tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post232183025510174084..comments2024-03-28T13:39:27.601-07:00Comments on DSHR's Blog: Blockchain GaslightingDavid.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post-54108271425450809782022-11-28T12:38:16.897-08:002022-11-28T12:38:16.897-08:00Mirriam-Webster's Word of the Year is "ga...Mirriam-Webster's <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/word-of-the-year" rel="nofollow">Word of the Year</a> is "gaslighting". What took them so long? I was on it in January.David.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post-74999381401524519972022-04-27T10:41:43.837-07:002022-04-27T10:41:43.837-07:00Simon Spichak writes in How Crypto Is Failing Spec...Simon Spichak writes in <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-cryptocurrencies-are-failing-spectacularly-to-greenwash-themselves" rel="nofollow"><i>How Crypto Is Failing Spectacularly to Greenwash Itself</i></a>:<br /><br />"Those numbers haven’t stymied the contention among many cryptocurrency enthusiasts that this is a singular solution to all the world’s energy problems. “Bitcoin mining solves a number of climate issues, while also creating a more profitable model,” crypto enthusiast Anthony Pompliano <a href="https://twitter.com/apompliano/status/1380145525194903553" rel="nofollow">wrote</a> last August.<br /><br />Many developers say they are working on cryptocurrencies that are supposed to encourage eco-friendly practices, and even tokenize carbon offsets. While these solutions sound appealing on the surface, climate and environmental policy experts are dubious they will have much impact mitigating climate change and changing our energy habits. Even though some of these projects are driven by techies with good intentions, these quick fixes and greenwashing proposals are unlikely to bring us closer to a zero-emissions world."<br /><br />He even quotes me!David.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post-49246280556080667212022-02-06T06:27:21.647-08:002022-02-06T06:27:21.647-08:00Five days after this post, Molly WHite hit the sam...Five days after this post, Molly WHite hit the same theme in <a href="https://blog.mollywhite.net/blockchains-are-not-what-they-say/" rel="nofollow"><i>Blockchain-based systems are not what they say they are</i></a>:<br /><br />"One extremely common phenomenon when discussing issues surrounding blockchain-based technologies is that proponents will often switch between discussing the theoretical implementations of these ecosystems and discussing the ecosystems we have today as it suits their argument."David.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post-72729617035609985702022-01-31T09:35:52.789-08:002022-01-31T09:35:52.789-08:00With his usual clarity, Cory Doctorow explains blo...With his usual clarity, Cory Doctorow explains blockchain's "oracle problem" in <a href="https://doctorow.medium.com/the-inevitability-of-trusted-third-parties-a51cbcffc4e2" rel="nofollow"><i>The Inevitability of Trusted Third Parties</i></a>:<br /><br />"1. How do I know that the information in the blockchain is accurate? That is, how do I know that if the blockchain says a potato was grown without pesticide, that the person who inscribed that entry upon the ledger wasn’t lying?<br /><br />2. How do I know that the produce I find in the grocery store is the produce that the blockchain entry refers to? Maybe someone, somewhere, grew and ethical potato, but how can I tell that this potato, which I am holding in my hand, is that ethical potato?"<br /><br />Blockchain's claimed immutability assures the persistence but not the correctness of entries. For that you have to trust the creator of the entry. In the potato example you have to trust human auditors to confirm correctness. In the case of NFTs you have to trust OpenSea to verify ownership, which results in <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdzb5/more-than-80-of-nfts-created-for-free-on-opensea-are-fraud-or-spam-company-says" rel="nofollow"><i>More Than 80% of NFTs Created for Free on OpenSea Are Fraud or Spam, Company Says</i></a>.David.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post-80421555960938148622022-01-21T09:34:44.859-08:002022-01-21T09:34:44.859-08:00Claire Jones and Izabella Kaminska write The regul...Claire Jones and Izabella Kaminska write <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d16c9481-f56b-423d-b3ba-c3dda36ce3c1" rel="nofollow"><i>The regulatory threats to crypto are mounting</i></a>:<br /><br />"Crypto might not be as decentralised and global as its advocates like to make out. But the way in which the technology is set up does present complications for regulators hell bent on reining it in.