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I think many people don't even consider bitcoin successful. I still see it as a solution looking for a problem, personally. It's not actually anonymous, it do

I think many people don't even consider bitcoin successful. I still see it as a solution looking for a problem, personally. It's not actually anonymous, it doesn't scale for transactions, it's still not used or even understood by the vast majority of people. I've yet to hear of the killer app for blockchain technology.

Avalaxy 6y ago
Distributed identity / self-sovereign identity is a good use-case that blockchains are perfect for imho. But that solution is quite complex hindering its adoption.
- lumost 6y ago
  "But that solution is quite complex hindering its adoption." Generally inventions solve problems by making them simpler, for this to be a valuable invention it would need to be simpler and less hackable to use than log-in with google/FB/github. I can still recover my google account if I forget my password, and don't have a reset setup. What aspect of distributed identity/ self-sovereing identity do customers care about? how does blockchain simplify this for them?
- dane-pgp 6y ago
  Unfortunately one of the requirements of a good identity system is that it should keep personal data secret from parties who do not need it. This means that blockchains on their own aren't a good fit, since by design they share all information with all parties. Having said that, BrightID uses a blockchain and seems like an idea worth exploring. https://www.brightid.org/whitepaper https://www.brightid.org/whitepaper
IXxXI 6y ago
If bitcoin is a long term store of value, it doesn't need to scale. For the same reasons a person wouldn't expect a 401k to work like a debit card. (((((:
- bkanber 6y ago
  That's not how bitcoin was marketed in the early days. And I don't trust it even remotely as a long term store of value.
  - whateveracct 6y ago
    The marketing pivoted to "long term value" and all the BTC-hypers started acting like it was a huge success thanks to moving the goalposts.
  - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
    Well, dynamite and machinegun were meant to end all wars. How things turn ut is not up to the original creator.
  - alexgmcm 6y ago
    I mean the price is still incredibly volatile compared to say gold, silver, Government bonds etc. I don't get how it can be a good long term store of value with that level of volatility?
- whateveracct 6y ago
  Bitcoin as "long term store of value" is just a framing invented years ago to pivot BTC into a more theoretically unassailable position imo. _Because_ it failed to truly transformatively deliver on the more immediate things people hoped it would (anonymity, currency, etc)
  - whateveracct 6y ago
    I want to add that it's hilarious to me that "long term store of value"'s value proposition is as fiat as the USD :) Honestly maybe more so
jointpdf 6y ago
One interesting use case I’ve heard about (for blockchain) is supply chain verification / provenance. Does anyone with more knowledge or experience have insights on this one?
- joosters 6y ago
  It doesn't help here any more than existing solutions. How exactly is a distributed collection of blockchain miners meant to validate (e.g.) a sensor that is being used to show that a shipment of chilled meat was always at 3'c or cooler? Answer: they can't. The only part of a blockchain that helps verification/provenance is its append-only nature, and that feature is widely available with much simpler mechanisms.
  - FabHK 6y ago
    Yes. If you trust someone not to manipulate the sensor (or whatever you use to go from physical world to digital), then you might as well trust them not to manipulate the Excel sheet collecting all the data.

Avalaxy 6y ago

Distributed identity / self-sovereign identity is a good use-case that blockchains are perfect for imho. But that solution is quite complex hindering its adoption.

lumost 6y ago
"But that solution is quite complex hindering its adoption." Generally inventions solve problems by making them simpler, for this to be a valuable invention it would need to be simpler and less hackable to use than log-in with google/FB/github. I can still recover my google account if I forget my password, and don't have a reset setup. What aspect of distributed identity/ self-sovereing identity do customers care about? how does blockchain simplify this for them?
dane-pgp 6y ago
Unfortunately one of the requirements of a good identity system is that it should keep personal data secret from parties who do not need it. This means that blockchains on their own aren't a good fit, since by design they share all information with all parties. Having said that, BrightID uses a blockchain and seems like an idea worth exploring. https://www.brightid.org/whitepaper https://www.brightid.org/whitepaper

IXxXI 6y ago

If bitcoin is a long term store of value, it doesn't need to scale. For the same reasons a person wouldn't expect a 401k to work like a debit card. (((((:

bkanber 6y ago
That's not how bitcoin was marketed in the early days. And I don't trust it even remotely as a long term store of value.
- whateveracct 6y ago
  The marketing pivoted to "long term value" and all the BTC-hypers started acting like it was a huge success thanks to moving the goalposts.
- ClumsyPilot 6y ago
  Well, dynamite and machinegun were meant to end all wars. How things turn ut is not up to the original creator.
- alexgmcm 6y ago
  I mean the price is still incredibly volatile compared to say gold, silver, Government bonds etc. I don't get how it can be a good long term store of value with that level of volatility?
whateveracct 6y ago
Bitcoin as "long term store of value" is just a framing invented years ago to pivot BTC into a more theoretically unassailable position imo. _Because_ it failed to truly transformatively deliver on the more immediate things people hoped it would (anonymity, currency, etc)
- whateveracct 6y ago
  I want to add that it's hilarious to me that "long term store of value"'s value proposition is as fiat as the USD :) Honestly maybe more so

jointpdf 6y ago

One interesting use case I’ve heard about (for blockchain) is supply chain verification / provenance. Does anyone with more knowledge or experience have insights on this one?

joosters 6y ago
It doesn't help here any more than existing solutions. How exactly is a distributed collection of blockchain miners meant to validate (e.g.) a sensor that is being used to show that a shipment of chilled meat was always at 3'c or cooler? Answer: they can't. The only part of a blockchain that helps verification/provenance is its append-only nature, and that feature is widely available with much simpler mechanisms.
- FabHK 6y ago
  Yes. If you trust someone not to manipulate the sensor (or whatever you use to go from physical world to digital), then you might as well trust them not to manipulate the Excel sheet collecting all the data.