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Web 3.0 (Ethereum) is happening, and most people have no idea what it even is.

LifeTransformer

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Thought I'd add some thorough responses to some of the replies. Here they are:

There already is a new "Reddit" called Steemit. Steemit pays with Steem which is usually in the Top 20 or even Top 10 highest volume crypto coins out there. There's definitely a lot of potential with social media platforms paying in crpyptocurrency and rewarding users for content creation, curation, investing money, etc. Even just integration with crypto makes it nice considering the more traction, the more momentum a platform gains the more $$$ to be made long term. I definitely think the bigger coins out there are ETH, XEM, XRP, Steem to name a couple. Steemit has a nice engine behind it, where I think plenty more crypto's will follow suit soon. Zaapl is kind of like the next Twitter I guess you could say, but we'll see whether or not it gains traction.

I mentioned Steemit in the post you replied to (ICYMI) I personally thought it was more of a Twitter than a Reddit when I first looked at it. But the more I look at it? The more it reminds me of Reddit, so you're right. (It has some elements of Medium too it also I feel).

I regards to Twitter, here it is: EtherTweet - Microblogging on the Ethereum Blockchain

you heard me, bitcoin is just a digital asset of limited supply that is traded like hot potatoes and presumed to have value because its a form of money that uses the blockchain. Ethereum the platform and eth it's representative token is a decentralized platform, token currency, and a system that harnesses the blockchain benefits. Eth can be traded like a digital asset just like bitcoin but actually provides way way way, did I say WAY, more potential than BITCOIN itself

Its easy to understand if you do the research.

I've been doing the research. Trust me.

Bitcoin still has first mover advantage and share of mind at the moment, that could quite easily change. Its problem are (seemingly) being worked out too.

Ether has far more potential, but something could quite easily overtake that too, or make it redundant at some point. But in the meantime here's another interesting potential use for it:

Energy Sector Turns to Ethereum to Test Blockchain - CoinDesk

Interesting post by @Kade just above too. It mentions Reddit being centralised but no mention of https://steemit.com, perhaps they haven't heard of it...
 
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Mineralogic

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Thought I'd add some thorough responses to some of the replies. Here they are:



I mentioned Steemit in the post you replied to (ICYMI) I personally thought it was more of a Twitter than a Reddit when I first looked at it. But the more I look at it? The more it reminds me of Reddit, so you're right. (It has some elements of Medium too it also I feel).

I regards to Twitter, here it is: EtherTweet - Microblogging on the Ethereum Blockchain



I've been doing the research. Trust me.

Bitcoin still has first mover advantage and share of mind at the moment, that could quite easily change. Its problem are (seemingly) being worked out too.

Ether has far more potential, but something could quite easily overtake that too, or make it redundant at some point. But in the meantime here's another interesting potential use for it:

Energy Sector Turns to Ethereum to Test Blockchain - CoinDesk

Interesting post by @Kade just above too. It mentions Reddit being centralised but no mention of https://steemit.com, perhaps they haven't heard of it...

did you hear, eth is now trading in china.
the sound of money leaving btc couldn't be soon enough


BTC is dead, for those who don't know that, check this link today
Bitcoiner Asked to Pay $26 in Fees For One Bitcoin Transaction
 

LifeTransformer

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did you hear, eth is now trading in china.
the sound of money leaving btc couldn't be soon enough


BTC is dead, for those who don't know that, check this link today
Bitcoiner Asked to Pay $26 in Fees For One Bitcoin Transaction

Dead at $2200 a piece? Hardly dead, but I know what you mean. Also this could either save or ruin it (especially the potential "hard fork"): Bitcoin's 'SegWit2x' Scaling Proposal: Where the Startups Stand - CoinDesk

It could all go tits up if Eth takes over for sure (I kinda hope it does because I've more ETH than I have BTC). It already surpassed BTCs trading volume yesterday. (See how long that keeps up, could be the start of a shift).

