<story><title>Fidelity launches trade execution and custody for cryptocurrencies</title><url>https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/15/fidelity-launches-trade-execution-and-custody-for-cryptocurrencies.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>corv</author><text>The comments reflect the (perceived) state of the technology.&lt;p&gt;One has to admit that the reputation of the entire space has been tarnished by snake oil salesmen. For some historical context it is worth looking at countless examples such as the Railway Mania[1] of the 1840s or the more recent Dot-Com bubble[2]. For more depth one can read Mackay[3].&lt;p&gt;Some of the most promising advancements in payment channels were only published as papers in 2016[4] and are understandably still being implemented. If anything the speed at which enthusiasts are willing to deploy experimental software at their own risk is breathtaking.&lt;p&gt;Regarding the environmental impact of the Bitcoin network, while being widely derided for its energy use, it is in fact using less electricity than the major credit card networks. It is also using less energy than global gold mining. There are ways to reduce consumption should a consensus accept the tradeoffs.&lt;p&gt;The term &amp;quot;Blockchain&amp;quot; as it is currently used often refers to private chains which are in vogue with corporate stakeholders. This appears to be a solution in search of a problem–I have not been able to identify a compelling use case here either.&lt;p&gt;Most ICOs are outright scams.&lt;p&gt;It is truly unfortunate that promising advancements of micropayments, smart contracts and the world&amp;#x27;s closet thing to an incorruptible currency are lumped together with so much rubbish.&lt;p&gt;[1]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Railway_Mania&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Railway_Mania&lt;/a&gt;
[2]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Dot-com_bubble&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Dot-com_bubble&lt;/a&gt;
[3]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Extraordinary_Popular_Delusion...&lt;/a&gt;
[4]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lightning.network&amp;#x2F;lightning-network-paper.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lightning.network&amp;#x2F;lightning-network-paper.pdf&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>gotocake</author><text>The comments seem to honestly reflect the state of the technology, its environmental impact, the annoyance factor of its extreme adherents, the total lack of a really compelling non-ideological or criminal use case after more than a decade, and a deflating bubble. The insane gulf between the promises made by the “every day brings a new breakthrough” crowd and the reality of ICO’s and Bitcoin is vast, and hard to ignore. Blockchain is a neat idea, but presently it is used in ways that are far from compelling, and I’m yet to hear of a non-hypothetical application that could change that (apart from buying drugs, or money laundering).&lt;p&gt;It’s also hard to forget the last few years of relentless evangelism, which was equal parts annoying and ethically challenged.</text></item><item><author>corv</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m disappointed of HN comments whenever cryptocurrency topics come up.&lt;p&gt;People are forgetting that Nakamoto Consensus is a legitimate CS breakthrough concerning the Byzantine Generals Problem.&lt;p&gt;Is it acceptable to bash every stock in the Nasdaq just because a second tech bubble popped and some SV companies are behaving unscrupulously?&lt;p&gt;Frenzied speculation brought about inadvertent side effects but these should not detract from the fact that significant advancements are continuously being researched and implemented.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>timmaxw</author><text>&amp;gt; using less electricity than the major credit card networks&lt;p&gt;I googled around for &amp;quot;Bitcoin vs. VISA energy consumption&amp;quot;; the only argument I found in favor of VISA using more is here [0]. This compares Bitcoin to the entire global banking system, including the cost of e.g. keeping the lights on at physical bank branches. It very approximately guesstimates that the entire global banking system requires ~100 TWh&amp;#x2F;year, compared to Bitcoin&amp;#x27;s ~30 TWh&amp;#x2F;year [1].&lt;p&gt;For comparison: all data centers worldwide combined use about ~400 TWh&amp;#x2F;year [2]. I very much doubt that the credit card networks account for 7% of all data center energy consumption.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;hackernoon.com&amp;#x2F;the-bitcoin-vs-visa-electricity-consumption-fallacy-8cf194987a50&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;hackernoon.com&amp;#x2F;the-bitcoin-vs-visa-electricity-consu...