work, but I don't have an opinion on that. There may be other salient differences I'm unaware of. It's the 'smart contracts' that I think are foolish. Replacing the legal system with code only makes sense if all of the following obtain: (a) the code is 100% bug-free (b/c accidents cannot be rewound) (b) all code-writers are 100% honest (their code does what they say) (c) all contract participants are 100% perfet code readers (so as to not enter into fraudulent contracts) (Strictly speaking, only one of (b) and (c) needs to be true). None of these conditions will ever obtain.
      - dragonwriter 9y ago
        And even then you haven't really replaced the legal system if you are dealing with any goods that exist outside of the blockchain, since no matter what the "smart contract" code does, those ultimately need to be transferred outside the smart contract system and subject to the legal system. (And, actually, even transactions entirely within the blockchain may trigger legal consequences, so even for them you've merely supplemented, rather than replaced, the legal system.)
      - delhanty 9y ago
        Thank you for your detailed & useful clarification.
kimcheekumquat 9y ago
Damn nice. 3,203.09 in eth in that wallet hehe
- njarboe 9y ago
  About 15 eth, worth about $3,200. But he can hope for more.
boznz 9y ago
Good luck in buying the Tesla with all the profits, certainly put me off investing (and my dream of buying my Tesla by Christmas with the profits from my $1 investment)

sputknick 9y ago

This is brilliant, thank you for finding this. My personal favorite quote "But reality is divorced from this vision—indeed, the destruction of value after most of these scams are revealed will ironically employ more lawyers than Ethereum would otherwise claim to make redundant."

bduerst 9y ago

"kudos to the developers for discovering a class of rich, pseudo-intellectual suckers willing to value the work they haven’t done at multipliers that would give a private equity partner an aneurysm" This is pretty great.

fivestar 9y ago
Well stated. Were I to design a Ponzi for the 21st century, it would look and feel like Bitcoin. The essence of a good scam is to capture the imaginations of people who believe themselves to be smart and unable to be conned.