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One of the more under-appreciated aspects of blockchains is how they've made public key encryption more accessible to mainstream users. For the first time in hi

One of the more under-appreciated aspects of blockchains is how they've made public key encryption more accessible to mainstream users. For the first time in history, millions of people have setup and maintain custody of their own key pairs. These users have learned the importance of securing those keys and have a convenient way to sign or verify signatures using their crypto wallets. Not everything needs a blockchain, but consumer tools for generating and verifying cryptographic signatures would have never reached the same level of adoption as they have w/o the incentives that blockchains provide.

deleted 4y ago
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k__ 4y ago
This. It's a bit like Rust's borrow checker. Not everyone needs it, but an ecosystem where it's the default for building anything has a competitive advantage at large. Web3 uses public key cryptography by default, which is a tremendous advantage over ecosystems that need to add it later. In times of "fake news", this alone could be a killer feature, even without the money.
kimixa 4y ago
I would be surprised if "millions" actually handle their keys themselves. None of the crypto 'investors' I know personally do that, instead just use a trading platform, functionally identical to any traditional trading platform.
- latchkey 4y ago
  https://www.google.com/search?q=metamask+usage+numbers https://www.google.com/search?q=metamask+usage+numbers There are now 21 million monthly active users of Metamask, which is a 38-times increase from 2020, according to Metamask statistics. Metamask is now the easiest way for people around the world to interact with unique applications that use web3. There are currently 3700 applications that use web3. Mar 27, 2022
- TacticalCoder 4y ago
  > I would be surprised if "millions" actually handle their keys themselves. I think Ledger, the french company, sold millions and millions of hardware wallets. And with these you absolutely have to handle the keys yourself (well, the keys are "hidden" behind a "seed", which is list of 12, 18 or usually 24 words chosen randomly, with a checksum in the last work, among a dictionary of 2048 words). That's millions of people basically having a 256 bits integer on paper (or metal sheet etc.) that never ever made it to anything else but a HSM. That's quite an achievement I think. And Ledger ain't the only player in the space. Now of course there are fuckups. Some people are losing their list of 24 words, for example. But it's still quite something.
- tasuki 4y ago
  The people I know who are into crypto (not many) maintain custody of their keys.
xtracto 4y ago
In 2005, Mexico implemented the "FIEL" (Firma Electronica Avanzada or Advanced Electronic Signature) [1], which is uses PKI assigning a public/private keypair to each individuals for taxes purposes (SAT, the Mexican IRS implemented it then). Now, more than 50 million people in Mexico have generated their "eFirma" public/private keypair and use it every year to pay their taxes. It is also being actively used as a legally binding digital signature. [1] http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/cys/v23n2/1405-5546-cys-23-02-477.pdf http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/cys/v23n2/1405-5546-cys-23-02-4...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

k__ 4y ago

This. It's a bit like Rust's borrow checker. Not everyone needs it, but an ecosystem where it's the default for building anything has a competitive advantage at large. Web3 uses public key cryptography by default, which is a tremendous advantage over ecosystems that need to add it later. In times of "fake news", this alone could be a killer feature, even without the money.

kimixa 4y ago

I would be surprised if "millions" actually handle their keys themselves. None of the crypto 'investors' I know personally do that, instead just use a trading platform, functionally identical to any traditional trading platform.

latchkey 4y ago
https://www.google.com/search?q=metamask+usage+numbers https://www.google.com/search?q=metamask+usage+numbers There are now 21 million monthly active users of Metamask, which is a 38-times increase from 2020, according to Metamask statistics. Metamask is now the easiest way for people around the world to interact with unique applications that use web3. There are currently 3700 applications that use web3. Mar 27, 2022
TacticalCoder 4y ago
> I would be surprised if "millions" actually handle their keys themselves. I think Ledger, the french company, sold millions and millions of hardware wallets. And with these you absolutely have to handle the keys yourself (well, the keys are "hidden" behind a "seed", which is list of 12, 18 or usually 24 words chosen randomly, with a checksum in the last work, among a dictionary of 2048 words). That's millions of people basically having a 256 bits integer on paper (or metal sheet etc.) that never ever made it to anything else but a HSM. That's quite an achievement I think. And Ledger ain't the only player in the space. Now of course there are fuckups. Some people are losing their list of 24 words, for example. But it's still quite something.
tasuki 4y ago
The people I know who are into crypto (not many) maintain custody of their keys.

xtracto 4y ago

In 2005, Mexico implemented the "FIEL" (Firma Electronica Avanzada or Advanced Electronic Signature) [1], which is uses PKI assigning a public/private keypair to each individuals for taxes purposes (SAT, the Mexican IRS implemented it then). Now, more than 50 million people in Mexico have generated their "eFirma" public/private keypair and use it every year to pay their taxes. It is also being actively used as a legally binding digital signature. [1] http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/cys/v23n2/1405-5546-cys-23-02-477.pdf http://www.scielo.org.mx/pdf/cys/v23n2/1405-5546-cys-23-02-4...