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Don't let the cloud of BS surrounding web3 (and cryptocurrency as a whole) obscure your view of the potential gold that lies at its core. Your comment reminds

Don't let the cloud of BS surrounding web3 (and cryptocurrency as a whole) obscure your view of the potential gold that lies at its core. Your comment reminds me of Letterman ridiculing Bill Gates' description of (very) early internet potential by saying "have you ever heard of the radio?". Edit: (the following was added after a couple of upvotes were received, so the following isn't necessarily "agreed with" by anyone) Uneducated opinion: The financial instrumentalisation of some of these web3 things is required for these two sides of the same coin (pun unintended): 1. A barrier to entry against those who would seek to sabotage the system / network / <thing> 2. Incentive to participate and donate resources to the system / network / <thing> The speculation side of this financial instrumentalisation is, to a greater or lesser degree, unintended consequences (potentially inflammatory example: Bitcoin was intended as an uncensorable way to exchange value, ie. a currency, and has now turned into a store of value to 'hodl' long-term rather than regularly exchange for goods and services). I put this down to human nature rather than design.

sinkholed 5y ago
I looked up the Letterman video expecting to see someone confidently dismissive about the Internet. Letterman came across as fine: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gipL_CEw-fk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gipL_CEw-fk The radio quote is taken out of context. Letterman doesn't come across as well as Bowie though: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8tCC9yxUIdw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8tCC9yxUIdw
giantrobot 5y ago
> I put this down to human nature rather than design. The design of Bitcoin plays a larger part in "hodl" than human nature. The cost of mining growth with growth of the network pretty quickly eliminated Bitcoin's utility as a value exchange. It didn't take long for Bitcoin transactions to get more expensive than traditional payment methods. There's no sense in paying fees to transact in Bitcoin if they're higher than traditional payment. Bitcoin's "value" has also always been highly variable thanks in part to the fees so there's no good way to post prices in Bitcoin for vendors either. Shit the value can fluctuate wildly while your transaction is processing! Your agreed upon "price" is meaningless.

sinkholed 5y ago

I looked up the Letterman video expecting to see someone confidently dismissive about the Internet. Letterman came across as fine: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gipL_CEw-fk https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gipL_CEw-fk The radio quote is taken out of context. Letterman doesn't come across as well as Bowie though: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8tCC9yxUIdw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8tCC9yxUIdw

giantrobot 5y ago

> I put this down to human nature rather than design. The design of Bitcoin plays a larger part in "hodl" than human nature. The cost of mining growth with growth of the network pretty quickly eliminated Bitcoin's utility as a value exchange. It didn't take long for Bitcoin transactions to get more expensive than traditional payment methods. There's no sense in paying fees to transact in Bitcoin if they're higher than traditional payment. Bitcoin's "value" has also always been highly variable thanks in part to the fees so there's no good way to post prices in Bitcoin for vendors either. Shit the value can fluctuate wildly while your transaction is processing! Your agreed upon "price" is meaningless.