I still don't buy it. Javascript might buy a 4% performance improvement, but the increased resource usage makes that impractical for most scenarios. For server use, the increased wear makes it cheaper to buy more computers and have them last longer. For application use, performance is not relevant enough to make it interesting. So really the only possible application is video games.
EDIT: before people accuse me of making a false dichotomy: I acknowledge that there are other uses for computers, but am unable to think of any others where the increased resource consumption would be worth it. Another thing: cell phones, the battery would drain much more quickly if everything were a webapp. Perhaps video game consoles will switch to such a JIT, though...
Not exactly Javascript but running untrusted code in a safe language in the kernel can give already performance improvements for some workloads due to avoiding system call overhead. It will be interesting to see where this goes in the future.
Any person in the situation where “financial security” based on government-issued currency is tenuous enough to make cryptocurrency an attractive option is either 1. doing something illegal, or 2. would be better off with access to the energy used.
there are 3 assertions here and they are all dumb.
first two aren't even about cryptocurrencies - every currency is more attractive than bolivar in Venezuela these days. i guess all those people are doing something illegal (surviving?) or will be better off with electricity (spoiler alert - they already have electricity).
the last one is even dumber and coming from supposedly somebody who should know their way around finances and yet quotes like the one you posted or this one:
> These are preposterous numbers. The imaginary value of these valueless bits of computer data represents enough money to change the course of the entire human race, for example eliminating all poverty or replacing the entire world’s 800 gigawatts of coal power plants with solar generation. Why? WHY???
just show how clueless he is.
there is a gigantic difference between not trusting and not having to trust.
and of course market cap numbers are preposterous. it's because they are meaningless and don't represent anything that exists in reality. not the amount of money that was spent acquiring those currencies, not the amount of money that can be made selling those currencies. it's meaningless numbers.
the alternative is math. when you sign a transaction and it gets included in the blockchain - i don't need to trust anyone that i got the money, i don't need to fear the transaction will be reversed due to some banking policies, i don't need to fear my account will be closed, etc.
so you're right, i have to trust math and i am ok with that.
no, that's not how it works. counterparty risk exists irrelevant of which financial system you operate in. you may be paying insurance to reduce the damages, you may sue them in court of law for breaking contract - all of that is irrelevant to financial system.
cryptocurrencies is simply different financial system where you don't need to trust middlemen.
it's really astonishing how complacent people have become towards trusting middlemen in financial systems. if you ignore the banking services that you're paying for either directly or indirectly via taxes - what is the bank doing for you? why should you pay for having a record in the database? why should bank be involved in facilitating or even censoring your transactions?
i'm worried about exactly the right player in this game.
“...[Bitcoin] also has some ideology built in – the assumption that giving national governments the ability to monitor flows of money in the financial system and use it as a form of law enforcement is wrong.”
Seems like the author I cited has it exactly right, then.
is this the way you concede your opinion expressed above was wrong? because you just jumped from "financial system is not a risk, counterparty is a risk" to "but what about transparency and law enforcement"..
They are the same problem, and not a jump at all. You even used the phrase “court of law” yourself.
Financial security depends on the ability to show who bad actors are and undo their transactions. I don't see how this is possible without some sort of middleman involving civil government. Yes, the current banking system has flaws, but they are not technological flaws and cannot be solved by technological means.
> You even used the phrase “court of law” yourself
yes, in context of resolving dispute with counterparty
> Financial security depends on the ability to show who bad actors are and undo their transactions
no, that's in my opinion the opposite of financial security. i feel financially secure when i know no government, bank or corporation fuck up can affect the state of my account.
> Yes, the current banking system has flaws, but they are not technological flaws and cannot be solved by technological means.
the flaw of current banking system is humans. humans are often corrupt, incompetent, unreliable and with malicious intent.
basing financial security on assumption that only honest, competent, reliable and well intentioned humans end up in positions of power is obviously wrong.
i don't hold that assumption and think that taking humans out of the loop is the best way to address flaws of existing system.
the fact that flaws are not technological in no way means technology can't solve them.
EDIT: before people accuse me of making a false dichotomy: I acknowledge that there are other uses for computers, but am unable to think of any others where the increased resource consumption would be worth it. Another thing: cell phones, the battery would drain much more quickly if everything were a webapp. Perhaps video game consoles will switch to such a JIT, though...