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Use cases are the same as with money btw. People use cryptocurrency today to trade and to transfer value. You can try to ignore that, or point to the low adopti

by baby 5y ago

Use cases are the same as with money btw. People use cryptocurrency today to trade and to transfer value. You can try to ignore that, or point to the low adoption, but it is there.

albntomat0 5y ago
How would a custom Uber on Solana app work differently than the Uber of today adapted to accept a standard cryptocurrency with sufficient throughput?
- Grustaf 5y ago
  It would be tRUstLeSs and deCEntRALiseD, duh! Until you get into the car of course.
- baby 5y ago
  It wouldn’t. Changing the backbone and how money transit should be transparent to the user.
ineptech 5y ago
by "practical use case", GP meant a case that crypto is better for, not just something it can be used for. You can buy coffee with bitcoin, sure, just like you can roller skate on a frozen lake, but most people don't, cuz that's not what it's for.
- baby 5y ago
  I think the many decentralized exchanges and services built on top of cryptocurrencies is exactly that. It’s programmable, more interoperable, and more secure (that you won’t be able to see unless you work for a financial institution that uses a cryptocurrency).
  - ineptech 5y ago
    Sure, DeFi would be really cool if I wanted to borrow crypto, or lend crypto, or trade crypto options, or take a mortgage out on a bitcoin or whatever. But for people who need to deal with a real world asset, it has very little to offer. It still cannot (and again, correct me if I'm wrong) implement a simple option to buy stock at a certain price, and is not really any closer than it was the day ETH was crowd-funded. So, for those of us on the outside, DeFi just looks like a bunch of crypto enthusiasts finding exotic new ways to gamble with each other. It's neat and all, but I don't see how it ever really affects the rest of us.
    - baby 5y ago
      What you’re citing about DeFi is the least interest part of DeFi imo. The most interesting parts are decentralized exchanges, bridges, and cryptocurrencies that bridge other cryptocurrencies (axelar, thorchain, incognito, zklabs, etc.) The whole point is that you now have interoperability between many projects and their tokens, data, stablecoins, etc.
      - ineptech 5y ago
        > interoperability between many projects and their tokens, data, stablecoins, etc that's pretty much what I meant by > crypto enthusiasts finding exotic new ways to gamble with each other Interoprability between cryptos is all DeFi can do. What's the other use case? If I said, "I was going to do X, but thanks to the power of DeFi it makes sense to pay the fees and absorb the volatility risk to do it on a blockchain", what's X?
        baby 5y ago
        I’m not sure I get your point. It’s like you’re talking about this new exotic crypto thing when all crypto is is a new way of transfering value. If you see the different crypto projects as different currencies then you realize that this is really simply about transfers between currencies that don’t have to go through dozens of middle men. You might live in a bubble but remittances is a huge thing in the world you live in.
donkeyd 5y ago
> People use cryptocurrency today to trade and to transfer value. Do they though? I recently did the math and people mostly seem to use crypto markets for what you described. Only about 10% of Bitcoin transactions actually have any blockchain involvement, the rest is all handled internally by markets. And that 10% was on a good day, there are many days when that number is much lower.
- trophycase 5y ago
  What does that even mean? All bitcoin transactions use the blockchain. If by chance you mean "trades on exchanges" then the same could be said about nearly any financial instrument. A majority of movement is done by traders, market makers, etc.
  - donkeyd 5y ago
    > All bitcoin transactions use the blockchain. Depends on how you define bitcoin transaction. The majority of BTC <> USD transactions (or any other currency) has no involvement of the blockchain at all. They happen purely within the databases of the markets. > the same could be said about nearly any financial instrument Well, that's kind of my point. People say that Bitcoin, the technology, is being used for lots of transactions already. However, most BTC, the cryptocurrency, transactions don't use the Bitcoin blockchain at all. They use the same basic technology that traditional banks and markets use. So where's the value add in the blockchain if it isn't being used?
    - baby 5y ago
      Different exchanges and users use a blockchain to interoperate. Different banks and financial services use different protocols, some instant some deferred, to interoperate.
      - donkeyd 5y ago
        Yes, those statements are true, but what are you trying to say with respect to my argument?
ehnto 5y ago
It's been far too volatile to use as a store of value so it's about as useful as a moneywire service. I would love to see BTC stabalise at the very least, but it's been demonstrated that all it takes to decimate someone's wallet is a twitter post. That's not something that happens to the USD or the AUD. Not yet anyway.
- baby 5y ago
  Have you looked at stablecoins?

by baby 5y ago

Use cases are the same as with money btw. People use cryptocurrency today to trade and to transfer value. You can try to ignore that, or point to the low adoption, but it is there.

albntomat0 5y ago

How would a custom Uber on Solana app work differently than the Uber of today adapted to accept a standard cryptocurrency with sufficient throughput?

