5 ms·
The real value in bitcoin is that it provides settlement from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world in at most a couple of hours. Very few other optio
by waterlesscloud 14y ago
The real value in bitcoin is that it provides settlement from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world in at most a couple of hours. Very few other options exist for such rapid settlement.
Whatever happens with bitcoin, that pace of commerce exists in the world now.
To me, the interesting thing to be doing at this point is figuring out how to take advantage of that speed with new business models.
- jacoblyles 14y agoNo, the real value in bitcoin is the blockchain. It shows us a method to use to create and mutate an agreed-upon public state history using a p2p network. Namecoin shows that this can be used for other purposes than merely currency. Blockchain based coordination and provision of public goods is the future.
- tocomment 14y agoHmm, that's an interesting point. I wonder if it could be adapted for secure online voting somehow? Perhaps we could finally have a system that's anonymous but prevents double voting?
- mcherm 14y agoVoting is an incredibly hard problem. For instance, your description "anonymous but prevents double voting" is ripe for fraud: I go around paying people to vote for me (or intimidating them into doing so). The secret ballot, cast in public, is resistant to that attack. More generally, one requirement of a voting system is that people trust it. Any elaborate system, no matter what it's theoretical advantages, can have a hard time meeting this hurdle because there are many people in the population who are NOT experts on cryptography and won't be comfortable with any elaborate system.