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The way Ethereum, its programming language, as well as its "smart contracts" work effectively ensures there will be an infinite amount of such issues in Ethereu
by mtgx 9y ago
The way Ethereum, its programming language, as well as its "smart contracts" work effectively ensures there will be an infinite amount of such issues in Ethereum's future (assuming Ethereum also survives indefinitely, despite all of these issues).
If Ethereum is the "internet," then all of these incidents are kind of like "data breaches" that have happened and will continue to happen for the entire life of the internet/Ethereum network. And if the number of data breaches throughout the internet's life is any indication for what will happen on Ethereum, there will be a lot of "hard forks" in Ethereum's future, too.
Ethereum devs signed-up for this when they decided to make its smart contracts Turing complete.
- LyndsySimon 9y agoMy position on Ethereum is that it will never be a general-use currency for human beings. Logically rigid contracts are not a feature that people really want. We've built entire judicial systems around the idea that contracts are malleable and that judgments are often sought that take more into account than was known at the time of creation. Ethereum may actually end up really shining as autonomous organizations become a real thing.
- eternalban 9y agoYou do have an interesting point worth discussing, but that was not the thrust of GP's comment. Even your "autonomous organizations" will need to deal with e.g. the halting problem, for example. http://cognet.mit.edu/book/heterogeneous-agent-systems http://cognet.mit.edu/book/heterogeneous-agent-systems [You want to read chapter 10.]
- eks 9y agoIf Ethereum and smart contracts take off, "code auditors" are going to be making a fortune.