Grustaf 5y ago
It would be tRUstLeSs and deCEntRALiseD, duh! Until you get into the car of course.
baby 5y ago
It wouldn’t. Changing the backbone and how money transit should be transparent to the user.

ineptech 5y ago

by "practical use case", GP meant a case that crypto is better for, not just something it can be used for. You can buy coffee with bitcoin, sure, just like you can roller skate on a frozen lake, but most people don't, cuz that's not what it's for.

baby 5y ago
I think the many decentralized exchanges and services built on top of cryptocurrencies is exactly that. It’s programmable, more interoperable, and more secure (that you won’t be able to see unless you work for a financial institution that uses a cryptocurrency).
- ineptech 5y ago
  Sure, DeFi would be really cool if I wanted to borrow crypto, or lend crypto, or trade crypto options, or take a mortgage out on a bitcoin or whatever. But for people who need to deal with a real world asset, it has very little to offer. It still cannot (and again, correct me if I'm wrong) implement a simple option to buy stock at a certain price, and is not really any closer than it was the day ETH was crowd-funded. So, for those of us on the outside, DeFi just looks like a bunch of crypto enthusiasts finding exotic new ways to gamble with each other. It's neat and all, but I don't see how it ever really affects the rest of us.
  - baby 5y ago
    What you’re citing about DeFi is the least interest part of DeFi imo. The most interesting parts are decentralized exchanges, bridges, and cryptocurrencies that bridge other cryptocurrencies (axelar, thorchain, incognito, zklabs, etc.) The whole point is that you now have interoperability between many projects and their tokens, data, stablecoins, etc.
    - ineptech 5y ago
      > interoperability between many projects and their tokens, data, stablecoins, etc that's pretty much what I meant by > crypto enthusiasts finding exotic new ways to gamble with each other Interoprability between cryptos is all DeFi can do. What's the other use case? If I said, "I was going to do X, but thanks to the power of DeFi it makes sense to pay the fees and absorb the volatility risk to do it on a blockchain", what's X?
      - baby 5y ago
        I’m not sure I get your point. It’s like you’re talking about this new exotic crypto thing when all crypto is is a new way of transfering value. If you see the different crypto projects as different currencies then you realize that this is really simply about transfers between currencies that don’t have to go through dozens of middle men. You might live in a bubble but remittances is a huge thing in the world you live in.

donkeyd 5y ago

> People use cryptocurrency today to trade and to transfer value. Do they though? I recently did the math and people mostly seem to use crypto markets for what you described. Only about 10% of Bitcoin transactions actually have any blockchain involvement, the rest is all handled internally by markets. And that 10% was on a good day, there are many days when that number is much lower.

trophycase 5y ago
What does that even mean? All bitcoin transactions use the blockchain. If by chance you mean "trades on exchanges" then the same could be said about nearly any financial instrument. A majority of movement is done by traders, market makers, etc.
- donkeyd 5y ago
  > All bitcoin transactions use the blockchain. Depends on how you define bitcoin transaction. The majority of BTC <> USD transactions (or any other currency) has no involvement of the blockchain at all. They happen purely within the databases of the markets. > the same could be said about nearly any financial instrument Well, that's kind of my point. People say that Bitcoin, the technology, is being used for lots of transactions already. However, most BTC, the cryptocurrency, transactions don't use the Bitcoin blockchain at all. They use the same basic technology that traditional banks and markets use. So where's the value add in the blockchain if it isn't being used?
  - baby 5y ago
    Different exchanges and users use a blockchain to interoperate. Different banks and financial services use different protocols, some instant some deferred, to interoperate.
    - donkeyd 5y ago
      Yes, those statements are true, but what are you trying to say with respect to my argument?

ehnto 5y ago

It's been far too volatile to use as a store of value so it's about as useful as a moneywire service. I would love to see BTC stabalise at the very least, but it's been demonstrated that all it takes to decimate someone's wallet is a twitter post. That's not something that happens to the USD or the AUD. Not yet anyway.

baby 5y ago
Have you looked at stablecoins?