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> Could this business be built without blockchain as a technology? And the answer is yes if and only if the business is lawful. In other words, you never need

> Could this business be built without blockchain as a technology? And the answer is yes if and only if the business is lawful. In other words, you never need the blockchain, unless you can't use the power of the law to enforce your contracts. Every. Single. Other. supposed use-case of the blockchain could be done by using a regular database and real-world contracts. Yes, even money (cf PayPal, Western Union, etc...). But if you're doing something illegal, then you can't have contracts and the threat of a lawsuit to enforce them. This where the blockchain and Bitcoin in particular becomes useful.

billmalarky 9y ago
>In other words, you never need the blockchain, unless you can't use the power of the law to enforce your contracts. Every. Single. Other. supposed use-case of the blockchain could be done by using a regular database and real-world contracts. Yes, even money (cf PayPal, Western Union, etc...). Sure you don't "need" the blockchain to accomplish legacy X (LX), but what if blockchain X (BX) is 90% cheaper than LX (anything that avoids going to court will lead to massive cost savings)? A lot of the "known" use cases for blockchain tech involve squeezing out inefficiencies from the status quo. As with any new technology there could be additional applications unknown at this time unlocked as well.
Tepix 9y ago
If you don't trust the banks and the government (and their monetary policies) that doesn't mean that you are doing something illegal. Of coure, it could turn into something illegal at some later point in time (like owning gold did). Also the banks love blockchain technology because they don't like having to trust each other.
- beager 9y ago
  I don't normally advocate for this position, but to be fair to the discussion, the legality of the business may orthogonal to whether it's a good business idea (cf. Uber, Airbnb). But most importantly, it is incumbent upon the person who desires to work for a "blockchain startup" to decide if they want to inherit the burden of working for an "illegal" business.
disordinary 9y ago
There's plenty of use cases where you need to store data permanently and in the open, as well as use cases where you need data to be massively redundant.
jsutton 9y ago
To say that blockchains are only useful for unlawful activities is completely ridiculous and shows your negligible insight on the topic.

billmalarky 9y ago

>In other words, you never need the blockchain, unless you can't use the power of the law to enforce your contracts. Every. Single. Other. supposed use-case of the blockchain could be done by using a regular database and real-world contracts. Yes, even money (cf PayPal, Western Union, etc...). Sure you don't "need" the blockchain to accomplish legacy X (LX), but what if blockchain X (BX) is 90% cheaper than LX (anything that avoids going to court will lead to massive cost savings)? A lot of the "known" use cases for blockchain tech involve squeezing out inefficiencies from the status quo. As with any new technology there could be additional applications unknown at this time unlocked as well.

Tepix 9y ago

If you don't trust the banks and the government (and their monetary policies) that doesn't mean that you are doing something illegal. Of coure, it could turn into something illegal at some later point in time (like owning gold did). Also the banks love blockchain technology because they don't like having to trust each other.

beager 9y ago
I don't normally advocate for this position, but to be fair to the discussion, the legality of the business may orthogonal to whether it's a good business idea (cf. Uber, Airbnb). But most importantly, it is incumbent upon the person who desires to work for a "blockchain startup" to decide if they want to inherit the burden of working for an "illegal" business.

disordinary 9y ago

There's plenty of use cases where you need to store data permanently and in the open, as well as use cases where you need data to be massively redundant.

jsutton 9y ago

To say that blockchains are only useful for unlawful activities is completely ridiculous and shows your negligible insight on the topic.