I agree with Frank's comments, below. I think we have to separate the subject of blockchain architecture and its' use in crypto-currencies. Blockchains have even found application in the avionics of fly-by-wire commercial aircraft where many complex subsystems must cooperate without errors. (In the case of control surfaces, I believe voting was once achieved by having three independent systems, each one operating its' own hydraulic ram, so two out of three would win just by sheer grunt!)
In the particular case of crypto-currencies I think there's a specific problem with scalability as a function of the cumulative number of transactions. And I wonder about stability. How much latitude is there in terms of the network of bitcoin nodes, and the performance of the underlying internet? David L. ------- On Mon, 20 Nov 2017 14:51:24 Frank O'Connor wrote: > Mmmmm … > > I pretty much view Bitcoin as a bit of an ethereal digital fraud in the > making > > 1. It fails as a means of exchange for commercial/household transactions due > to inbuilt effluxion of time (it’s not instantaneous like a credit card or > cash transaction), transaction validation and lack of accountability. > > 2. It’s long gone past the stage where it could be considered viable for > ‘micro-transactions’, if any micro-transaction facilitation will ever be > needed in any e-commercial context. What’s wrong with conventional small > running balances for God’s sake? > > 3. It’s not backed or administered by anybody I'd trust (and given the way > some exchanges have gone down owing hundreds of millions/billions at today’s > Bitcoin values, I’d be a fool to trust any of them), the value fluctuates > wildly on a daily basis, and if any currency needed a unit split (when 1 > Bitcoin currently equals 6 or 7 thousand dollars) it’s Bitcoin. > > 4. Currently the ONLY people seriously using it are the speculators … and we > know where Booms and Bubbles like that usually end up. > > It’s still ostensibly a solution in search of a problem, without any of the > structures, processes and safeguards that protect and add value, > predictability and stability to other more conventional currencies. > > Just my 2 cents worth … > _______________________________________________ Link mailing list Link@mailman.anu.edu.au http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
