Re:Introducing A16Z Crypto
by tomc1985 on Monday June 25, 2018 @06:21PM
(#17396330)
If you can fix distributed trust you could probably reshape global trade however you see fit. Lack of systemic trust creates mountains of complexity to deal with -- look at how many parties have to be involved just to have a product manufactured in another country
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Are you sure that’s a problem? Doesn’t seem to be. Moreover blockchain doesn’t solve it.
Uh.... oh it is. It's an old one. There are at least a dozen parties and counterparties involved in most trade because of currency, political, legal, and delivery risks.
You, your trade partner, your bank, your bank's correspondence bank, their bank, their bank's correspondence bank, customs at ports of entry, shipping agents, and others, and they're all taking their time and their cut to manage your risks for you.
I don't think blockchain solves anything remotely close to all problems but I think it could have its uses in providing services for escrow and a gigantic, tamper-proof distributed log.
How does it tamper-proof better than existing solutions?
By reducing the coordination of truth between so many parties to an offline, distributed data-structure, in a way that assures integrity mathematically. As alternative to the constellation of approaches (email, IT integrations, filing cabinets full of records, etc) currently in use. With a global peer-distributed database you can change the risks with your truth provider to risks that the data doesn't update. Depending on a lot of factors I think that may be more desireable
That said I don't work anywhere near international trade, just recalling some stuff I learned in an old college class
But you still have to trust the people doing the inspecting and certifying - or whatever. I'd be less worried about them altering information than them altering or substituting actual product.
Re:Introducing A16Z Crypto
by Karrot_Kream on Monday June 25, 2018 @08:10PM
(#17396948)
That will always be the case, but given the ease of tracking all the transactions in the chain, you can find the point at which the product deviates. Of course, if every step on that chain has colluded, and produced false attestations, then there's no defense against that. But then, if all parties are coordinating then they've created their own supply chain independent of the one being tracked.