This is incorrect. Clearly defining tasks not only aids in tracking and reporting but also helps developers stay organized. It promotes transparency and effective communication, especially for remote teams working across different time zones. At all times everyone knows what they are working on.
I complete agree. Not mentioning ICOs (a way for projects and companies to raise money) and not mentioning DeFi (a way to lend and borrow money). I can't really take this publication seriously.
I'm really surprised by how uneducated most of HN are about blockchain. This means we're still early. Few big things that are coming out of blockchain;
1) ICO - a way to raise money in a distributed manner outside the traditional financial system (think Banks and VCs).
2) Defi - a way to borrow and lend (and much more) outside the traditional financial system. One example, Banks get as much as 16-20% return on your depoiste -- you might see 1% of that. Defi solves that by removing the Bank and you can capture all of that yield. You can lend literally with a click of a button and see returns with every mined block. Take the money back any time you want.
3) Governance - there is a big social benefit if we figure out all the edge cases and the correct implementation. Many benefits in voting, real-world governance, and open source (what to work on next, what gets funding).
4) Many many Comp. Sci. and Cryptology advances; see byzantine general problem, zero-knowledge proof, and many more. Just one example of a company doing lots of research: https://iohk.io/en/research/library/
What is an ICO really - just a company minting tokens for people that they can exchange for something. They're not using any of the properties of blockchain, and no one is running nodes except for the company itself. They should just sell digital tokens via traditional ecommerce methods - nothing about ICOs depends on or takes advantage of being on a blockchain.
> and no one is running nodes except for the company itself
What you're talking about doesn't seem to be an ICO but an IBO (Initial Blockchain Offering?). Most ICOs use a token on an already-established blockchain (e.g. ETH), so then there's no need to run a new network of nodes for it.
Wrong. They are using blockchain to generate hype. Internally it might as well be an Excel spreadsheet instead of blockchain and it wouldn't make a difference to the end user.
Again there are many different types of tokens that do many different things. One example, there are tokens that help secure the network (as in proof of stake) and in return you get fees (aka yield on your investment). This is just one example. There are many others, like lending out USDC (token pegged to USD) -- you can actually get 10% yield. You can also provide liquidity in liquidity pools and earn fees (again yield on your money at risk).
Pretty presumptuous to assume that we are “uneducated” about blockchain to be dismissive of it, rather than being educated but simply believing that the conditions required for blockchain solutions to be better (for a given utility function) than centralized solutions are actually very rarely found in real-life combinations of scenarios and utility functions. Like reversible transactions: I love that transactions are reversible in the real-world (Even erroneous cash transactions are sometimes reversible through courts) because I know I can fat-finger something.
There’s obviously a cost to reversing transactions in the “real” world. Fees, rates, and courts all have a cost. They can (and are) able to be modeled in crypto as well.
That cost is by design. It’s important that I can reverse my Zappos order very easily if the shoes don’t fit, while it’s very hard for my employer to take back money they claim they overpaid me.
Most of the issues are around the UI/UX but these are being solved. I would take a look at metamask and other web wallets that make crypto really easy to use. Web3 websites that have wallet integration built in are actually easier to use than most online credit card forms. Think of it as a Amazon one-click but on every Web3 website.
> I'm really surprised by how uneducated most of HN are about blockchain
I'm really surprised by how uneducated you think HN readers are. My BS alarm goes 100% every time I read about how "Blockchain Technology" is going to solve world peace or whatever.
I'm sorry my comment rubbed some people the wrong way but I think you prove my point. Your point of view is total based on a "gut-feeling" and "I have a hunch", your ignoring the facts that are provided to you.
ICO - literally billions of dollars raised by companies each year. All done on the blockchain.
Defi - 6 billion dollars locked in defi (lending and borrowing) - 10x grown in the last 12 months.
Hundreds of paper have been published - advancing cryptology and Comp. Sci.
What even surprising is lots of HNers are really strongly against blockchain projects while YCombinator themselves have invested in several blockchain projects[1]
Interestingly, all of those either use cryptocurrencies as an investment, or merely provide cryptocurrency-based tools (of questionable utility), and leave the problem-solving to their users.
Protocol Labs seems to be one which is actually trying to solve a problem rather than just being a tool to buy or use cryptocurrency. Your description is probably apt for the rest.
Most Crypto projects are raising money via ICO route without dealing with VCs, cap tables, and board seats. Most of these projects will fail, just the nature of innovation. Few will succeed and change the world, I will argue that Eth (one of the first ICOs) already changed the world.
The HN community is millions of people all over the world, many of whom identify strongly against SV, startups, or whatever they imagine YC stands for. So it's complicated.
1) Not all voting needs privacy
2) For stronger privacy, I would look into reading more about;
a) Xpub, Ypub and Zpub and UTXO
b) Mimblewimble
c) Monero and PIVC
Governance is really work in progress but I'm happy to see that people are taken this on. Many crypto projects are building in governance into their tokens and networks. I think we will see voting on the blockchain within in the next 5 years -- probably done by smaller countries or municipalities first. We will get more data and information about tech. vs social rite. Moreover, being on the blockchain doesn't mean that people can't exp. the social rite by going to vote.
Just to add something to the conversation. I'm sure you guys see these recruiting emails as well but here an example of why H1B is broken. This salary is below market rate, clearly targeting H1B visas. Also below 150k mark. I like the idea and the spirit of the H1B and other visas but I think it's being abused.
I worked in the finance industry, IT side. I can say that these work Visas are abused in that industry. Less so in tech and startup space. I think having a min salary that's 2x average for the job would also solve this. I'm will to see what type of data this pause provides.
In general this is such a mess. Every four years these topics are framed in a such a divisive manner that the end result is that it rips friends, families and communities apart. I really loathe these times and it's becoming harder to avoid it.
