I'm realizing I already wrote a post called Magic Words three weeks ago.
The concepts of that post were much more generic regarding technology.
I'm looking to be a bit more specific this time around.
The concept of ownership is particularly interesting, especially when blockchain is concerned. When we are talking about DLT, the content of a message matters less than the person/entity that actually said it.
Bitcoin
For example, on the Bitcoin network if Bob declares his intent to give Sally 1 BTC, this is completely different than Victor saying he wants to give Sally 1 BTC. The content of the message was the same: 1 BTC is being transferred to Sally. However, the person declaring this statement completely alters the message entirely.
If either Bob or Victor do not have the money in their wallet, the transaction will be declined by the network. If the transaction is accepted by the network, 1 Bitcoin will be deduced from the person who made the statement. Again, the message and outcome of the transaction was the same, yet the person/wallet making the statement completely changes the interpretation and state of the network.
Adapting this concept to Hive.
Things get even weirder when we apply these concepts to our own platform. If I write a post and get rewarded $10, someone else can't just copy/paste what I wrote and automatically expect to get $10. Even if someone copies exactly what I wrote word for word, the same message is not conveyed to the network.
It is in this way that no one can actually plagiarize what I post to the blockchain. The only way one could do that is if they had access to my private posting key, which would become immediately obvious to me and I'd change it and let everyone know what happened.
Extending the idea to gaming.
I've made it no secret that I'm attempting to create a Cards Against Humanity clone using NFTs and provable ownership of cards. Although I haven't explained it super well on chain, this is the perfect example of literally owning combinations of words directly on the blockchain.
When I first started brainstorming the idea I thought to myself:
This is a stupid idea; someone can just copy what I'm doing and give it way for free.
It will be open source after all.
But then I realized that exact same mentality applies to every cryptocurrency including Bitcoin. Anyone can come along and fork the Bitcoin source-code and gift themselves as many Bitcoin as they want. Anyone could create a Bitcoin network with any ruleset imaginable.
That's why crypto is so amazing, it's not the code that has the value, but the network. If I can create a network of people who think owning CAH cards has value rather than booting up a free-to-play version, then it will have value. If someone tries to come along and make it free, that network will have no value, just like if someone tried to do it with Bitcoin.
Conclusion
Words are magic. Communication is the only thing elevating humanity above the rest of the animal kingdom. Without the ability to communicate, we wouldn't know anything or be able to build on top of our wealth of historic knowledge. No one would know 2+2=4 without being taught by another person. The foundation of education relies on consensus of information. Crypto is the ultimate extension of data consensus. Currency is the language of conveying value.
We are entering a potentially exciting and terrifying reality. Bitcoin is a hedge against the establishment, and its primed fundamentals could make us early adopters very wealthy with the ability to fund and upkeep our own projects & communities. At the same time, Bitcoin is a hedge against the legacy system; for it to do well in the long run the empire world needs to be turned upside down. One thing is certain: extreme disruption is visible on the horizon.
We didn't start the fire.
We didn't light it, we're just trying to survive it.
I absolutely agree that words are magic. The keys to the kingdom are inherent to the possessors thereof, like rights in people, through the identical mechanism: we create them by our existence.
However, there are caveats.
Maybe. The day the futures market for BTC came online is the day BTC price collapsed. This suggests that BTC is a tool of the legacy system that deceives them seeking to hedge. Even if BTC was originally intended and developed to be a hedge - which I also remain unconvinced of - it may have been acquired thereafter, or the miners may have been, or it may have been compromised otherwise.
It is notable that manipulation of commodity prices via futures markets does not require actually possessing the price manipulated commodities, but involves only making offers. This has been a feature of gold and silver markets for decades, revealed in serial prosecutions of criminal manipulations and fines for the same.
Crypto can potentially be a hedge of the legacy system, but whether it actually attains that capability or not is dependent on certain details, such as whether legacy players can control that network or not. PoS systems are inherently vulnerable to financial control, and through the futures market, mining, and etc., BTC is also.
Beaver pelts and goats remain secure from such manipulation, but only due to lack of interest by legacy players.
Diversification remains utterly necessary for any kind of financial security because of the potential for cooption by substantially staked malicious actors.
December 18, 2017
If Bitcoin continues to consistently double in value every year, the futures market does nothing but make Bitcoin more stable. Bitcoin was x13 higher than the doubling curve when CME launched their futures platform. Bitcoin was coming down anyway, just as it had done two time previous with no futures market.
I'm not going to pretend to fully understand how derivatives are used to manipulate the price of Precious Metals & other commodities... lucky for us Bitcoin is a lot easier to own and trade than metal, and acts more as a generator of value than a store of it.
Bitcoin was always meant to serve the elite. Now every country and corporation can come together and use it as the most trusted reserve on the planet. If ya can't beat um, join um.
It's hardly easier to buy and own BTC than PMs. I have bought them on Ebay below spot delivered into my hands. No keys necessary. I don't anymore because of my issues with banks, but it's easy as falling off a log.
I am not convinced that piggybacking my economic survival on the profiteering overlords will benefit me or people at all. Best to simply sever my economic activities completely in order to prevent becoming dependent later IMHO.
Your thriving is dependent on no one but you, and I have suffered terribly at the idle hands of banksters in the past such that I am absolutely averse to ever being so defrauded in the future. I hope no one else ever is, but I am confident many will be. Won't be me though.
Trusting in the legacy system that trustless BTC is supposed to make obsolete seems like falling into a trap to me, honestly.
I hope for your sake it's not.
People exist as a colony and no one can do anything of value by themselves. We trust millions of people every day without even thinking about it. How many people do you have to rely on just to pick up and pen and paper and write something down?
The trick is trusting the right people, and crypto makes that easier via monetizing all open source software and projects.
That being said, money is worthless if you can't buy anything with it. Of course if I had millions of dollars I wouldn't park it all in Bitcoin like an idiot. I'm looking to expand into solar, PM, greenhouses, 3D printing, etc, if I get the chance. We need to be able to make our own shit if we want to escape dependence.
Trust no one. Use available resources to make your own shit.
I could not agree more completely.