I think blockchain is the 90s tech bubble all over again.

[KB]

Bitcoin hysteria is leading any company that just mentions blockchain or cryptocurrencies to go through the roof. This reminds me of the .com days when all you needed was a website and your company was worth millions.

A couple of fascinating examples. Its amazing. It reminds me a bit of the hype around medical marijuana companies and 3D printing companies which are both long gone.


A brand new company buys another company that created its own digital coin called ziddu coin. The new companies stock price is up 400% on the news.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3318659-longfin-latest-name-boom-blockchain


Overstock.com rises in price just by mentioning it accepts bitcoin.

https://investorplace.com/2017/12/bitcoin-bubble-based-rally-overstock-com-inc-ostk-stock/

A defunct social network renames itself "RIOT blockchain" buys into some pieces of bitcoin middlemen and its stock price flies higher.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4131601-blockchain-company-riot-may-leave-laughing


Updated with a new story.

Cigar company renames themselves and decides to mine bitcoin. Stock price goes up 2000%.

https://officechai.com/stories/rich-cigars-stock-bitcoin-cryptocurrency/#sthash.WMK71zyo.dpbs

 

[jpiniero]

Worse than that, it's Tulip mania again. Goldman Sachs must be licking their chops.

 

[whm1974]

Worse than that, it's Tulip mania again. Goldman Sachs must be licking their chops.

It's far worse then the Tulip Mania ever was, at least you got pretty flowers to look at.

 

[Anubis]

ELI5

WTF is blockchain

 

[pete6032]

ELI5

WTF is blockchain

Blockchain is a list of all the transactions that have ever happened in that currency. In cryptocurrency the blockchain can be viewed and downloaded by anyone.

 

[luv2liv]

makes absolutely no sense how fake money can become real money.
Bitcoin reeks of scam when i found out the creator Satoshi has like 1 million coins in his pocket. no coincident im sure.

 

[zinfamous]

Worse than that, it's Tulip mania again. Goldman Sachs must be licking their chops.

yep. it's closer to tulip mania than anything else, imo.

 

[zinfamous]

makes absolutely no sense how fake money can become real money.
Bitcoin reeks of scam when i found out the creator Satoshi has like 1 million coins in his pocket. no coincident im sure.

I don't think that's evidence of it being scammy, at all. Further, I don't see how crypto currency is scammy. Satoshi simply has tons of them because he invented the algorithm and was literally the first guy mining and so had the advantage of grabbing the least complex chains...as far as I understand. But that wasn't the intent, really, and this current speculation-based value has nothing to do with the reasons the blockchain was invented.

This is pure insane speculation and the correction is going to be epicly entertaining...I mean, for those of us on the outside that don't stand to lose millions or even billions in a matter of seconds.

But it's fine to be envious of those that were lucky to get in early and wise/seemingly foolish to hold on for so long, withstanding the earlier run-ups.

 

[pete6032]

Yeah not sure how it's a scam. Satoshi has a ton of bitcoins but its not Satoshi that gave them value. He just happened to write the source code.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

I don't think that's evidence of it being scammy, at all. Further, I don't see how crypto currency is scammy. Satoshi simply has tons of them because he invented the algorithm and was literally the first guy mining and so had the advantage of grabbing the least complex chains...as far as I understand. But that wasn't the intent, really, and this current speculation-based value has nothing to do with the reasons the blockchain was invented.

This is pure insane speculation and the correction is going to be epicly entertaining...I mean, for those of us on the outside that don't stand to lose millions or even billions in a matter of seconds.

But it's fine to be envious of those that were lucky to get in early and wise/seemingly foolish to hold on for so long, withstanding the earlier run-ups.

Yeah, but can that crash please come soon? I'm sick of people that think they are millionaires - they need to brought back to reality tomorrow.

 

[Printer Bandit]

Blockchain is the the most important invention in the last 500 years.

https://hackernoon.com/why-everyone...-invention-in-the-last-500-years-c90b0151c169

You are alive to see it, but you don't even see it.

 

[zinfamous]

Blockchain is the the most important invention in the last 500 years.

https://hackernoon.com/why-everyone...-invention-in-the-last-500-years-c90b0151c169

You are alive to see it, but you don't even see it.

such tech nerds are woefully naive of the actual world around them.

antibiotics and vaccines trump all of those piddly inventions, with only the printing press coming within orbital distance of such significance. sorry, your little human-centric tangential technology is merely a shit in the wind of geologic time.

 

[KIAman]

There are a lot of amazing things you can do using the blockchain technology but I wouldn't call it the most important invention in 500 years, wow.

 

[ultimatebob]

ELI5

WTF is blockchain

Blockchain is the cool new buzzword for startups that use the payment verification technology from cryptocurrency.

Saying that "we're the Uber for" is getting stale now that Uber is crashing in popularity, so now they need to find a way to get "Blockchain" into their sales pitches to get that VC money.

 

[purbeast0]

makes absolutely no sense how fake money can become real money.
Bitcoin reeks of scam when i found out the creator Satoshi has like 1 million coins in his pocket. no coincident im sure.

It does make sense though in the grand scheme of things. The US dollar isn't even backed by gold anymore. And you'd be naive to think that physical paper currency is going to be around and the primary means for a long time in the future. Everyone is already going digital for the most part. You can pay now without even having to swipe a credit card. You can wave your phone next to a machine and have your items paid for.

 

[whm1974]

Waste of money, time, computer resources, and power if you ask me.

