Serious question: Is ‘blockchain’ still a thing?
Or, can we do everything with Bitcoin and Nostr as the base protocols?
#asknostr
Discussion
My understanding is that “blockchain” outside of an immutable PoW and distributed ledger system, such as Bitcoins’, is just a centralized database.
"Blockchain" was always bullshit
I've done a good amount of research on other chains and I can confidently say they are all completely useless. Bitcoin and nostr are all we need. And maybe named data networking, but that involves new hardware too
Yeah, that’s my conclusion, too. We tried to use ‘blockchain’ for ‘verifiable data registries’ - it kinda worked but a database was more efficient. Then Nostr came along…
I like nostr because it supports:
- OpenTimestamps for bitcoin-based timestamping
- Hash chains for arbitrary linked verifiable data
- BLOSSOM - content-addressed data storage
All without the blockchain BS
All we're missing is a peer-to-peer cloud of personal servers that provide content-addressable data and code (these should ideally be the same thing).
My previous company was supposed to provide this but... well it's complicated. I'm hoping nostr:npub16lqexwgfr35g5qsxaq0gzapja0xvr8sltmwzuaea4ve3d39k8chsyvqkaj actually ends up solving this in 5-10 years!
Yeah its still a 'thing', but i recon less so than it used to be.
Can we do all the things with Bitcoin + Nostr? Depending on what falls under everything i'd say....probably
Agree. That’s been my experience being heads down in nostr for a couple of years. I can do everything I want.
And cashu for tokens
Bitcoin blockchain has alway been a thing. At some point it became a buzzword for impressing clueless people. Common among shitcoiners, VCs and grifters. CrYptO is now the main buzzword for it, afaik.
Well Bitcoin is on the blockchain so there’s your answer 😉
I'm not totally convinced yet. Many of the things you might want to do (swaps, loans, etc) require a trusted server at this point, at least for coordination. Nostr might allow for dumb relays that can perform that function without real knowledge of the underlying txs, but I haven't seen that yet. The trick to it is why do I that x blockchain more than a centralized server, you got me there.
Very cool. Sounds like an area for research!
Rodarmor brought up a PSBT server and marketplace that could be built on nostr which would be a nice substitute for lots of smart contracts on ETH et al.
Atomic swaps I understand and would be cool to see. I never did understand smart contracts.
It is just addressable code. So I could deposit funds which then are restricted movement based on the rules in the code. Very similar to btc smart contracts, but reusable and more Turing complete or whatever. I don't think we need similar on bitcoin, but not convinced that they everything is covered currently.
Yes, blockchain is still a thing. But I wonder if we’ll see fewer of them over time.
I’ll upset the BTC-only crowd here, but there’s a great multichain project currently putting digital assets (books, music and video) onchain. They have several billionaire investors, plus the massive Ingram Content Group behind them. They have a top 10 global publisher onboard, a top 5 global publisher about to sign, and are in talks with some massive music labels and artists.
Blockchain technology is here to stay.