The Prophets of Cryptocurrency Survey the Boom and Bust
Inside the ongoing argument over whether Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the blockchain are transforming the world.
In the mid-nineties, Nick Szabo, a cryptographer and early cypherpunk, coined the term “smart contract,” which two decades later became the basis of Ethereum. This is a means of setting and enforcing the terms of an agreement without a middleman—no lawyer, notary, bookie, or referee. The terms are enshrined in and triggered by code, rather than by someone’s interpretation of legal language or fit of pique. The proposition is that computer code, unlike, say, Hammurabi’s or the Federal Reserve’s, is impartial—that it can eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, the role of toxic subjectivity. This could cover a simple exchange of digital money, or the sale of a house, or an insurance payout, or a bet. Szabo’s preferred metaphor was the vending machine. You don’t generally require someone to vouch for the machine. In a smart-contract world, as he described it, if a borrower hasn’t paid off his car loans in time his car just stops working, as per the terms of the loan, which are embedded in the code and integrated into the mechanism of the car.
"here's an interesting thing about 'cicada.' (or maybe not, but it is to me. ;)) i used to date a graffiti artist who went by cicada, back in the 90s. he was eventually kicked out of new orleans for sending manifestos to various universities and other govt establishments, like carved into watermelons. i'm wondering if 'he' and his posse are the new 'cicada.' a lot of the same techniques he used back then in these new (2018) games." ~3anjeeheart:
“It’s definitely nice to try to eke out some completely parallel kind of world,”
~Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s founder, said.
#MicrowaveKillshot NOT REAL. JUST ACTORS -NOT REAL SOMETIMES #iAmCreator