I still keep a skeptical outlook on it all, if the features were the issue with Bitcoin, LiteCoin should have overtaken it already because it's far faster and has already fixed the problems Bitcoin is facing.

Anyway, we've gone to currency talk and away from the underlying technology here, so I'll leave that discussion alone I think...
 

Coalission

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Ethereum actually made an appearance in Silicon Valley's Season 4 trailer, this article goes more into detail on it and what decentralized internet really means:

Is Silicon Valley Season 4 About Ethereum? – ConsenSys Media
 
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TheIronMike

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Mysterium Network – Decentralized VPN

This project has earned 15 million in forty-five minutes: it's a decentralized virtual private network similar to TOR, but fueled by a cryptocurrency called MYST (controlled by the same company).

The company has a business that seems aligned with the CENTS paradigm:

- Need: self-explanatory...the business it's already been crowd-founded by people that are interested in the project

- Entry: really high considering the esoteric difficulty of all the technology involved (try to explain what is a dVPN that uses the blockchain smart contracts to a common person)

- Control: they control the currency that fuels the system

- Time: the network will exists and grow by itself

- Scale: potentially everyone that is interested in his own privacy
 

StevieB

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Interesting thread.
 
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LifeTransformer

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I think I mentioned above the potential of creating an UpWork/Freelancer type site...

While browsing the Dapps to see what was being developed, I found out that there is one already available here: Ethlance - hire or work for Ether cryptocurrency

There is also a project creating a decentralised eCommerce platform which sounds very interesting.
 
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MarekvBeek

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Thank you @parkerscott @Coalission @Mineralogic @JScott and everyone who I have not mentioned for your input.

You all have a great input on this subject.

As I have dove into this whole Blockchain/Ethereum thing, there is one thing I see very clear.

Like a "hard fork" you have people chasing the money (and making awesome returns).

And people who are in for the technology.

The Money

In 2012 I invested some of my money in Bitcoins. However I cashed out way too early.

If I would have invested that same amount of money in Ethereum. I would be a millionaire now by just basically doing nothing.

And that's thrills me. Not because I "missed" an opportunity, but because there are many people out there who actually became millionaire this way. (And soon, a lot of people will lose a lot of money, but that's another story)

It is clear to me that this whole "cryptocurrency" is a huge bubble. Everywhere I go, I see make money fast with trading cryptocurrencies. And I see new ICO's almost everyday (the big question is: will they all deliver their promise?)

However, I see a lot of opportunities, like this thread points out for eCommerce. (Those "rich nerds" want to obsessively spend their money)

Technology

For the technology I have some concerns.

A network of computers sounds awesome.

But of course if we have a YouTube, Facebook, etc. on such a network, and we spam it with Zetabytes of content. How will my iPhone with 256GB handle all the data?

People say, "use sidechains" or "the lightning network", but then the idea of decentralized internet and 'no fraud' goes away?

On the other hand, we have seen a lot of peer-to-peer systems destroying some big industries and creating new opportunities.

So why not with this new technology?

Ethereum

I don't think Ethereum is the only platform you should focus on.

For example Stratis is a platform that uses .Net framework for building applications.

Blockstack is another platform where you can build applications using JavaScript.

Decentralized

People say, "yeah decentralized is going to change the world. Look at the history."

I won't deny that decentralization is a trend that will continue.

But how decentralized is all this stuff, if developers can still decide to 'drawback' the system (see: Ethereum Executes Blockchain Hard Fork to Return DAO Funds)

And what about the ongoing fight with the SegWit agreement, will that "end" the bitcoin?

Conclusion

I might sound skeptical, but overall I am very excited about all the opportunities that arises from this new world.

The questions I have are just problems that needs to be solved. And rather sooner than later I guess.

My idea is that this is going to be a huge market for B2B services (or SaaS) and eCommerce.
 

