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> His new startup aims to address this through three ways: A global “single sign-on” feature that lets anyone log in from anywhere. Login IDs that allow users t

> His new startup aims to address this through three ways: A global “single sign-on” feature that lets anyone log in from anywhere. Login IDs that allow users to share their data with others. A “common universal API,” or application programming interface, that lets apps pull data from any source. Cool to see his project is centered around these goals, but also funny because these are some of the few aspects that I find interesting about Ethereum. Much more interested in the identity/SSO potential vs the financial stuff.

ChainOfFools 4y ago
decentralization of X does not and cannot exist without decentralized funding of X. this is why there is simply no way to separate blockchain (as an implementation of decentralized X) from tradeable cryptocurrency derived from units of X. this is not in any way a defense or support for cryptocurrency, only that it is nonsense to claim decentralization of function can exist independently from decentralization of funding. that cryptocurrency is designed to explicitly realize this principle doesn't excuse its failure to do so.
- robin_reala 4y ago
  Your point would perhaps be better made if you gave any explanation of why this is the case.
  - chrisco255 4y ago
    I generally agree with him, although there are exceptions. You can't generally replace the functionality that centralized servers provide without some sort of mechanic to compensate and incentivize the decentralized nodes themselves. If you relied on VISA or Paypal and charged a fee for the service in that sense, well you now have to stand up an organization that gets to straddle the network and effectively control it. And now that organization has a legal surface area, as well as an administrative surface area that is attackable and can compromise the network itself.
- wmf 4y ago
  decentralization of X does not and cannot exist without decentralized funding of X. An essential observation. It's easy to design some kind of decentralized utopia but the future can't run on a trickle of Patreon donations. Decentralized business models that don't rely on pump-and-dumps are very thin on the ground. I wonder if we'll run out of volunteer Mastodon sysadmins at some point.

ChainOfFools 4y ago

decentralization of X does not and cannot exist without decentralized funding of X. this is why there is simply no way to separate blockchain (as an implementation of decentralized X) from tradeable cryptocurrency derived from units of X. this is not in any way a defense or support for cryptocurrency, only that it is nonsense to claim decentralization of function can exist independently from decentralization of funding. that cryptocurrency is designed to explicitly realize this principle doesn't excuse its failure to do so.

robin_reala 4y ago
Your point would perhaps be better made if you gave any explanation of why this is the case.
- chrisco255 4y ago
  I generally agree with him, although there are exceptions. You can't generally replace the functionality that centralized servers provide without some sort of mechanic to compensate and incentivize the decentralized nodes themselves. If you relied on VISA or Paypal and charged a fee for the service in that sense, well you now have to stand up an organization that gets to straddle the network and effectively control it. And now that organization has a legal surface area, as well as an administrative surface area that is attackable and can compromise the network itself.
wmf 4y ago
decentralization of X does not and cannot exist without decentralized funding of X. An essential observation. It's easy to design some kind of decentralized utopia but the future can't run on a trickle of Patreon donations. Decentralized business models that don't rely on pump-and-dumps are very thin on the ground. I wonder if we'll run out of volunteer Mastodon sysadmins at some point.