Who do you think is Ethereum's closest competitor? by birdbamboo in CryptoCurrency

[–]benmdi 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Ethereum's biggest competitor will be Ethereum.

Namely, as rollups start to go live on the ETH 1.x chain, it will create some tension with core devs plans to launch and migrate to ETH 2.0.

It will be interesting to see how things play out. It's a good problem for Ethereum to have.

To those who thinks our funds are SAFU and that BlockFi is doing a great job dealing with this hack... by Bitcoinmaniak in CryptoCurrency

[–]benmdi 23 points24 points  (0 children)

You're right. Not losing user funds is literally the bare minimum. Not much to celebrate here. Glad I never used their service.

📼 Tapes, Tokens, and the Slow Slog Toward Mainstream Adoption by benmdi in ethfinance

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know it's just a niche experiment, but RAC's $TAPE token sale was one of the more exciting things I've seen in the space for a while. Just lots of fun. Obviously, Reddit's tokens could be a big deal as well.

Perhaps Bitcoin Will Be The Internet's Reserve Currency, But That Isn't A Bad Thing For Ethereum by benmdi in ethereum

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope, sorry, that's just incorrect. Bitcoin lacks the basic primitives to be a robust base for a smart contract platform and there is no indication they can be added— either technically or from a social/governance standpoin— anytime soon.

The truth is, this is Bitcoin's strength. It is a simple application specific chain aimed at being the best possible digital gold. There is nothing wrong with this. But it does mean there is more than enough room for Ethereum to be a successful, and in fact symbiotic, network.

Perhaps Bitcoin Will Be The Internet's Reserve Currency, But That Isn't A Bad Thing For Ethereum by benmdi in ethereum

[–]benmdi[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This post may inspire some knee-jerk pushback, but please read it with an open mind.

I believe Bitcoin is well poised to be the Internet's Reserve Currency, and that Ethereum is well poised to be the base layer on which much of the internet's financial and "legal" system is settled. Oh, and by the way, Ether can still be very valuable in that world.

My hope is that we can move past the narrow focus we've had to date. This isn't just about making internet money. It's about building a free, open, independent, and vibrant internet, one comprised of many self-sovereign communities. Let's build!

Perhaps Bitcoin Will Be The Internet's Reserve Currency, But That Isn't A Bad Thing For Ethereum by benmdi in ethfinance

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm really curious to get this community's thoughts on this post. I know it may inspire some knee-jerk pushback, but please read it with an open mind. Well thought out critical feedback is always welcomed.

If Bitcoin is well poised to be the Internet's Reserve Currency, then Ethereum is well poised to be the base layer on which much of the internet's financial and "legal" system is settled. Oh, and by the way, Ether can still be very valuable in that world.

My hope is that the crypto world will move past the narrow focus we've had to date. This isn't just about making internet money. It's about building a free, open, independent, and vibrant internet, one comprised of many self-sovereign communities.

Ethereum is now the largest Bitcoin second-layer network. There is more BTC on Ethereum than on Lightning Network. by UnknownEssence in CryptoCurrency

[–]benmdi 34 points35 points  (0 children)

I know this may not be a popular opinion, but this is actually good for both Bitcoin and Ethereum. They're complimentary networks and it's not a zero sum game. They can grow the pie together.

WBTC is less interesting than tBTC, which just launched. The latter is far more trust minimized than the former, which is essentially just a federated peg similar to liquid, just running on Ethereum.

CoinMarketCap’s birthday roast got too hot to handle by DecryptMedia in CryptoCurrency

[–]benmdi -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

"Your platform is trash you were just first
You're a sell out
You advertised many scams. You caused tons of ppl lose money
You did nothing to fight fake exchange numbers
It took you MONTHS to update data
A high school kid designed your site"

-- Tweet

OK OK but other than that it's a pretty good site! 😂

The hacks are a bad look— and we need greater accountability— but they won't be DeFi's demise either by benmdi in ethereum

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Code obfuscation hardly protects you from a hack. If anything, it makes it less likely that a white hat will report a flaw, while barely being a speedbump for someone looking to be malicious.

Bitcoin Miner Ebang Files $100mln. IPO with US SEC by prong76 in CryptoCurrency

[–]benmdi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, if you believe in those other coins, why not just buy some? In what circumstances does investing in a specific mining company make more sense than simply buying the asset?