GuitarManDan

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Very cool learning experience for someone who formerly (before reading this entire thread) knew nothing about Ethereum, thanks all!

Incredible to see the price of Ethereum skyrocket over the past month as this debate has been going on. I have a finance background and work at an investment bank, so I'm curious about the liquidity of using a service like CoinBase. Are there ever any issues with exiting and trying to cash out?

Seems like the possibilities are endless with block-chain technology, will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few years.
 
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MarekvBeek

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Very cool learning experience for someone who formerly (before reading this entire thread) knew nothing about Ethereum, thanks all!

Incredible to see the price of Ethereum skyrocket over the past month as this debate has been going on. I have a finance background and work at an investment bank, so I'm curious about the liquidity of using a service like CoinBase. Are there ever any issues with exiting and trying to cash out?

Seems like the possibilities are endless with block-chain technology, will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few years.

It's great. And yes, I see a lot of people with a finance background who are interested also in the blockchain technology.

With CoinBase I have no experience. However, more than a week ago, they had some server issues, and therefore some people couldn't access their account.

That was during the time people were selling like crazy (probably scaling issues).

I've only been using BTC-e and I'm very happy with them.
 

splok

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Well look who just did a podcast on Blockchain and Ethereum... non other than Tim Ferriss. I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but starting off pretty informative. Link below:

http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/7/f/5/7f5...96689800&hwt=24a5eabe7ecd5ca003e72f899121b9ef

I've been pretty apathetic on this topic, but with the help of this thread, I'm becoming a convert.

I came here to post this podcast, listened today and thought it was pretty good. I think the best point for me was one that they didn't even make directly. One of the guys offhandedly mentioned that his kid will grow up in a world where cryptocoins will have never not existed. That means that kids today might grow up with bit coins being as natural to them as the internet is to millennials.

People often think of gold as the ultimate tangible value store, but what % of the world's population has ever held a useful amount of gold or spent it in any way? I bet a typical teenager today is orders of magnitude more likely to interact meaningfully with a cryptocoin than gold in the next year (maybe in their lifetime?). I bet that's also true of most other financial/investment instruments, though maybe to a lesser degree.

I see people (not just in this thread) talk about spending coins being the big, insurmountable problem, but I just noticed recently that you can fund pre-paid debit cards with coins... It doesn't get much easier to spend than that.
 
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TheDillon__

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Got into this thread pretty late - definitely going to be a great read-through tomorrow!

I've been doing a lot of self-study on blockchain/bitcoin/ethereum recently. I still have a few questions that persist.

1. How do you code the blockchain? I know that Ethereum has the Solidarity language, but how does one go about creating a, say, SaaS product based on this technology?

2. What are some examples of blockchain technology in a non-financial setting?

3. What is the best introductory literature for someone looking to better understand this technology and develop software with it?

4. Where are the best online discussion-hubs for blockchain related topics?

Adurite
 

Leo Hendrix

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Missed the speculating gravy-train, this time round.

Here's to hoping I have enough profit around later so I can get in on cutting-edge stuff like ether and ethereum, the concept of 'smart-contracts' in an of itself has a lot of value, now to see who can execute the best with this stuff and how widespread the adoption of crypto-currencies and blockchain tech turns out, for one thing it seems whenever there is a crisis in a traditional monetary system, the price of btc and ether goes up.

On the other hand, what happened to India? I think it was India right? That adopted btc to serve as its money in a bid to tackle corruption BUT they had major problems with that.
 

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TheNewRich

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ETH Is now at 261.79 up from 70.00 last month. Do you guys think there will be a Pull back or should I be Jumping in now? Crypto Currency is exploding. Some people are saying to buy even one single Bitcoin at 2k. Though with ETH I'm anticipating to foreshadow BC. Is this a Hype Cycle? I'm starting to suffer from FoMo!
 

MarekvBeek

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1. How do you code the blockchain? I know that Ethereum has the Solidarity language, but how does one go about creating a, say, SaaS product based on this technology?

