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Pyth project could open up decentralized trading and lending, supporters say

19 points by jbredeche 5y ago

joe_guy 5y ago
This is an advertisement for Pyth. The article starts off with claims that make no sense. Then instead of backing up those claims, it keeps dragging on and on hyping Pyth.
- F6F6FA 5y ago
  I do not think it is an advertisement. The author studied CS at MIT. Then was a journalist based in Moscow. Now works for the Wall Street Journals on scoops involving DARPA. But I do think it is artificially placed. Probably an institutional propaganda push for Pyth (or at least, that's what the supporters say it could become). Perhaps these found the right lobbyists or pockets.
- dang 5y ago
  Ok, I've changed the title from the rather generic and baity article title, to its subtitle. But an article being about a project and its supporters doesn't make it bad for HN. Often such articles contain interesting things. (I haven't read this article.)
  - lsseckman 5y ago
    thank you!
jc_811 5y ago
I unfortunately cannot read past the first few sentences due to the paywall, but the opening line says this: -> Suppose you could buy a share of Tesla Inc. and send it to a friend in Shanghai as easily as sending an email. Or imagine placing a bet on the inflation rate at the end of President Joe Biden’s term, which would pay off in bitcoin if you were right. Couldn’t we already do this with traditional technology? Why on earth would this have to be on a blockchain to work? The reason we can’t do this currently is due to laws & regulations (which developed over decades to mollify various issues that arose in markets) - not because of the tech. It seems that blockchain in this sense is simply trying to erase decades of laws and regulations and paint itself as “different”. Solving human issues (eg laws), requires human solutions, not pseudo-technological ideas. Unless I’m mistaken, I’m always open to hearing the opposing viewpoint on why it’s necessary to use blockchain for this and impossible to use current technology. I just don’t seem to see why
- rp1 5y ago
  Allowing people to bet on inflation would be complicated. You’d need to take payments, hold their money like a brokerage, and have the ability to payout. The blockchain let’s you implement such a scheme in a few lines of code. Definitely simpler to do on a blockchain.
  - qeternity 5y ago
    This is a completely absurd take. There are bilions of dollars of inflation trades every single day in interest rates markets. It’s enormous. The reality is that most crypto proponents have zero experience in capital markets and its plumbing. Your assertion that it’s simpler to do on blockchain is wrong is almost every single facet, and I’m happy to enumerate them if you’re interested.
    - mrhands556 5y ago
      I frequently find myself in talks with web3 people. The talking points are usually - this system is broken; blockchain addresses this! - fiat is made out of thin air; blockchain has scarcity! All the arguments fail when you start prodding actual implementations / use cases that are used today. Outside of 3rd world countries where prepaid calling cards were a store of value not long ago, I don’t think crypto would address anything that we couldn’t do and do well today.
      - qeternity 5y ago
        I try to be as open minded as possible. I fully accept that web3 has enough people who are thrashing about that it’s not likely to disappear, and they may even find a usecase. But I despise people who pontificate with obviously zero experience about incredibly complex topics like rates markets. I spent most of my career as a hedge fund trader, and it boils my blood when people with zero experience speak with authority. And this coming from a person who has just spent the past few months building an enterprise oracle network. I’m not against crypto, but just don’t misrepresent so called “legacy” solutions because anyone with actual knowledge will eviscerate your argument.
neonate 5y ago
https://archive.md/8w1r8 https://archive.md/8w1r8 http://web.archive.org/web/20211207114124/https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-worlds-biggest-traders-are-betting-on-blockchain-data-11638803023 http://web.archive.org/web/20211207114124/https://www.wsj.co...
berenza 5y ago
just be aware pyth is still in early stages. their network currently has three price feeds (probably the simplest thing you can do with a blockchain oracle) on mainnet which you can see here https://pyth.network/ https://pyth.network/ and they have had at least a few problems with these where incorrect prices were reported, costing traders money. a recent one has a writeup here https://thedefiant.io/pyth-solana-bad-pricing-meltdown/ https://thedefiant.io/pyth-solana-bad-pricing-meltdown/ on the plus side, pyth network is in its very early days, has the backing of the FTX guy, and historically buying into what this guy is invested in has made people very rich. if pyth network ever releases a token the early buyers might do well. as they say with crypto, DYOR.
roywiggins 5y ago
"The creators of Pyth hope to unseat rival services to become the leading source of financial data for DeFi projects... Proponents say DeFi will cut out middlemen" So, Pyth is hoping to become the One True Middleman, or at least the biggest one, by offering its data up for free (at first)?

