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Ask HN: Does the blockchain improve any parts of the existing tech stack by 10x?

3 points by aryxns ↗ HN
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. The blockchain is fundamentally architectural innovation. And to me, the core value is in finding ways to improve existing software systems using this new distributed architecture.

Think of products like https://fleek.co/

A few ideas that fascinate me: 1. Better database for specific industries (financial data?) - Core value is not relying on third-party servers by using IPFS. 2. Better authentication (the in-browser wallet auth is smooth!) 3. Potentially a better way to host critical code functions on smart contracts w/ Oracles (since someone can break your hosted code, but code on a contract is hard to modify and break.)

I wonder what other devs think.

23 comments

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Klonoar
No.
aryxns
Since you're big on privacy, do you see potential value in better user data systems created on distributed networks?

Probably along these lines: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/7163223

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wmf
There's a lot of cool privacy stuff you can do with zero-knowledge tech (not necessarily blockchain) but the biggest problem is that companies can just... not adopt that tech because they'd make less money.
aryxns
i see. that's a game theory lens.

while it probably makes sense for certain consumer data companies, do you think about cases where poor data security/privacy actually harms the company? eg: when sensitive company data gets leaked during third-party interactions?

wmf
Then you get into the fact that the tech is really complex and slow so the cost doesn't offset the benefits.
aryxns
well, bringing the cost down is probably just a matter of time, isn't it?

what i think is more important is finding form factors of using zK that make sense to enterprises. from outgoing api calls to file sharing, the scope of vulnerabilities is extremely large.

john_the_writer
I stopped believing in privacy when the Canadian Gov froze bitcoin of protesters.

Regardless of my stance on the issue, it IMHO invalidated most of what bitcoin stood for (in my mind)

tempera
Bitcoin cannot be frozen by governments, if you control your private key. It's math.
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al2o3cr 

    Better database for specific industries (financial data?) -
    Core value is not relying on third-party servers by using IPFS
So instead of relying on a third-party with a contract, they'd instead rely on a peer-to-peer network with no SLA? LOL

    Better authentication (the in-browser wallet auth is smooth!)
Oh, it's plenty smooth alright - seems like a day doesn't go by without somebody's apes getting snatched with just a phishing email. Nope.

    Potentially a better way to host critical code functions on smart contracts w/ Oracles
ROFL, see how THAT turned out for all the DeFi projects that have been blown up with either oracle exploits or misconfigured smart contracts this year.
aryxns
alright, I don't fully disagree with this sentiment.

on (2), isn't that an application-layer fix? i.e build better/more secure wallets.

the underlying identity system with addresses seems useful is what I meant. I like to think of interesting access control systems that can be built upon this. using a wallet's ownership data/activity, you can assign access/rights.

wheresmycraisin
It has incredible potential according to all the 12 year olds financial advisors of tiktok. Please go waste your life trying to solve problems with crypto and leave the rest of us alone.
aryxns
LOL - can't disrespect the 12 yo who just told me to buy AlphaGenMoon Coin to 100x my investment in 10 days.
sp332
It's an interesting tech demo for a very niche use case: when you need both a decentralized database and a way to avoid editing history (e.g. "double-spending"). All of the uses you mentioned only need one or the other. If you need to keep track of transactions like a ledger, it's trivial to use a normal, centralized database with a published transaction log for trust-free audits. That gets you protection against double-spending without any of the inefficiency of blockchain tech. For the other side, you can have something like bittorrent or IPFS (which is not blockchain tech, BTW) where there is no central gatekeeper, but rewriting history doesn't matter. There's just darn little in that intersection of the Venn diagram.
aryxns
care to elaborate more on what you see does exist at that intersection?
tempera
Blockchain is a buzzword, used to trick VCs to pour money in shady bizs.

Blockchain is only good for what Bitcoin does, namely, a distributed ledger for unstoppable, permissionless transactions between peers.

Without a trusted third-party acting as a middle-man.

Is that not enough?

guilhas
I would say there is a lot of potential. I think in ten years every enterprise product, and major websites will have some kind of blockchain associated

Crypto, reputation, hosting, authentication, spam, advertising, captcha, auditing, consensus... Blockchain is more than just crypto