Question was:
"And in what applications are blockchains superior to centralized applications?"
You really did not answer the question. What is the application where it is superior to track the asset without central authority? (I come up with criminal money transfers. I hope someone comes up with something else because I do not think that is too solid a foundation to build a sustainable technology...)
Everyone immediately jumps to the criminal aspects. The existing financial system has absolutely no problem handling all the crime, the blockchain did not invent money laundering.[0]
[0] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/19/danske-bank...
2) This is false if you understand that Visa/MC do not settle instantly, rather 24-48 hours down the line and their instantaneous consumer network is not identical to that settlement layer. Similar to BTC's blockchain + Lightning network.
3) This is not really a thing outside of Ethereum, but yes, it was a very bad decision.
4) There are plenty of frauds using USD. Way more than BTC. Like, a lot.
5) I'm not sure what this random bit of racism against China has anything to do with anything, but the network's locations of nodes doesn't have much to do with nationality preference.
More hilariously is that there is a branch of Ethereum that still contains the DAO hack transactions, Ethereum Classic . It’s generally assumed that that branch is run by the DAO hacker, which is kind of hilarious to me.
People, myself included, jump to the criminal aspects because those are the only real world applications that are currently creating value for Bitcoin "users" (vs. speculators). Getting around borders/currency controls is valuable because it's hard to do/illegal, and Bitcoin makes it easier.
The rest of the things you listed such as "highest density of wealth storage every invented" and "completely different threat model" are not use cases, and are not inherently good/bad, just different (and actually usually bad when optimizing for verification speed/efficiency and transaction clearance over chargebacks/fraud)
PS did you get hired into the crypto/blockchain world, or just more optimistic after doing research? I remember us being in agreement / you being skeptical about it before
As I said, the fee issue is being worked on (scaling, layer 2 networks) but that's a potential of the technology.
> People, myself included, jump to the criminal aspects because those are the only real world applications that are currently creating value for Bitcoin "users"
I simply disagree, if you want me to enumerate all the use cases that aren't criminal I can, but google can help.
> The rest of the things you listed such as "highest density of wealth storage every invented" and "completely different threat model" are not use cases, and are not inherently good/bad, just different (and actually usually bad when optimizing for verification speed/efficiency and transaction clearance over chargebacks/fraud)
Yes, it is a different sort of tradeoff, that may be useful in some cases. It's novel.
> PS did you get hired into the crypto/blockchain world, or just more optimistic after doing research? I remember us being in agreement / you being skeptical about it before
I have posted a lot on cryptocurrency, I have been in the industry for a while, but I am not universally optimistic about all things crypto. But overall I am bullish.
Could you start with one? And I mean one that is obviously superior to centralized solutions? What are the measures that make blockchain superior in this use case and why a centralized solution can't achieve those measures? Why the tradeoffs in other measures are insignificant? Let's further assume that decentralization itself is not an acceptable measure.
Do you not see the value of censorship resistance?
There are billions of people in the world currently living under repressive governments. The world does not revolve around the western world with all of our privileged freedoms.
This is definitely false. I buy a lot of things that are completely legal using cryptocurrency and find it to be pretty painless. I am a small-time miner and use the profits to buy computer gear from Newegg or resellers who want BTC and get a pretty huge discount on Amazon gear. I have zero problem spending all of my cryptocurrency on valid electronics if I desire.
Except for all the fees to middlemen?
So if you want to be safe from censorship, a decentralized Leger is better.
If you do not care about censorship resistance, then you should count yourself lucky and very privileged. There are billions of people in the world who are currently living under repressive governments.
If you’re worried about your government, then you can’t beat physical cash.
Deflation brings its own problems.
In the end, people still need to eat and drink, and they're going to pay to meet those needs no matter how much it costs them.
Most of the complaints about deflation are from the Keynesian economists, who for them, it is a major problem. How are they going to pay back all that interest they keep accumulating if people aren't continuously spending?