<br /><br />Unless states manage to address the privacy problem — which may in fact be insurmountable — then you don’t have to be Yoda to work out that someone, somewhere in a galaxy not so far away will find a way to get around the rules and use technology to enable people — for reasons legitimate and otherwise — to make payments quickly, cheaply and anonymously.<br /><br />And that sort of competition, overall, is probably a good thing for keeping any government alternatives honest and private."David.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post-86980519152452581362022-01-17T18:53:59.076-08:002022-01-17T18:53:59.076-08:00In It's not still the early days Molly White a...In <a href="https://blog.mollywhite.net/its-not-still-the-early-days/" rel="nofollow"><i>It's not still the early days</i></a> Molly White asks a set of good questions:<br /><br />"How long can it possibly be “early days”? How long do we need to wait before someone comes up with an actual application of blockchain technologies that isn’t a transparent attempt to retroactively justify a technology that is inefficient in every sense of the word? How much pollution must we justify pumping into our atmosphere while we wait to get out of the “early days” of proof-of-work blockchains? How many people must be scammed for all they’re worth while technologists talk about just beginning to think about building safeguards into their platforms? How long must the laymen, who are so eagerly hustled into blockchain-based projects that promise to make them millionaires, be scolded as though it is their fault when they are scammed as if they should be capable of auditing smart contracts themselves?<br /><br />The more you think about it, the more “it’s early days!” begins to sound like the desperate protestations of people with too much money sunk into a pyramid scheme, hoping they can bag a few more suckers and get out with their cash before the whole thing comes crashing down."David.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post-69648199983659153002022-01-09T06:27:38.428-08:002022-01-09T06:27:38.428-08:00David Gerard's latest news post is full of gem...David Gerard's latest <a href="https://davidgerard.co.uk/blockchain/2022/01/08/news-el-salvador-volcano-bonds-to-sell-for-tethers-bitcoin-didnt-cause-kazakhstan-riots-lawsuits-on-the-blockchain-mobilecoin-live-on-signal-craig-wright-sued-again/" rel="nofollow">news post</a> is full of gems, including:<br /><br />- Bennett Tomlin on <a href="https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1477707241029570563.html" rel="nofollow">why Craig Wright isn't Satoshi Nakamoto</a>.<br /><br />- Trolly McTrollface on <a href="https://twitter.com/Tr0llyTr0llFace/status/1389548874688307203" rel="nofollow">how regulation will affect Bitcoin</a>.<br /><br />- Jamie Zawinski, co-founder of Mozilla, on the <a href="https://www.jwz.org/blog/2022/01/today-on-sick-sad-world-how-the-cryptobros-have-fallen/" rel="nofollow">libertarian cypherpunk roots of cryptocurrencies</a>.<br /><br />- Koos Looijesteijn with <a href="https://www.kooslooijesteijn.net/blog/web3" rel="nofollow"><i>A not so gentle intro to web3</i></a>.<br /><br />- Donald King on <a href="javascript:void(0);" rel="nofollow"><i>How NFTs Will Save Video Games By Making No One Want to Play Them Anymore</i></a>.David.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4503292949532760618.post-7313725174440542582022-01-05T07:03:01.584-08:002022-01-05T07:03:01.584-08:00Ann Wiener nails it in Money in the Metaverse:
&q...Ann Wiener nails it in <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/money-in-the-metaverse" rel="nofollow"><i>Money in the Metaverse</i></a>:<br /><br />"Some vocal proponents of “web3”—an as-yet unrealized idea for the Internet’s next phase, based on visions for a decentralized, blockchain-based digital substrate—have fixed their gaze on the metaverse, seeing it as an opportunity for epochal transformation. (Arguments in favor of web3 are frequently made using utopian rhetoric—democratization, decentralization, transformation, freedom, revolution, and so on—that elevates, or obscures, what would otherwise be a financial conversation.)"<br /><br />Tip of the hat to Ted Nelson.David.https://www.blogger.com/profile/14498131502038331594noreply@blogger.com