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> Because what would I do with it?... It isn’t going to do anything. This isn't strictly true. The fundamental utility of crypto assets is to pay for transacti

> Because what would I do with it?... It isn’t going to do anything. This isn't strictly true. The fundamental utility of crypto assets is to pay for transactions that execute on blockchains. Blockspace is a scarce resource, and running transactions on-chain requires bidding for inclusion in a fee market that's denominated in the native currency of the chain. This isn't just hypothetical. Currently, more than $2 million worth of Ethereum per day is being paid to the network as "gas" necessary for Ethereum transactions.[1] The blockspace demand comes from a variety of blockchain applications, such as NFT marketplaces, DeFi applications like Uniswap and AAVE, and stablecoin payments such as USDC[2]. (Not to mention simple peer-to-peer Ethereum transfers.) We can debate a long time about whether blockchain based applications are here to stay or just fads. But there is a compelling case that some users and use cases will value the decentralization, immutability, censorship resistance and credible neutrality that comes with on-chain applications. In that type of decentralized digital economy, native crypto is very useful in the same way that crude oil is very useful to the industrialized economy. [1]https://cryptofees.info https://cryptofees.info [2]https://etherscan.io/gastracker https://etherscan.io/gastracker

D13Fd 4y ago
> "Blockspace is a scarce resource" That might be true within a system. But anyone with the skills can start a new cryptocurrency at any time.
- dcolkitt 4y ago
  In the same way that someone can also start a new city at any given time. Yet, the price of real estate in Manhattan remains expensive. Blockspace on major pre-existing chains is valuable because 1) the ability to compose with other applications running on that chain, and 2) higher value of native assets increases the security of consensus in PoS networks. Again, this isn't just hypothetical. Today, users pay an orders of magnitude premium for Ethereum block space compared to other chains. That's because Ethereum has much higher value applications to compose against and better security guarantees around consensus.
  - D13Fd 4y ago
    This is all in the context of Buffet's quote, where one person owns all of the Bitcoin in the world at the same time. In that situation, there is no scarce resource that has value. People can create as many new cryptocurrencies as they want. The fact that you happen to own all of the one called Bitcoin is meaningless.

D13Fd 4y ago

> "Blockspace is a scarce resource" That might be true within a system. But anyone with the skills can start a new cryptocurrency at any time.

dcolkitt 4y ago
In the same way that someone can also start a new city at any given time. Yet, the price of real estate in Manhattan remains expensive. Blockspace on major pre-existing chains is valuable because 1) the ability to compose with other applications running on that chain, and 2) higher value of native assets increases the security of consensus in PoS networks. Again, this isn't just hypothetical. Today, users pay an orders of magnitude premium for Ethereum block space compared to other chains. That's because Ethereum has much higher value applications to compose against and better security guarantees around consensus.
- D13Fd 4y ago
  This is all in the context of Buffet's quote, where one person owns all of the Bitcoin in the world at the same time. In that situation, there is no scarce resource that has value. People can create as many new cryptocurrencies as they want. The fact that you happen to own all of the one called Bitcoin is meaningless.