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by mattdesl 1658 days ago
It is already disrupting the internet as we know it… NFTs, DAOs, trustless contracts, peer-to-peer payments w/o reliance on a central payment processors — these are all new concepts that the web hasn’t seen operating at a global scale, accessible with little more than a thin layer of JS and a browser extension.

Perhaps this disruption won’t last, or won’t succeed in replacing traditional systems, but obviously in 2021 it has succeeded in capturing a lot of interest & discussion (and a lot of $ value, too).
2 comments
bsansouci 1646 days ago
Hey Matt, I'm making my way through understanding this space and am struggling with the morality of it all, so I have a question for you: would you say that the trustless peer-to-peer world is a better future than today?

I'm asking given the realities of decentralized networks: it's currently slower, more expensive and harder to do transactions using peer to peer systems (and it's a bit tough to imagine it'll ever be as fast/simple/reliable as a centralized one because of the requirement to have consensus of nodes). And also given the realities of ETH contracts: they are agreements written in code (certainly mostly by people who don't have any background or formal education in writing laws or agreements, in comparison with lawyers)

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leifg 1658 days ago
Seems like we have very different interpretations and standards for “disruption”.

I don’t consider “everyone is talking about it” disruption. I want to see real world implementation that goes beyond “virtual asset value goes to the moon” to be convinced.

As I said in an earlier comment: It’s been almost 13 years since the first block has been mined on the Bitcoin blockchain and the positive impact on society/economy is pretty disappointing.

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mattdesl 1658 days ago
Pretty much every time this comes up, I point to Hicetnunc, as I feel despite its small size and shaky organization, it is indicative of the kind of disruptions that may occur, and also how it may prove beneficial to many creators.

https://mattdesl.substack.com/p/hicetnunc-and-the-merits-of-...

Considering NFT/Web3 only really entered public discourse in 2021, and programmable smart contracts are still nascent, I wouldn’t be so quick to write it all off.

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