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The leviathan is loose and it's never going back in a pen until the whole thing collapses under the weight of the fraud. Even legal restrictions on it will only

The leviathan is loose and it's never going back in a pen until the whole thing collapses under the weight of the fraud. Even legal restrictions on it will only help a little bit as enough moneyed interests are invested in keeping the hype train rolling. I've consulted for several companies trying to do blockchain based non-money things and can't emphasize to them enough that no one outside computer science and math fields will ever associate them with anything but cryptocurrency (and thus scams) for the rest of our lifetimes.

zozbot234 5y ago
> can't emphasize to them enough that no one outside computer science and math fields will ever associate them with anything but cryptocurrency (and thus scams) How so? "Private blockchains" (with no general access + cryptographic proof of commitment) are practically indistinguishable from plain old Merkle trees, and yet I don't see many people arguing that git is some sort of "scam" even outside the CS and math community.
- jakelazaroff 5y ago
  No one called git a “blockchain” until the cryptocurrency fad. The point is that the zero-trust aspect is useless if you can control the source of truth.
  - tekknik 5y ago
    It’s it a blockchain one any definition. The current commit does not have a hash of the previous commit.
- reincarnate0x14 5y ago
  See that's my point. People who understand what Merkle trees are mostly understand the various utilities in using them, but that has very little to do with what "normal people" think of when they hear blockchain.
dvt 5y ago
Anecdotal, but I hosted a friend and her husband at my place a few months ago (Facebook Product Manager). She was telling me that her team of brilliant engineers are all either leaving to go to TikTok or crypto startups. Don't kid yourself, people follow the money.
- jonathan-adly 5y ago
- redwood 5y ago
  Well FB is the new Phillip Morris so it's relative
- tekknik 5y ago
  Following the money does not mean success. Without market adoption they may well be just destroying their careers.

zozbot234 5y ago

> can't emphasize to them enough that no one outside computer science and math fields will ever associate them with anything but cryptocurrency (and thus scams) How so? "Private blockchains" (with no general access + cryptographic proof of commitment) are practically indistinguishable from plain old Merkle trees, and yet I don't see many people arguing that git is some sort of "scam" even outside the CS and math community.

jakelazaroff 5y ago
No one called git a “blockchain” until the cryptocurrency fad. The point is that the zero-trust aspect is useless if you can control the source of truth.
- tekknik 5y ago
  It’s it a blockchain one any definition. The current commit does not have a hash of the previous commit.
reincarnate0x14 5y ago
See that's my point. People who understand what Merkle trees are mostly understand the various utilities in using them, but that has very little to do with what "normal people" think of when they hear blockchain.

dvt 5y ago

Anecdotal, but I hosted a friend and her husband at my place a few months ago (Facebook Product Manager). She was telling me that her team of brilliant engineers are all either leaving to go to TikTok or crypto startups. Don't kid yourself, people follow the money.

jonathan-adly 5y ago
redwood 5y ago
Well FB is the new Phillip Morris so it's relative
tekknik 5y ago
Following the money does not mean success. Without market adoption they may well be just destroying their careers.