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I didn't write the comment... but I would probably second this. I suppose in general smart contracts "replace" escrow companies. There are escrows for tiny thin
by coding123 6y ago
I didn't write the comment... but I would probably second this. I suppose in general smart contracts "replace" escrow companies. There are escrows for tiny things like buying random stuff in Alibaba. There are escrows for large things - like buying a house/property.
I would say that in general it seems weird to handle either of those cases with a smart contract. For example. Let's say I am on Alibaba as a seller. The escrow unlock is probably based on arrival of an item - which is tied to freight companies or possibly a fedex tracking number. This "seems" like it's totally amenable to a smart contract. But where things break is fraud. Let's say an alibaba seller starts shipping empty boxes so that the funds are released.
Now one could say that a smart contract as well as an escrow company would make the same mistake. But it's still not the same. If that seller repeatedly sends empty boxes - it will quickly catch up to them with an escrow company. At some point the escrow company will stop believing the company and start trusting the pictures of empty boxes arriving. Not so with a smart contract. It would mean un-ending fraud. Now you could back things up by saying there could be a company that the smart contract is tied to, not specifically fedex tracking. But then what is that? It's an escrow company.
For houses - if anyone has been involved in a real estate transaction I would say you are probably familiar with the notion that there are 15 days to attempt getting your loan. Some contracts can be 45 or even 90 days (or years for complex business/government escrows). There are also situations where the seller decides to not cause grief because of some other issues or mistakes. Again a smart contract is not going to understand this shit. It's very peoply.
Again, not the OP on this, but just some perspectives. Maybe someone else has a great use case on people betting on weather outcomes - but what great societal use is that?
- viklove 6y agoProviding a few examples of places where smart contracts do not replace existing solutions does not mean smart contracts are "a hilariously bad idea." Someone more creative than you will come up with a good application for them. Your lack of imagination is not a good enough argument to call something useless...
- NickM 6y agoMaybe so, but “someone will come up with a good application for them” sure makes them sound like a solution in search of a problem.
- mitchdoogle 6y agoWhat is wrong with that? There are lots of new technologies that don't solve some specific problem. They were just created in the name of science or curiosity or even just for fun. Real world , "useful" applications may not come for decades.
- NickM 6y agoNothing is wrong with that, but if it's true, then that doesn't do much to refute the notion that there aren't any good uses for smart contracts. If the best argument in favor of them is "well, they're not really good for much right now, but someday somebody might figure out a good use for them," then it's hard to see why people are so excited. (Though, maybe it's not so hard to see why people are excited if the folks who are excited are all crypto fans who want to build hype to drive the prices up....)
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- alwillis 6y agoTwo quick examples of the use of Bitcoin smart contracts: 1. https://suredbits.com/discreet-log-contracts-part-1-what-is-a-discreet-log-contract/ https://suredbits.com/discreet-log-contracts-part-1-what-is-... 2. https://atomic.finance https://atomic.finance
- coding123 6y agoI didn't say I'm the authority of what is useless in the entire world though. I added my perspective and agreed - hence the "just some perspective".
- simonebrunozzi 6y ago> For houses - if anyone has been involved in a real estate transaction I would say you are probably familiar with the notion that there are 15 days to attempt getting your loan. For land transactions in the US (not houses yet), check out Fabrica (disclaimer: former co-founder). We/they have built something incredibly hard to plug into the existing legal structure in the US, but essentially you can transact on land properties in minutes, as opposed to days. [0] https://www.fabrica.land/ https://www.fabrica.land/