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;arstechnica.com&amp;#x2F;tech-policy&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;bitcoins-insane-energy-consumption-explained&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;arstechnica.com&amp;#x2F;tech-policy&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;bitcoins-insane-...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.forbes.com&amp;#x2F;sites&amp;#x2F;forbestechcouncil&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;15&amp;#x2F;why-energy-is-a-big-and-rapidly-growing-problem-for-data-centers&amp;#x2F;#701c2d815a30&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.forbes.com&amp;#x2F;sites&amp;#x2F;forbestechcouncil&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;15&amp;#x2F;wh...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Fidelity launches trade execution and custody for cryptocurrencies</title><url>https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/15/fidelity-launches-trade-execution-and-custody-for-cryptocurrencies.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>corv</author><text>The comments reflect the (perceived) state of the technology.&lt;p&gt;One has to admit that the reputation of the entire space has been tarnished by snake oil salesmen. For some historical context it is worth looking at countless examples such as the Railway Mania[1] of the 1840s or the more recent Dot-Com bubble[2]. For more depth one can read Mackay[3].&lt;p&gt;Some of the most promising advancements in payment channels were only published as papers in 2016[4] and are understandably still being implemented. If anything the speed at which enthusiasts are willing to deploy experimental software at their own risk is breathtaking.&lt;p&gt;Regarding the environmental impact of the Bitcoin network, while being widely derided for its energy use, it is in fact using less electricity than the major credit card networks. It is also using less energy than global gold mining. There are ways to reduce consumption should a consensus accept the tradeoffs.&lt;p&gt;The term &amp;quot;Blockchain&amp;quot; as it is currently used often refers to private chains which are in vogue with corporate stakeholders. This appears to be a solution in search of a problem–I have not been able to identify a compelling use case here either.&lt;p&gt;Most ICOs are outright scams.&lt;p&gt;It is truly unfortunate that promising advancements of micropayments, smart contracts and the world&amp;#x27;s closet thing to an incorruptible currency are lumped together with so much rubbish.&lt;p&gt;[1]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Railway_Mania&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Railway_Mania&lt;/a&gt;
[2]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Dot-com_bubble&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Dot-com_bubble&lt;/a&gt;
[3]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Extraordinary_Popular_Delusion...&lt;/a&gt;
[4]&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lightning.network&amp;#x2F;lightning-network-paper.pdf&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lightning.network&amp;#x2F;lightning-network-paper.pdf&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>gotocake</author><text>The comments seem to honestly reflect the state of the technology, its environmental impact, the annoyance factor of its extreme adherents, the total lack of a really compelling non-ideological or criminal use case after more than a decade, and a deflating bubble. The insane gulf between the promises made by the “every day brings a new breakthrough” crowd and the reality of ICO’s and Bitcoin is vast, and hard to ignore. Blockchain is a neat idea, but presently it is used in ways that are far from compelling, and I’m yet to hear of a non-hypothetical application that could change that (apart from buying drugs, or money laundering).&lt;p&gt;It’s also hard to forget the last few years of relentless evangelism, which was equal parts annoying and ethically challenged.</text></item><item><author>corv</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m disappointed of HN comments whenever cryptocurrency topics come up.&lt;p&gt;People are forgetting that Nakamoto Consensus is a legitimate CS breakthrough concerning the Byzantine Generals Problem.&lt;p&gt;Is it acceptable to bash every stock in the Nasdaq just because a second tech bubble popped and some SV companies are behaving unscrupulously?&lt;p&gt;Frenzied speculation brought about inadvertent side effects but these should not detract from the fact that significant advancements are continuously being researched and implemented.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>minikomi</author><text>&amp;gt;  the Bitcoin network, while being widely derided for its energy use, it is in fact using less electricity than the major credit card networks&lt;p&gt;Isn&amp;#x27;t this kind of like comparing a moped to a big rig in terms of transaction rate?</text></comment>