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As unpopular as it is in general-subject tech forums, the solution is data stores that provide decentralization and censorship resistance through distributed co

As unpopular as it is in general-subject tech forums, the solution is data stores that provide decentralization and censorship resistance through distributed consensus enabled by crypto-economics, namely the blockchain. One day, the provision of every electronic service in the world could be coordinated in a censorship resistant manner on the blockchain. Before that happens, the cryptoasset/blockchain space's software suite needs to be improved, with solutions to problems like stolen and lost private keys, and scalability needs to improve a few orders of magnitude, but seeing all of the development on dApps and smart wallets, and all the work happening to enable layer 1 sharding and to develop layer 2 scalability mechanisms like zk roll-up, I suspect it's inevitable.

icebraining 7y ago
Why do you need consensus at all?
- CryptoPunk 7y ago
  For markets to operate, you need a global consensus on the state of ownership.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    I don't think it'll help with anything except perpetuating the artificial scarcity. The most basic proof of ownership is the fact of having that something, and there being no party claiming that you took it from them. Copying bits is so cheap everyone can get a copy from someone else who volunteered their copy and there's no point in even metering that. There's arguably little sense to have a market for digital data, yet we persist at trying. What you're seeking with blockchain is proof of compliance with a complex and somewhat arbitrary set of regulations.
    - CryptoPunk 7y ago
      Bandwidth and storage are both scarce resources and metering them out so producers are compensated is necessary to enable an economically sufficient quantity of both to be produced. I agree that intellectual property rights might reduce overall efficiency due to the artificial complexity and friction it adds.
nixpulvis 7y ago
I think I agree with you, at least in principle. But there's a lot of ground to cover, and powerful forces who would like to remain in control, and new bad actors looking for new ways to gain control. Nothing's going to be as clean and easy as we'd like it to be :(
- CryptoPunk 7y ago
  >>Nothing's going to be as clean and easy as we'd like it to be :( Very true. I often gloss over that harsh aspect of reality.

icebraining 7y ago

Why do you need consensus at all?

CryptoPunk 7y ago
For markets to operate, you need a global consensus on the state of ownership.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  I don't think it'll help with anything except perpetuating the artificial scarcity. The most basic proof of ownership is the fact of having that something, and there being no party claiming that you took it from them. Copying bits is so cheap everyone can get a copy from someone else who volunteered their copy and there's no point in even metering that. There's arguably little sense to have a market for digital data, yet we persist at trying. What you're seeking with blockchain is proof of compliance with a complex and somewhat arbitrary set of regulations.
  - CryptoPunk 7y ago
    Bandwidth and storage are both scarce resources and metering them out so producers are compensated is necessary to enable an economically sufficient quantity of both to be produced. I agree that intellectual property rights might reduce overall efficiency due to the artificial complexity and friction it adds.

nixpulvis 7y ago

I think I agree with you, at least in principle. But there's a lot of ground to cover, and powerful forces who would like to remain in control, and new bad actors looking for new ways to gain control. Nothing's going to be as clean and easy as we'd like it to be :(

CryptoPunk 7y ago
>>Nothing's going to be as clean and easy as we'd like it to be :( Very true. I often gloss over that harsh aspect of reality.