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> At least crypto is trying to fix this problem It is not. It is pretending to do that. But every single person still in crypto is there mostly for speculation

> At least crypto is trying to fix this problem It is not. It is pretending to do that. But every single person still in crypto is there mostly for speculation, get rich quick schemes. Or they are holding bags that they hope will go back to a previous value. The oracle problem has not been solved. Without it, crypto is just an interesting distributed algorithm. But it is not a revolution.

Tokumei-no-hito 3y ago
What is the oracle problem? Connecting to off-chain data?
- jazzyjackson 3y ago
  yea, representing anything in the real world. You're only trustless and validated inside the global computer. As soon as you want to write a conditional statement relying on real-world circumstance, or want a token that represents physical collateral or commodity you're back to trusting people. IMO trusting people is fine, good even. The higher trust you have between people the fewer contracts you need, the lower friction you have to cooperate. Blockchain exists only to transact in a zero trust environment, when you don't want to know the people you're transacting with, and you don't want them to know you. This is why it empowers scammers and traffickers more than the average person who isn't trying to participate in an economy without a name or address or liability.
kybernetikos 3y ago
> The oracle problem has not been solved. The oracle problem has had an obvious solution all along (for most relevant usecases): the legal system. Just because you need the governments where the real assets are located to play along doesn't diminish the value of open, programmable, transactional transfers of ownership. Indeed, a lot of the process around buying something like a house is to try to emulate software in human institutions. Canonical registers of ownership recognised by legal systems are typically digital anyway these days, just not publicly digital. If the legal system recognises the blockchain as the canonical record of ownership for a class of asset, then there is no oracle problem (I think democracies should be getting their politicians to look at this, but in the meantime, depending on your jurisdiction there are often things that you can do with trusts that amount to the same thing). On top of that, intellectual assets and digital native assets are increasingly important, and there is no oracle problem for such assets. > But every single person still in crypto is there mostly for speculation, get rich quick schemes This is such a weak argument, and thoroughly untrue. Of course, there are many people with those motivations, just as many people engage with the fiat currency world with those motivations, but it doesn't take long to ascertain that that is not the primary motivation of people like myself or the author of this blog.

Tokumei-no-hito 3y ago

What is the oracle problem? Connecting to off-chain data?

jazzyjackson 3y ago
yea, representing anything in the real world. You're only trustless and validated inside the global computer. As soon as you want to write a conditional statement relying on real-world circumstance, or want a token that represents physical collateral or commodity you're back to trusting people. IMO trusting people is fine, good even. The higher trust you have between people the fewer contracts you need, the lower friction you have to cooperate. Blockchain exists only to transact in a zero trust environment, when you don't want to know the people you're transacting with, and you don't want them to know you. This is why it empowers scammers and traffickers more than the average person who isn't trying to participate in an economy without a name or address or liability.

kybernetikos 3y ago

> The oracle problem has not been solved. The oracle problem has had an obvious solution all along (for most relevant usecases): the legal system. Just because you need the governments where the real assets are located to play along doesn't diminish the value of open, programmable, transactional transfers of ownership. Indeed, a lot of the process around buying something like a house is to try to emulate software in human institutions. Canonical registers of ownership recognised by legal systems are typically digital anyway these days, just not publicly digital. If the legal system recognises the blockchain as the canonical record of ownership for a class of asset, then there is no oracle problem (I think democracies should be getting their politicians to look at this, but in the meantime, depending on your jurisdiction there are often things that you can do with trusts that amount to the same thing). On top of that, intellectual assets and digital native assets are increasingly important, and there is no oracle problem for such assets. > But every single person still in crypto is there mostly for speculation, get rich quick schemes This is such a weak argument, and thoroughly untrue. Of course, there are many people with those motivations, just as many people engage with the fiat currency world with those motivations, but it doesn't take long to ascertain that that is not the primary motivation of people like myself or the author of this blog.