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No, 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. Namec
by jacoblyles 14y ago
No, 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.