 

[Jon-T]

It will lead us into a new era!

http://www.doctorpreneurs.com/blockchain-future-healthcare/

https://steemit.com/blockchain/@cryptotequila/blockchain-vs-childhood-cancer

http://www.the-blockchain.com/2017/...chnologies-blockchain-ecosystem-arna-panacea/

https://www.newscientist.com/articl...o-put-political-power-in-the-hands-of-voters/


It's either a cure for cancer or a pump and dump.

Me too dumb to understand. I'm gona smack some rocks together to make Fire.

 

[Viper GTS]

The important thing is to separate blockchain from Bitcoin. Blockchain technology has massive potential - it won't be the greatest invention probably even of the last decade (off the top of my head CRISPR) but it has extraordinary possibility and isn't going away.

Bitcoin, on the other hand is going to flame out epically. Ethereum is slightly more worthwhile since you can build an actual product on it but none of these in their current form will ever replace money as we know it.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional or they simply really want it to succeed since they're going to be part of the new tech bro ruling class. Does anyone really think the general public is going to allow the winklevoss twins or whoever collects them all to be their new overlords? Not a chance in hell.

There are plenty of other really good reasons but that one I think is the biggest problem facing Bitcoin. For it to replace 'fiat' (quotes due to the pejorative nature of how it gets thrown around in coin talk) it needs to be accepted by the masses, not just the ones that were circle jerking it in 2009. It's never going to come close.

Viper GTS

 

[whm1974]

The important thing is to separate blockchain from Bitcoin. Blockchain technology has massive potential - it won't be the greatest invention probably even of the last decade (off the top of my head CRISPR) but it has extraordinary possibility and isn't going away.

Bitcoin, on the other hand is going to flame out epically. Ethereum is slightly more worthwhile since you can build an actual product on it but none of these in their current form will ever replace money as we know it.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional or they simply really want it to succeed since they're going to be part of the new tech bro ruling class. Does anyone really think the general public is going to allow the winklevoss twins or whoever collects them all to be their new overlords? Not a chance in hell.

There are plenty of other really good reasons but that one I think is the biggest problem facing Bitcoin. For it to replace 'fiat' (quotes due to the pejorative nature of how it gets thrown around in coin talk) it needs to be accepted by the masses, not just the ones that were circle jerking it in 2009. It's never going to come close.

Viper GTS

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the masses call for these coins to be made illegal due to mining them causing shortages of power and increases in power bills.

 

[Arcadio]

I'm always amazed at the lack of enthusiasm for a revolutionary invention in a technology forum. Yes, I think the bubble will pop, but to think it's all a useless scam just means that you haven't understood the concept and it's applications.

 

[purbeast0]

The important thing is to separate blockchain from Bitcoin. Blockchain technology has massive potential - it won't be the greatest invention probably even of the last decade (off the top of my head CRISPR) but it has extraordinary possibility and isn't going away.

Bitcoin, on the other hand is going to flame out epically. Ethereum is slightly more worthwhile since you can build an actual product on it but none of these in their current form will ever replace money as we know it.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional or they simply really want it to succeed since they're going to be part of the new tech bro ruling class. Does anyone really think the general public is going to allow the winklevoss twins or whoever collects them all to be their new overlords? Not a chance in hell.

There are plenty of other really good reasons but that one I think is the biggest problem facing Bitcoin. For it to replace 'fiat' (quotes due to the pejorative nature of how it gets thrown around in coin talk) it needs to be accepted by the masses, not just the ones that were circle jerking it in 2009. It's never going to come close.

Viper GTS

I'm pretty sure many people also thought paper wasn't going to replace metals as money, and plastic wasn't going to replace paper as money, but both of those changed money big time.

 

[urvile]

Blockchain has a lot of uses outside of bitcoin. It's very cool technology and has a lot of applications. The company I work for recently hired a block chain engineer to do research into applying it to transactions that are very different from bitcoin. Personally I don't have an in depth knowledge of it but I can see the potential.

 

[Yakk]

I'm always amazed at the lack of enthusiasm for a revolutionary invention in a technology forum. Yes, I think the bubble will pop, but to think it's all a useless scam just means that you haven't understood the concept and it's applications.

I would say there needs to be MORE skeptics, like any good science needs to be rigorously challenged before being accepted. Or like any application needs people to debug them. The more debuggers/skeptics there are, the better end result.

So far I'd say it's working quite well.

 

[Homerboy]

Blockchain is the the most important invention in the last 500 years.

https://hackernoon.com/why-everyone...-invention-in-the-last-500-years-c90b0151c169

You are alive to see it, but you don't even see it.

How could it be more important than the PC or the Internet that gave it birth? That makes no sense.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'm always amazed at the lack of enthusiasm for a revolutionary invention in a technology forum. Yes, I think the bubble will pop, but to think it's all a useless scam just means that you haven't understood the concept and it's applications.

The specific cryptocurrency "Bitcoin" (and its forks) is a useless scam. Outside of the darkweb it has close to zero traction aside from a massive speculation bubble.

Financial institutions are collaborating on their own shared ledgers and creating a more efficient cryptocurrency to serve their own needs. Bitcoin is not going to be the coin used for the billions of dollars in transfers between banks.

"Bitcoin" is not a company and owns no patents or other IP, so no one is going to make money licensing "the bitcoin technology" to companies. Also, Communications of the ACM just ran a nice article laying out how the underlying pieces are prior art, just packaged together in a new way. There's some innovation, but not digital currency, not hashing, not distributed ledgers, not proof of work. All already existed.