9 ms·

I think there is at least one: with a blockchain you can register a document's hash and have a proof that that document existed in a precise point in time. This

• wmf 7y ago
  There was a company doing this long before Bitcoin but nobody really cared. If people claim to be interested now they probably just want to get rich from speculation.
• xkjkls 7y ago
  Why does this need to be decentralized? There are plenty of ways to do this without any of the huge costs of decentralization.
  • tormeh 7y ago
    Well, decentralization has benefits. It's just that we already have a system for keeping track of documents and their histories in a distributed manner and it is called git.
    • GTP 7y ago
      But who guarantees the timestamp of a git commit? Hironically here's a blogpost suggesting that could be a good idea to timestamp those using a blockchain and explains how: https://petertodd.org/2016/opentimestamps-announcement https://petertodd.org/2016/opentimestamps-announcement :D The point here isn't to version documents, which the blockchain does not, but to have an independently verifiable timestamp.
• wpietri 7y ago
  When somebody says "actually have demonstrated some real purpose", I don't think it's helpful to say that some people are perhaps interested in doing something eventually.
  • GTP 7y ago
    They aren't perhaps interested, they are actually interested. And I know at least one lawyer that will use such technology. in the short term.
    • wpietri 7y ago
      You knowing one lawyer who says they would use something is not, not, not, an actual demonstration of real use. Somebody being interested is a demonstration of interest. I understand that the cryptocurrency world has long been coasting on potential. On what it might be one day. But sorry, it's 11+ years in at this point. Bitcoin and the Android platform are about the same age. When people ask about Android's actual use, the correct answer is, "about 2.5 billion active devices", not, "I, an anonymous person, claim to know one hazily specified person who tells me he's very interested in getting one. In the short term."
      • GTP 7y ago
        Not that would, but that will. And from what he told me seems that he isn't alone, but I admit I don't have a proof for this.
        • wpietri 7y ago
          Quibble over words all you like, that's still not a demonstration of real use.
          • GTP 7y ago
            I'm not quibbling, there's an actual difference between showing interest in something and taking action to actually use something. You were the first to focus on the meaning of words, so I just corrected you when you misread what I wrote, that's all. On a side note, I think that cryptocurrencies tend to attract highly polarized opinions: from what I saw so far, seems that there are people that try to defend their use at all cost, but there are also others that seems to think that everything that uses a blockchain is gibberish by definition. Please note that I'm not saying that you belong to the latter group, I just wish to point out that in my opinion each use of the blockchain has to be evaluated on its own, and in this case I think there might be some value.