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And naturally, my comment gets downvoted, way to stay so predictable HN crowd-mind, keep patting yourselves on the back about how much you disdain these tendenc

And naturally, my comment gets downvoted, way to stay so predictable HN crowd-mind, keep patting yourselves on the back about how much you disdain these tendencies in places like Reddit. It's frankly amazing that crypto and the blockchains behind these digital currencies can't be perceived by so many here for the potential they have despite the obvious attractions of the concept. You simply point to their errors and deride the whole concept as a scam, ponzi scheme, pie-in-the-sky and etc, while then complaining about all the nonsense and bullshit that institutionalized payment processing causes for many of you and others. It's not possible to see something flawed and look beyond its defects to how the basic concept of a global anonymized near instant payment system that doesn't depend on heavily regulated institutions might just possibly not be such a bad thing?

Nursie 7y ago
> It's frankly amazing that crypto and the blockchains behind these digital currencies can't be perceived by so many here for the potential they have They've been around over a decade, generated an absolute ton of hot air and fanboyism, but have made next to zero impact on the real world or even on the rest of the tech world. Ten years is long enough for anything 'with potential' to show at least some signs of realising that potential. But nothing much has come of it other than gambling and scams. It's looking like a bust.
- shadowprofile77 7y ago
  In 10 years they've gone from being a trivial little quirk that's shared by a tiny handful of people to digital asset tools with multibillion dollar market caps and growing (admittedly still limited) use by at least several hundred thousand frequent users and likely a few million or more dabblers. Blockchain technology has a ways to go before we see some sort of concrete, widespread development for it and the same goes for crypto tokens but to say either is looking like a bust is grossly, almost absurdly premature. To see this repeated ad nauseum almost as a dogmatic mantra in a hardcore technology-loving site is sort of sad. The analogy is a bit worn but valid I think: The internet also spent decades as a little-used niche system before it combined with the right market and additional technologies to start exploding in the early 90's.
  - Nursie 7y ago
    Market caps are meaningless, and there you are again claiming ten years isn't long enough to be shown useful. It is, it really is. There's no reason to think it's anything like the internet in terms of use or adoption. The dogmatic mantra at this point is on the side of the enthusiasts, who have shouted at us for ten years that blockchains are going to change the world, but have done no such thing. To criticise people for lack of vision after a ten year history of scam and failure after scam and failure is looking a lot like denial.

Nursie 7y ago

> It's frankly amazing that crypto and the blockchains behind these digital currencies can't be perceived by so many here for the potential they have They've been around over a decade, generated an absolute ton of hot air and fanboyism, but have made next to zero impact on the real world or even on the rest of the tech world. Ten years is long enough for anything 'with potential' to show at least some signs of realising that potential. But nothing much has come of it other than gambling and scams. It's looking like a bust.

shadowprofile77 7y ago
In 10 years they've gone from being a trivial little quirk that's shared by a tiny handful of people to digital asset tools with multibillion dollar market caps and growing (admittedly still limited) use by at least several hundred thousand frequent users and likely a few million or more dabblers. Blockchain technology has a ways to go before we see some sort of concrete, widespread development for it and the same goes for crypto tokens but to say either is looking like a bust is grossly, almost absurdly premature. To see this repeated ad nauseum almost as a dogmatic mantra in a hardcore technology-loving site is sort of sad. The analogy is a bit worn but valid I think: The internet also spent decades as a little-used niche system before it combined with the right market and additional technologies to start exploding in the early 90's.
- Nursie 7y ago
  Market caps are meaningless, and there you are again claiming ten years isn't long enough to be shown useful. It is, it really is. There's no reason to think it's anything like the internet in terms of use or adoption. The dogmatic mantra at this point is on the side of the enthusiasts, who have shouted at us for ten years that blockchains are going to change the world, but have done no such thing. To criticise people for lack of vision after a ten year history of scam and failure after scam and failure is looking a lot like denial.