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Is Crypto Finally Dead? (beehaw.org)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/technology@beehaw.org
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Yes, I know that it still exist, and yes, decentralized currency which utilizes distributed, cryptographic validation is not actually a strictly bad idea, but...

Is the speculative investment scam, which crypto substantially represented, finally dead? Can we go back to buying gold bars and Pokemon cards?

I feel like it is, but I'm having a hard time putting my finger on why it lost its sheen. Maybe crypto scammers moved on to selling LLM "prompts?" Maybe the rug just got pulled enough times that everyone lost trust.

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[–] 28 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (2 children)

It's been 13 years and the only applications found have been in fraud.

Over and over, blockchain is a solution to a question nobody asked.

You might as well say you're a biplane enthusiast or something.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 years ago

    Hey. Biplanes are actually much more relevant in today's world than crypto. They aren't common, but there are still new biplanes made because they are a valid solution for certain problems. Unlike blockchain.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    It’s nice-to-have if shit really did hit the fan economically and hyper inflation took over. Glad the hype is over though.

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  • [–] 12 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    I'm not actually interested in the value of the tokens, I only own a few tens of dollars' worth myself. I'm interested in the application-related aspects of it.

    For example, something applicable to the Fediverse that comes to mind is the Ethereum Name System. That's a blockchain-based mechanism that allows for DNS-like "domain names" to be claimed by users. Something like it could serve as a way of registering a username for the Fediverse and then having it be completely portable between instances without the need to rely on any centralized authentication provider. Since they do cost a small amount of actual money to register they'd make for a good spam prevention method - a regular user only needs to register a name every once in a rare while, but a spammer needs to register a new one each time their existing name gets blocked. It'd get expensive real fast for a spammer.

    Unfortunately this adds some complication to the registration process that the Fediverse really can't afford right now. And worse, it has the dreaded "NFT" label hanging around its neck because technically a username registration is indeed an NFT if you want to categorize it like that. So I can only sigh and watch a perfectly useful technology go unused due to the bad name it's been given.

    Oh well. Someday the usefulness will overcome the perception.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 child)

    Tons of people already can't handle signing up for a simple account. You think having to get a crypto wallet, figure out how to use it, and pay money into it before you can even start actually signing up for a social media account is ever gonna fly? Not in a million years.

    NFTs truly are the best imaginable example of a solution in search of a problem. Every single use case I've ever heard someone pitch is something that already exists and already works. But like.. what if your hotel key was an NFT, bro? Whoa. What if your softball team's schedule was an NFT? What if your social media account was an NFT? 🤯

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I explicitly said in my comment:

    Unfortunately this adds some complication to the registration process that the Fediverse really can't afford right now.

    You don't appear to have actually read it all the way through, just triggered a standard anti-NFT rant off of the fact that the word "NFT" was present in it. Which is ironically exactly the problem I was complaining about.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago)

    I read it. And I disagree.

    It isn't that it can't handle it "right now." It will never handle it. Nobody wants it.

    But I bet "you can't read, you're just triggered by a word" is way easier to fantasize about than actually paying attention to reality.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Have you heard of hashcash, it’s POW precursor to bitcoin. It stops spam, was originally developed for email but could be incorporated into Lemmy eventually on sign up. Principal is similar to what you suggest.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    @Senseibu @FaceDeer POW was one of the biggest issues with crypto in general. Let's not kill a tree everytime someone wants to sign up

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  • [–] 6 points 3 years ago

    @shipp Ethereum switched to Proof-of-Stake consensus nine months ago, it no longer burns a significant amount of energy to operate. I'm primarily interested in Ethereum because it's got smart contracts, allowing a huge variety of applications that older, simpler cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can't handle.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (2 children)

    It’s a small foot print for a real user and expensive for bots who are generating enmasse. It worked on Windows 98 PCs so isn’t really an issue like you describe.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    @Senseibu PoW should just be straight up illegal everywhere. It's a plague on the planet.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Except it’s been around for decades and put to good use but you’ve only heard of it from crypto and are referring to crypto.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    @Senseibu so has crime lol, doesn't mean it's good. There's also a reason it hasn't caught on. If you ignore the whole killing the planet thing, it's very inaccessible.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    Hasn’t caught on pfft dude why are you even replying when you clearly know nothing about the tech except for it’s bad for the planet we haven’t even got into how it could be powered why renewables.

    Good day to you sir

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