2 ms·

Something that only received a passing mention in this is that cryptocurrency and related web3 items are sold like a technical panacea to a whole host of other

by zdw 4y ago

Something that only received a passing mention in this is that cryptocurrency and related web3 items are sold like a technical panacea to a whole host of other problems with the financial system, governments, corporations, and so on, some of which are real, some are definitely in the realm of fantasy. From my perspective it's just changing one set of monetary system problems for another set of technical and resource use problems, which IMO is not a step forward.

tern 4y ago
Overwrought marketing language and idealism are definitely problems, but there's something significant to there now being a chance to create a new financial system, or meaningfully impact the current one. Specifically, there is energy and capital available, whereas previously it would have been impossible to work on this seriously absent a collapse or crisis in the current system. As for whether the technological changes imply net neutral outcomes, that seems hard to qualify.
- only_human 4y ago
  Bitcoins and blockchains aren't giving anyone a chance to create a new financial system. It's the same system. Ever notice how the goal of every prominent crypto company is to just accumulate real hard dollars, not crypto? You still can't meaningfully buy anything legal with crypto without exchanging it for dollars first. There's no reason for this ever to change either. Bitcoin was never even intended to be anything beyond a payment system, that idea that it was going to be "a new form of money" was pushed later by people who didn't understand the system but were attracted to it for ideological reasons. It was pretty obvious by the early 2010s that it was going to fail as a payment system, so a host of new narratives were created and people just ran with it despite none of them making any sense.

2 ms·

Something that only received a passing mention in this is that cryptocurrency and related web3 items are sold like a technical panacea to a whole host of other

by zdw 4y ago

tern 4y ago
Overwrought marketing language and idealism are definitely problems, but there's something significant to there now being a chance to create a new financial system, or meaningfully impact the current one. Specifically, there is energy and capital available, whereas previously it would have been impossible to work on this seriously absent a collapse or crisis in the current system. As for whether the technological changes imply net neutral outcomes, that seems hard to qualify.
- only_human 4y ago
  Bitcoins and blockchains aren't giving anyone a chance to create a new financial system. It's the same system. Ever notice how the goal of every prominent crypto company is to just accumulate real hard dollars, not crypto? You still can't meaningfully buy anything legal with crypto without exchanging it for dollars first. There's no reason for this ever to change either. Bitcoin was never even intended to be anything beyond a payment system, that idea that it was going to be "a new form of money" was pushed later by people who didn't understand the system but were attracted to it for ideological reasons. It was pretty obvious by the early 2010s that it was going to fail as a payment system, so a host of new narratives were created and people just ran with it despite none of them making any sense.