okxyd's comments

I totally agree that the way it's implemented currently is awful however don't throw the baby out with the bathwater, it's a new way to transmit very very small amount of values.

>When I pay in cash (digital or otherwise), I know what I give out in terms of value for goods or services. This concept of renting out your computer time on the other hand is vague.

When you watch ads and get data-mined do your really now how much value you pay? I don't think so, it's safe to safe that all of us have no clue about the price we indirectly pay for services we on internet, most of it is just free in appearance.

>How much 'currency' will be mined? Will it be proportional to the goods/services I get to use in exchange? How long will the process take? What if my system fails midway during 'payment'?

The norms are not established yet since it's a totally new way to monetize content on internet however how much you will pay will probably be determined in hashes. Here an example with a new blockchain (Nimiq) of a micropayment you could do: http://coinmiq.com/mine/eyJ3YWxsZXQiOiJOUTI3IFJDNUIgOUU1QSBT...

>This just smacks of convenience for the implementers and as for the user, it exchanges a straightforward system for a murky deal.

I disagree, in my opinion it opens an entire new way to do micropayments on the web.

Not part of the team but they did an AMA not long ago and there is this reply: https://www.reddit.com/r/iexec/comments/7besol/the_official_...

The biggest issue right now is that before the result of the computation is sent you need for the Ethereum blockchain to mine a new block, however as explained it's a temporary limitation so I think one day it could be possible if there is not this problem of delay. Also you should check Truebit too if you are interested by the subject.

Right now you have to cash out but the endgame is to not have to, just like in the early 00s it was a hassle to buy something online and doing your taxes or accessing government services was science fiction while now you can almost live alone without ever going out of your home required you have an internet access because even the grocery store can be visited by internet.

But sure, the governments as today can easily cripple cryptocurrencies if they decide to and I'm not underestimating their power but as I said there is a competition between states, if my country adopts a hostile behavior toward cryptocurrencies then I'm pretty sure another country with a more lenient attitude will be happy to welcome my capital and workforce (not really a new concept, it was already like that with huguenots 400 years ago and it weakened badly the top dog that France while boosting immensely second or third ranked powers like England and Prussia).

I think the leaders in first world countries already understood that, that's why the general attitude is to say "it's none of our business" right now, especially in places like Europe or Japan which kind of missed the first wave of the "third industrial revolution" like internet is called by regulating too much or having a top-down approach to develop the sector and in result got crushed by the USA.

In short: ban cryptos at your own risk.

Yes he missed something: the context of bitcoin invention during the 2008 crisis. One of the big incentive to own something like bitcoin (or any decentralized and distributed cryptocurrency) is that it allows to emancipate yourself completely from financial institution either public (the central banks) or private (retail banks) when it comes to managing your capital, hell the "be your own bank".

This is something especially important considering we live in a world where nation-states are increasingly weak, politicians are either seen as incompetent at dealing with economic issue or just straight up overpowered by transnational entities while people are more and more nomad (not hesitating to just abandon their countries for another one when they are not satisfied instead of trying to enhance it). The problem with this trend is that currently moving your capital with you is hard (e-banking is a progress but it's still not enough for most people, especially the poorest).

Finally there is this economic warfare aspect, not all countries are like the USA where the currency is a tool for global hegemony and a fundamental pillar of the state, in fact with the EU we have strong countries which for the first time in history have willfully abandoned their monetary sovereignty (they still keep control but it's not one-sided). Best examples of this dynamic is Japan which has seen the yen bleed badly during the last decades and is the first big country to have a pro-cryptocurrency attitude.