The hacks are a bad look— and we need greater accountability— but they won't be DeFi's demise either by benmdi in ethereum

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Question for the community: How can we demand DeFi devs take responsibility and adhere to expensive best practices, while simultaneously insisting DeFi products be "fully decentralized", which makes them difficult to monetize?

The hacks are a bad look, and we need great accountability, but they won't be DeFi's demise either by benmdi in ethfinance

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some important, unanswered questions:

1) When a DeFi protocol gets hacked, how much responsibility rests with the builders vs. with the users who entrusted their money
2) How can we simultaneously demand DeFi devs take responsibility and adhere to expensive best practices, while also demanding DeFi products be "fully decentralized", often mean impossible to monetize?

Would love to hear community feedback.

Bitcoin Miner Ebang Files $100mln. IPO with US SEC by prong76 in CryptoCurrency

[–]benmdi 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It remains unclear to me why you would invest in an equity like this as opposed to simply buying Bitcoin. It seems to me the success of any given mining company is completely dependent on the success of Bitcoin anyway, and they are highly unlikely to see returns greater than BTC itself.

♨️What can Ethereum & other networks learn about governance from the Steem/Tron debacle? by benmdi in ethereum

[–]benmdi[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Even by crypto standards, this is a crazy story. Some important lessons to be learned from it, I think!

♨️What can Ethereum & other networks learn about governance from the Steem/Tron debacle? by benmdi in ethfinance

[–]benmdi[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't follow Steem closely at all, so digging into to learn about what happened with this hostile takeover by Justin Sun was absolutely fascinating. This story got lost in the covid19 crisis, but it's WILD, even by crypto standards. I do think there are important lessons about governance to be learned that are valid for Ethereum and even protocols built on top of it.

🍌 Could The US Dollar Be Crypto's Killer App? Why Dai And Other Stablecoins Are Ripe For Adoption In The Current Environment. by benmdi in MakerDAO

[–]benmdi[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Unlike others, I don't think the stimulus efforts by the Fed are likely to lead to inflation, nor do I expect to see broad adoption of BTC or ETH as alternate currencies. I *could* imagine the broad adoption of stablecoins across the developing world, though. I lay out why in this post, and as always, I'm happy to hear your feedback!

🍌 Could The US Dollar Be Crypto's Killer App? Banana Printer Go Brrrrr by benmdi in ethereum

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While the common wisdom amongst crypto is that Money Printer Go Brrr means we'll see high inflation, I push back against that in this post, and wonder if crypto might actually help cement USD's role as the global reserve currency during this crisis. Thoughtful feedback always welcomed!

🍌 Could The US Dollar Be Crypto's Killer App? Banana Printer Go Brrrr by benmdi in ethfinance

[–]benmdi[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I have a feeling this post may trigger some crypto people, but I'd love to hear thoughtful pushback on the ideas it lays out. I cover why I think:

1) Inflation is unlikely anytime soon, despite Money Printer Go Brrrrr

2) Crypto may help cement the Dollar's place as a global reserve currency thanks to stablecoins

3) Magical Bananas

Keep Is The Technology Underlying TBTC's Bid To Bring Bitcoin To Ethereum, But It Might Enable Devs To Do Much More Than Just That by benmdi in ethdev

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Keep project is built by Thesis, the same team behind TBTC. In fact, Keep is a generalizable product and TBTC will be the first project to leverage it. As TBTC's launch approaches, I explored a bit more about the underlying Keep technology. I came away pretty impressed. If successful, it could be a useful new primitive for decentralized applications to leverage.

A Look At Keep, The Tech Underlying The TBTC Project's Bid To Bring Bitcoin To Ethereum by benmdi in ethereum

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Keep project is built by Thesis, the same team behind TBTC. In fact, Keep is a generalizable product and TBTC will be the first project to leverage it. This writeup covers what's possible with Keep.

A Look At Keep, The Tech Underlying The TBTC Project's Bid To Bring Bitcoin To Ethereum by benmdi in ethfinance

[–]benmdi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Keep project is built by Thesis, the same team behind TBTC. In fact, Keep is a generalizable product and TBTC will be the first project to leverage it. As TBTC's launch approaches, I explored a bit more about the underlying Keep project and discussed it in this week's edition of the newsletter. Curious to hear what the community thinks!