The blockchain paradox: Why DLTs may do little to transform the economy

Re:The blockchain paradox: Why DLTs may do little to transfo... by gamblor956 on Wednesday June 14, 2017 @06:06PM (#14556488)

You literally just described Ebay/Paypal but with smart contracts. Worse, with the additional requirement that everyone has to use smart contracts for it to work at any level. Additionally, your example glosses over all of the real world problems, like seller/buyer fraud, that smart contracts and blockchains do nothing to address.

Smart contracts won't take off for the simple reason that they don't offer anything that existing processes don't already handle better than even the theoretical best case that smart contract proponents have offered.

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Re:The blockchain paradox: Why DLTs may do little to transfo... by nemo44x on Wednesday June 14, 2017 @08:58PM (#14557173)

I'm not saying mine is a great example, especially with the current state of the technology. If I had a fool proof example I'd be building it!

I think the thing they offer is the potential for great efficiency and thus lower cost and also a lower barrier to entry for systems that require trust.

What I'm most optimistic about is the next phase - how can we scale this and then what can we build on top to further practical use? That's a more interesting discussion than dismissing it all together.

Bitcoin introduced the blockchain and some good ideas about how it could be used. Ethereum ran with some of those ideas. There's even more ideas on how this can expanded we'll maybe see in a few years.

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