Blockchain and Solidarity are two different worlds.

If you want to create a SaaS product in this new world, the best way to do it is through existing programming language which is Solidarity.

Blockchain is the internet

While Solidarity is JavaScript (which is actually quite similar)

2. What are some examples of blockchain technology in a non-financial setting?

Steemit
OpenBazaar (from above)
Real estate (which I don't know any tangible example)

3. What is the best introductory literature for someone looking to better understand this technology and develop software with it?

From which I understand from the reviews, Ethereum: Blockchains, Digital Assets, Smart Contracts, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations

4. Where are the best online discussion-hubs for blockchain related topics?

bitcointalk
 

huntiii

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The neat thing about bitcoin is that when I carry gold or silver or even cash across borders, I've got to declare it or risk getting it confiscated. In some countries they'll just steal it at customs. At the very least you've got to answer questions that are none of anyone's business. Why are you carrying this much gold? Where are you going? Blah blah blah.

With bitcoin, I can memorize my private keys and carry a million dollars (or even a billion) across borders without anyone ever saying a damn thing.

The rest of the crypto space is very interesting and definitely part of the future

but its still the wild wild west, plenty of pump and dumps and scam coins.

Get in. Get out. Keep your money in the cryptos that you have researched and believe will solve a problem in the future.

Any other crypto profits, turn into bitcoin, wire back to your bank account, buy gold and silver :)

To answer the how/where to buy cryptos question....
To start: bank account > coinbase > poloniex
To cash out: poloniex > coinbase > bank account
 
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Jill

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Definitely the most amusing reply so far.

Do still ride a horse to work or play Atari 2600?

Hahahaha

I know, Bobby! I'm trying to read through this thread, and keep busting out in laughter. Funny how many people think they "understand" how the traditional financial markets work, so they're okay investing in surrounding vehicles... when I'm quite certain they would be mortified if they really understood central banking and fiat. LOL.

I don't understand the intricacies of a real estate transaction. But I'm fairly confident that there will always be a market for new and improved shelter.
I don't understand everything about blockchain technology /Ethereum. But while everyone is busy mocking the "scam", a bunch of people are making piles and piles. Like any investment opportunity that experiences "irrational exuberance", the ETH price chart will surely see a lot of retracements / corrections.

But I'm not gonna be the guy who insists on investing in buggy whips just because I don't understand how to build a car.
 

MrYoshi

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About to start reading this entire thread, looks interesting and I might just dip my toes in this.
 

JourneyToAbundance

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The more I read about blockchain, the more I believe that this is a game changer.

For those of you who used the internet in the early 1990's, the underlying protocol TCP/IP made connections cheaper. By making connections cheaper, it was possible to create devices to manage connections like the CISCO routers and switches. Services and software solutions had to be created so users didn't have to manually setup their IP addresses, subnet masks, default gateways, etc.... Anyone remember AOL? The killer app in the 1990's was email. You can write an email and send it through dozens of servers and it would magically get there. Tim Berners Lee was able to create HTTP which runs on top of TCP/IP.

Blockchain makes transactions cheaper. By making transactions cheaper, there are endless possibilities. The banking system has spent the last 50 years delivering just two consumer innovations: ATM/money transfers and credit cards -- and then spent the rest of the time trying to figure out how to fleece you.

Blockchains like Ethereum will win because they allow innovation at the edges similar to what TCP/IP did for the internet. In a world where you can give millions of engineers open access to experiment and tinker, we will win. Bitcoin and Ether are only two apps that run on a blockchain.