19 points by jbredeche 5y ago

This is an advertisement for Pyth. The article starts off with claims that make no sense. Then instead of backing up those claims, it keeps dragging on and on hyping Pyth.

F6F6FA 5y ago
I do not think it is an advertisement. The author studied CS at MIT. Then was a journalist based in Moscow. Now works for the Wall Street Journals on scoops involving DARPA. But I do think it is artificially placed. Probably an institutional propaganda push for Pyth (or at least, that's what the supporters say it could become). Perhaps these found the right lobbyists or pockets.
dang 5y ago
Ok, I've changed the title from the rather generic and baity article title, to its subtitle. But an article being about a project and its supporters doesn't make it bad for HN. Often such articles contain interesting things. (I haven't read this article.)
- lsseckman 5y ago
  thank you!

jc_811 5y ago

I unfortunately cannot read past the first few sentences due to the paywall, but the opening line says this: -> Suppose you could buy a share of Tesla Inc. and send it to a friend in Shanghai as easily as sending an email. Or imagine placing a bet on the inflation rate at the end of President Joe Biden’s term, which would pay off in bitcoin if you were right. Couldn’t we already do this with traditional technology? Why on earth would this have to be on a blockchain to work? The reason we can’t do this currently is due to laws & regulations (which developed over decades to mollify various issues that arose in markets) - not because of the tech. It seems that blockchain in this sense is simply trying to erase decades of laws and regulations and paint itself as “different”. Solving human issues (eg laws), requires human solutions, not pseudo-technological ideas. Unless I’m mistaken, I’m always open to hearing the opposing viewpoint on why it’s necessary to use blockchain for this and impossible to use current technology. I just don’t seem to see why

rp1 5y ago
Allowing people to bet on inflation would be complicated. You’d need to take payments, hold their money like a brokerage, and have the ability to payout. The blockchain let’s you implement such a scheme in a few lines of code. Definitely simpler to do on a blockchain.
- qeternity 5y ago
  This is a completely absurd take. There are bilions of dollars of inflation trades every single day in interest rates markets. It’s enormous. The reality is that most crypto proponents have zero experience in capital markets and its plumbing. Your assertion that it’s simpler to do on blockchain is wrong is almost every single facet, and I’m happy to enumerate them if you’re interested.
  - mrhands556 5y ago
    I frequently find myself in talks with web3 people. The talking points are usually - this system is broken; blockchain addresses this! - fiat is made out of thin air; blockchain has scarcity! All the arguments fail when you start prodding actual implementations / use cases that are used today. Outside of 3rd world countries where prepaid calling cards were a store of value not long ago, I don’t think crypto would address anything that we couldn’t do and do well today.
    - qeternity 5y ago
      I try to be as open minded as possible. I fully accept that web3 has enough people who are thrashing about that it’s not likely to disappear, and they may even find a usecase. But I despise people who pontificate with obviously zero experience about incredibly complex topics like rates markets. I spent most of my career as a hedge fund trader, and it boils my blood when people with zero experience speak with authority. And this coming from a person who has just spent the past few months building an enterprise oracle network. I’m not against crypto, but just don’t misrepresent so called “legacy” solutions because anyone with actual knowledge will eviscerate your argument.

neonate 5y ago

https://archive.md/8w1r8 https://archive.md/8w1r8 http://web.archive.org/web/20211207114124/https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-worlds-biggest-traders-are-betting-on-blockchain-data-11638803023 http://web.archive.org/web/20211207114124/https://www.wsj.co...

berenza 5y ago

just be aware pyth is still in early stages. their network currently has three price feeds (probably the simplest thing you can do with a blockchain oracle) on mainnet which you can see here https://pyth.network/ https://pyth.network/ and they have had at least a few problems with these where incorrect prices were reported, costing traders money. a recent one has a writeup here https://thedefiant.io/pyth-solana-bad-pricing-meltdown/ https://thedefiant.io/pyth-solana-bad-pricing-meltdown/ on the plus side, pyth network is in its very early days, has the backing of the FTX guy, and historically buying into what this guy is invested in has made people very rich. if pyth network ever releases a token the early buyers might do well. as they say with crypto, DYOR.

roywiggins 5y ago

"The creators of Pyth hope to unseat rival services to become the leading source of financial data for DeFi projects... Proponents say DeFi will cut out middlemen" So, Pyth is hoping to become the One True Middleman, or at least the biggest one, by offering its data up for free (at first)?