I think a lot of discussions around the utility of blockchains misses (or just ignores) a really subtle but important point: smart contract networks (like Ethereum) could be thought of like public utilities that are implemented via markets. And I think that perspective can unlock a lot of innovation.
If I want to launch a startup, I have to cover hosting costs, manage infrastructure (terraform, AWS/DigitalOcean, Docker, DNS, etc) and handle lots of other complexity that is incidental to what I'm actually trying to build. It really helps to have VC money to ease that pain - but VC money is a dangerous train to get on.
But if I can build my app using smart contracts, then they are always available to execute when needed - just pay to write/execute. I don't need to cover hosting costs or much infrastructure beyond some web interface (which I could just put on Netlify). That simplicity reduces the need for funding.
Any data or infrastructure that I put in place is - by default - still available if my startup fails, so users who put their content into the system can still get access to it even if I can't afford to pay the bills anymore.
And of course, other startups could immediately build on top of whatever I've created.
Honestly, using blockchains for money - while essential for some of this - is not the most interesting application.
> But if I can build my app using smart contracts, then they are always available to execute when needed - just pay to write/execute. I don't need to cover hosting costs or much infrastructure beyond some web interface (which I could just put on Netlify).
So you're already using Netlify, why not take the extra step and make your entire app open source and serverless? That solves the "If my startup fails" case, and the hosting costs issue which you'd be incurring either way.
> But if I can build my app using smart contracts, then they are always available to execute when needed - just pay to write/execute
Do you mean that you would build your app so that it entirely runs on the Ethereum network, basically using Ethereum like a cloud provider? This sounds like just a more expensive, difficult, and resource intensive way of running a lambda function...
> - The only applications anyone is implementing on progcoins are exchanges and/or gambling. So far, dApps are a circular argument.
There's an argument that that's okay for now - the finance applications are effectively capitalizing infrastructure construction, which will make future applications easier to build, more scalable, etc. The amount of $ in these applications incentivizes bad actors to help expose the failure modes of the infrastructure - which again would be nice to know and document before it becomes widely useful.
^ that's a prediction - I'll be the first to admit that this crypto stuff may go nowhere. But it might go to some interesting places.
If I want to launch a startup, I have to cover hosting costs, manage infrastructure (terraform, AWS/DigitalOcean, Docker, DNS, etc) and handle lots of other complexity that is incidental to what I'm actually trying to build. It really helps to have VC money to ease that pain - but VC money is a dangerous train to get on.
But if I can build my app using smart contracts, then they are always available to execute when needed - just pay to write/execute. I don't need to cover hosting costs or much infrastructure beyond some web interface (which I could just put on Netlify). That simplicity reduces the need for funding.
Any data or infrastructure that I put in place is - by default - still available if my startup fails, so users who put their content into the system can still get access to it even if I can't afford to pay the bills anymore.
And of course, other startups could immediately build on top of whatever I've created.
Honestly, using blockchains for money - while essential for some of this - is not the most interesting application.