Regardless of the degree of confidence in the technology itself, there will always be a need for testing and confirming that it works. Firms will try setting up private blockchains similar to their corporate intranets and will make many mistakes. These are just some ideas that I've written in my journal that I would like to share with the forum.
  • Banks have extremely large audit and compliance departments that monitor activity for correctness usually within 24 hours. In a blockchain world, this will need to be done in near real time which is a significant departure from current audit techniques, who will help these departments transform themselves? What should they surveil?
  • How can you test a "smart contract" before it is released to the blockchain?
  • How can I confirm that I wrote correct code so when I send my health records to my providers that I didn't accidentally send it to others?
  • How can I pull information out of the blockchain and reconcile with my legacy systems?
  • How can I use machine learning to determine what price customers are paying for products on the blockchain?
 

andviv

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Fascinating discussion for the most part.

Newbie question: Do I need to have a physical ledger with me to "carry" my coins?

If so, I can see a lot of push by governments to confiscate/investigate these when crossing borders...

Are these ledgers "backup-able"?
 

JourneyToAbundance

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Fascinating discussion for the most part.

Newbie question: Do I need to have a physical ledger with me to "carry" my coins?

If so, I can see a lot of push by governments to confiscate/investigate these when crossing borders...

Are these ledgers "backup-able"?

You need a digital wallet to store your "private" keys which allow you to access your digital currency. I use coinbase wallet which is easy to setup. Actually, the industry shouldn't be calling these things "digital wallets", they should be called keychains because they only store your private/public keys. If you don't understand how private/public keys work then I suggest that you read this article here. The private key is your secret key that allows you to spend your "coins" or assets - the private key is akin to the key for opening your home. All transaction information is stored in the blockchain. This explanation will provide an overview of how bitcoins are actually stored.
  • Presently, it requires understanding of concepts which are somewhat abstract and complex
  • The first thing you should know is there aren't any bitcoins and as such you can't store them anywhere.
  • The blockchain (ledger) doesn't contain any serial number of some 'bitcoin' - rather it just describes the ownership of bitcoins as they are moved from one owner to another. For instance, "MJ mined 2 bitcoins and sold 1 to Vigilante who gave 0.5 to Jim, etc..."

You can simply memorize your private key, print a copy of it and store it in a safe or a vault. You have many options since your keys are in the digital world. If you copy your wallet, all you will see are additional copies of your private/public keys.
 
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LifeTransformer

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Fascinating discussion for the most part.

Newbie question: Do I need to have a physical ledger with me to "carry" my coins?

If so, I can see a lot of push by governments to confiscate/investigate these when crossing borders...

Are these ledgers "backup-able"?

Two other options are:

Use a paper wallet.

Or, use a digital one like @JourneyToAbundance has mentioned above, but one that has a passphrase you can remember or write down somewhere.

PSA: If anyone is thinking of getting into the currency side of things, DO NOT us Jaxx wallet, it's security is compromised.
 

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So everything that happened this past week with Ethereum left me in a funk. I can't get over the fact that I missed the gravy train twice, now. First it was Bitcoin in 2009, and now it's Ethereum. I was too busy buying cars and motorcycles back in 2015. I could of put all of that money that i spent on cars. Into Ethereum instead of buying cars that I didn't need in the first place.
 

MarekvBeek

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So everything that happened this past week with Ethereum left me in a funk. I can't get over the fact that I missed the gravy train twice, now. First it was Bitcoin in 2009, and now it's Ethereum. I was too busy buying cars and motorcycles back in 2015. I could of put all of that money that i spent on cars. Into Ethereum instead of buying cars that I didn't need in the first place.

Sounds a little slowlane. If you spend 10K in XYZ 50 years ago, you would now have 50 gazillion.

Don't cry, there are a lot of new opportunities coming your way.

You just have to open your eyes.
 

LifeTransformer

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So everything that happened this past week with Ethereum left me in a funk. I can't get over the fact that I missed the gravy train twice, now. First it was Bitcoin in 2009, and now it's Ethereum. I was too busy buying cars and motorcycles back in 2015. I could of put all of that money that i spent on cars. Into Ethereum instead of buying cars that I didn't need in the first place.

If you think you missed the gravy train, you're not looking hard enough for another one in my opinion.
 

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