this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
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[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Is there really any utility for blockchain and NFTs?

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The hilarious thing about blockchain is that the core concept is actively making the whole thing worse. The matrix protocol is sort of essentially blockchain without the decentralized ledger part, and it's so vastly superior in every single way.

NFTs just show how fundamentally dumb blockchains are, if you skip the decentralized ledger bit then you never need to invent NFT functionality in the first place..

[–] Backslash@feddit.de 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

is sort of essentially blockchain without the decentralized ledger part

So a [Merkle tree](http://www..com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_tree)?

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 11 months ago

i'm not sure whether matrix uses that, what i'm talking about is how it does the things everyone finds neat about blockchains without the inherent downsides like massive power usage and EVERYONE having to replicate the ENTIRE ledger.

i know IPFS uses merkle trees though, and hilariously blockchains largely rely on that to actually store any significantly sized data.

[–] TwilightKiddy@programming.dev 9 points 11 months ago

Well, if you stop listening to people who think it's a way to get really rich really fast (which it obviously isn't), cryptocurrencies are quite useful. International transfers are so much cheaper and easier with them.

[–] lurch@sh.itjust.works 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yes, you could, for example, use it to manage who is allowed to park in a garage, anonymously. The owner of a parking spot NFT can unlock the door from the outside. Stuff like that.

However, it's also possible to do that with a small web application. Just payments and transfer of the parking spots are less free and it's not decentralized.

[–] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The proton vpn people are either using or working on using block chain as a sort of email verification. Iirc it won't have any cost or change in usage to the consumer, just an added layer of security. I'm not smart enough to understand how but it sounds neat.

[–] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I may have misread, Its not clear to me if it'll be a staple of their free email service or will be added as part of their paid subscription to all their services but it still sounds neat. It very well could be bullshit but I'm interested in learning more.

https://www.tomsguide.com/news/proton-mail-to-use-blockchain-to-verify-recipients-email-addresses