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You still have to trust whatever things you rely on upstreams, plus, if the consensus is against you, there's nothing you can do anyway? For example, you got sc

You still have to trust whatever things you rely on upstreams, plus, if the consensus is against you, there's nothing you can do anyway? For example, you got scammed, its written to the ledger. The transaction is immutable and actually, actually did happen. What can you do now?

exoverito 2y ago
Large cryptocurrency networks like Bitcoin are extremely hard to execute a 51% attack upon due to their size. Though ultimately there's no perfect solution. As the saying goes, democracy is 2 wolves and 1 sheep deciding on what's for dinner.
- Jensson 2y ago
  But you can't use bitcoin or other blockchains with large cash flows as information storage at scale, since they use them to make transactions first and foremost and can't hold a lot of other data.
  - oasisaimlessly 2y ago
    For many applications, it's possible to commit just a Merkle tree root hash to the blockchain and still get all the properties you care about, while only using O(1) blockchain storage.
hanniabu 2y ago
Same thing happens when people get scammed in tradfi
detourdog 2y ago
I take the above comment as addressing a use case for blockchain that isn't currency. The context I think they are proposing blockchain to be useful is in verifiable public information. For information to be verified or analyzed the blockchain can verify the source even offline.
- Gormo 2y ago
  Exactly. E.g. decentralized DNS, title transfers to real property, etc. It's still extremely useful as currency as well, though, precisely because it actually is digital currency, and allows direct person-to-person transactions via the internet without requiring a proprietary middleman. The previous commenter's complaint about how it doesn't solve anything if you get scammed is a bit off-target, because dealing with frauds and scams isn't a feature inherent in the currency itself -- it applies equally to any payment solution, especially cash and checks -- and is something we deal with via the legal system regardless of how funds are transferred.

exoverito 2y ago

Large cryptocurrency networks like Bitcoin are extremely hard to execute a 51% attack upon due to their size. Though ultimately there's no perfect solution. As the saying goes, democracy is 2 wolves and 1 sheep deciding on what's for dinner.

Jensson 2y ago
But you can't use bitcoin or other blockchains with large cash flows as information storage at scale, since they use them to make transactions first and foremost and can't hold a lot of other data.
- oasisaimlessly 2y ago
  For many applications, it's possible to commit just a Merkle tree root hash to the blockchain and still get all the properties you care about, while only using O(1) blockchain storage.

hanniabu 2y ago

Same thing happens when people get scammed in tradfi

detourdog 2y ago

I take the above comment as addressing a use case for blockchain that isn't currency. The context I think they are proposing blockchain to be useful is in verifiable public information. For information to be verified or analyzed the blockchain can verify the source even offline.

Gormo 2y ago
Exactly. E.g. decentralized DNS, title transfers to real property, etc. It's still extremely useful as currency as well, though, precisely because it actually is digital currency, and allows direct person-to-person transactions via the internet without requiring a proprietary middleman. The previous commenter's complaint about how it doesn't solve anything if you get scammed is a bit off-target, because dealing with frauds and scams isn't a feature inherent in the currency itself -- it applies equally to any payment solution, especially cash and checks -- and is something we deal with via the legal system regardless of how funds are transferred.