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To address a few of your points. Crypto isn’t the new fiat, it’s the new gold. Most of the world does not have a robust nation state ensuring identities and o

To address a few of your points. Crypto isn’t the new fiat, it’s the new gold. Most of the world does not have a robust nation state ensuring identities and ownership. It’ll be a massive boost to the world economy. NFTs will enable new interconnected markets that we haven’t even dreamed of yet. Not all crypto wastes energy, look into Cardano. Quantum computing will change everything, this isn’t exclusive to blockchains. There’s far more good that’s going to come out of this than bad with people gambling. The gambling is bringing attention to a major advance for humanity. Any press is good press in this case.

echelon 5y ago
> Quantum computing will change everything, this isn’t exclusive to blockchains. Governments will regulate it. They'll protect banks and financial institutions and jail anyone breaking into them. They won't give a shit about crypto.
zkldi 5y ago
> NFTs will enable new interconnected markets that we haven’t even dreamed of yet. How? My understanding of it is that it's a JSON document that points to a URL (which is just some webserver 99% of the time). How does this allow anyone to do anything novel that couldn't be done with a centralised database and an API?
- BuckRogers 5y ago
  Other than it's decentralized, it doesn't do anything different. That's a huge difference though. It will just enable true ownership and "liquidity", the same thing moving from the gold standard to fiat did. Liquidity, or increasing movement within the market did a lot of good. This conversation, and entire confusion around the utility of blockchains eerily reminds me of the now infamous challenge to Drew Houston that Dropbox was nothing more than a simple FTP with a share.[0] That's right, but also very wrong, missing the big picture. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863
  - echelon 5y ago
    > It will just enable true ownership and "liquidity", the same thing moving from the gold standard to fiat did. Liquidity, or increasing movement within the market did a lot of good. You can do that with a central clearing house much easier. In fact, then you'd be covered by US and probably international law against theft. > This conversation, and entire confusion around the utility of blockchains eerily reminds me of the now infamous challenge to Drew Houston that Dropbox was nothing more than a simple FTP with a share. You don't know the future, and this is a cop out of an argument. I'd be willing to bet you $1000 that the crypto market fizzles out in ten years. That it's no bigger than the banks and classic institutions, and that it's no larger than 2x its present market cap on June 28th, 2021. Including any new entrants. I'd also and separately be willing to bet you $1000 that there's a cryptographic attack (quantum or not) that scares everyone away from crypto. (And I think the US and China already know this.) I'll define "everyone" as a loss of institutional support by at least ten major stakeholders worth over 1B USD. (I think it would be much broader, but I want to define a measurable metric.) Ten years - want to make that bet?
    - saalweachter 5y ago
      > Ten years - want to make that bet? I mean, I'm a bear on ~everything crypto, but I no longer think it will go away just because it is stupid, useless or wasteful. I don't think it will reshape or replace anything, but I'd almost be shocked if it "fizzled out" in the next ten years. People are still paying good money for homeopathic remedies; you think they'll wise up about crypto any faster?
      - echelon 5y ago
        If there's a quantum attack, and I'm specifically betting that there will be, nobody will be able to prove what they own. The chain will die.
        BuckRogers 5y ago
        Well you have a lot more to worry about in 10 years than blockchains getting hacked if you believe that. The world will never be ready for the scenario that you're predicting in <=10 years. If you truly believe that timeline enough to bet money on it, you damn well should be burying gold, stocking up on canned goods, digging a well, and amassing a stockpile of firearms today. No sarcasm.

echelon 5y ago

> Quantum computing will change everything, this isn’t exclusive to blockchains. Governments will regulate it. They'll protect banks and financial institutions and jail anyone breaking into them. They won't give a shit about crypto.

zkldi 5y ago

> NFTs will enable new interconnected markets that we haven’t even dreamed of yet. How? My understanding of it is that it's a JSON document that points to a URL (which is just some webserver 99% of the time). How does this allow anyone to do anything novel that couldn't be done with a centralised database and an API?

BuckRogers 5y ago
Other than it's decentralized, it doesn't do anything different. That's a huge difference though. It will just enable true ownership and "liquidity", the same thing moving from the gold standard to fiat did. Liquidity, or increasing movement within the market did a lot of good. This conversation, and entire confusion around the utility of blockchains eerily reminds me of the now infamous challenge to Drew Houston that Dropbox was nothing more than a simple FTP with a share.[0] That's right, but also very wrong, missing the big picture. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863
- echelon 5y ago
  > It will just enable true ownership and "liquidity", the same thing moving from the gold standard to fiat did. Liquidity, or increasing movement within the market did a lot of good. You can do that with a central clearing house much easier. In fact, then you'd be covered by US and probably international law against theft. > This conversation, and entire confusion around the utility of blockchains eerily reminds me of the now infamous challenge to Drew Houston that Dropbox was nothing more than a simple FTP with a share. You don't know the future, and this is a cop out of an argument. I'd be willing to bet you $1000 that the crypto market fizzles out in ten years. That it's no bigger than the banks and classic institutions, and that it's no larger than 2x its present market cap on June 28th, 2021. Including any new entrants. I'd also and separately be willing to bet you $1000 that there's a cryptographic attack (quantum or not) that scares everyone away from crypto. (And I think the US and China already know this.) I'll define "everyone" as a loss of institutional support by at least ten major stakeholders worth over 1B USD. (I think it would be much broader, but I want to define a measurable metric.) Ten years - want to make that bet?
  - saalweachter 5y ago
    > Ten years - want to make that bet? I mean, I'm a bear on ~everything crypto, but I no longer think it will go away just because it is stupid, useless or wasteful. I don't think it will reshape or replace anything, but I'd almost be shocked if it "fizzled out" in the next ten years. People are still paying good money for homeopathic remedies; you think they'll wise up about crypto any faster?
    - echelon 5y ago
      If there's a quantum attack, and I'm specifically betting that there will be, nobody will be able to prove what they own. The chain will die.
      - BuckRogers 5y ago
        Well you have a lot more to worry about in 10 years than blockchains getting hacked if you believe that. The world will never be ready for the scenario that you're predicting in <=10 years. If you truly believe that timeline enough to bet money on it, you damn well should be burying gold, stocking up on canned goods, digging a well, and amassing a stockpile of firearms today. No sarcasm.