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#blockchain

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Gathering the people involved till now in this #fediMarket question to create some impulse and general discussion about this topic.
This is not a proposal but some thoughts and unfinished considerations, looking for some input or to become at least some output itself.

As @thomas pointed out there is #flohmarkt, as it looks like coded by @grindhold@23.social .

It has apparently the goal to be all the contrary to a centralized system but aims to be more like a local give away, sales and advertisement platform. Actualy it's not an auction like platform, witch is quite an interesting take. Still looking thru the ccc-Media video presentation trying to get a grip on it. As of now I didn't get the local restriction. Not sure if the restriction is mend to be by IP of the users, the IP of the platform of users or just some kind of instance restriction.

The #GNUtaler discussion in this topic points to the general issue not only about payment but also about the system of trust that can be or could be implemented.
It is and was quite interesting to see how the #ebay concept didn't catch up in Latin America because there was way to much fraud and the only thing that could catch up was some kind of sales platform like #mercadolibre that actually turned out to become some kind of national advertisement platform for professional sellers.

What did tho work in an astonishing way, and let's please leave aside for a moment some issues bitcoin does involve, is the concept #localbitcoins came up with, actually as well as the famous #Silkroad example. Sites that managed to create some kind of trustless exchange. The particularity of localbitcoins tho was that they invented a reference system where people actually even meet each other and backed up their existence by some how proving each others identity. Ultimately the reference and reputation system of localbitcoins, reputation out of completed transactions and comments about them, as well as in person verification, created a functional working environment, something that till today is looking for a match out there.

All these a real critical issues. And perhaps not only for trade but to a certain extent for our #socialWeb, our #fediVerse itself. On one hand we have commercial transactions that can involve fraud and on the other personal information that also can be exposed to fraud and worth. In our decentralized setup this is even somehow more complicated as fraudsters can restart at any given moment from anywhere else, while at the same time reputation on mid and long term should and can matter.
So, what we do have is on one hand the "real me" function implemented for example by mastodon, and on the other we do have the signing capabilities of blockchains themselves. In particular of #electrum wallets, a decentralized wallet system that was created and is implemented not only by bitcoin but a lot more blockchains that want to show off with a real simple decentralized #FOSS wallet system.
To get this straight, this is not about any coin or acquisition of any coin at all, but the simple technical availability of installing a simple long standing proven decentralized FOSS software that has the capability to sign or prove the correctness of any kind of text string. Nobody needs to have a single cent of a coin, or connect to anywhere, to create a wallet and with it a wallet address that than can sign a text. In other words, any wallet address is an ID that can't be impersonated without the respective password.
So, it doesn't matter where for example the ID "bc1qp8xla8me0ykkh5wzrvkjgtdnuma0galep9cedu" as a profile name shows up, or which profile claims to represent the ID "bc1qp8xla8me0ykkh5wzrvkjgtdnuma0galep9cedu", unless it is able to show off with a text, for example:
"I do have access to the signing keys for this ID" signed correctly with that wallet address, that profile could be considered an impostor.

To create show cases for this idea, for this concept, there is on one hand the friendica fediVerse site:
inversion.tupambae.com/
The profile "blockchain" for example uses the just mentioned specific ID:
inversion.tupambae.com/profile…
as some kind of "none human readable address".

Than there is the site:
1dhfsbbdpv4wshuyc6197nymcfeqqk…
The subdomain name itself is a first generation bitcoin address that has been used on the web and even if the capital letter detail is not in use, references are found for example by google.
That site hosts a project profile that again uses a bitcoin #SEGWIT address as an ID:
1dhfsbbdpv4wshuyc6197nymcfeqqk…
Actually the bc1 segwit system is not case senitive, in other words no capital letters in those ID's.
That profile itself is a reference to a mastodon profile that uses it to claim it's "real me" identity as "btc SEGWIT verified":
mastodon.uy/@tierranietos

Again there is not only no need for to involve bitcoins or cents of bitcoins (satoshis) in this. Even bitcoin itself doesn't have to be used, as there are lot's of electrum wallets out there. They do tho only verify texts signed with the same coin wallet. There is for example a #namecoin electrum wallet, a first generation coin invented to create a decentralized URL system, as well as there is for example a #faircoin electrum wallet. Considering all the altcoins created out there, faircoin at least is/was an interesting option that apparently failed to a certain extent due to the intent or claim by some in the community to be tradable on exchanges.
Again, this is not about any coin at all but about the fact that we do have simple unique ID's at hand we can verify and we can use to create reputation and or invent some system of trust and reference on desktop and mobile.

Than there is the consideration of guaranties and identities in the middle that allow escrow as implemented by localbitcoins.
This escrow issue would involve somehow coins/tokens, at least as some kind of guaranty until the transaction is finished. Be it as a general input to prove the seriousness of an involvement, an offer or even a publication. In terms of bitcoin itself, the second level segwit technology allows the creation of circles of trust without even publishing transactions to the main bitcoin #blockchain.

@MagickVibia@pagan.plus
@norezervationz@tootworld.social
@thisismissem @annewalk
@resl @NGIZero

I think I see an AI #bubble forming in my inbox

I'm getting daily daily pitches from AI startups I’ve never heard of, from PR peeps and agencies I’ve never worked with before.

I’ve even spotted a PR company that used to specialize in blockchain rebrand itself to de-emphasize all things crypto.

I’ve seen this before with the #metaverse, #blockchain, #virtualreality and several other waves of tech hype.

It seems to me that when a market heats up, many funded companies spend some of their money on hashtag#PR. Almost none of those companies survive. PR companies score some dumb money and grow, then shrink again.


Their PR isn't pretty because the startups don’t have a lot to say and their pitches tend to follow a formula of mentioning the VC that funded them, the fact their founder worked at Big Tech companies, and their intent to revolutionize/democratize something.

If I'm right, I'm in for about 2 years of this junk

Struggling for a Real Alternative

For the last 5 years conversations have been about, the #Fediverse, #Web3 and more recently the pushing of #mainstreaming into the #openweb native path. But despite this, the #fediverse is still a notable outlier in the digital landscape. This is in part because unlike the dominant tech trends, which emerge from Silicon Valley and the cross-Atlantic #dotcons agenda, the #fediverse is rooted in European ideals of decentralization, federation, and digital autonomy, it's a "native" #openweb […]

hamishcampbell.com/struggling-

hamishcampbell.comStruggling for a Real Alternative – Hamish Campbell
More from Hamish Campbell

#Techshit Hype – #NothingNew

The is nothing new to pointing out that our #fashionistas #mainstreaming crew push mess. Remember when drone deliveries were going to revolutionize shopping? When every major news outlet unthinkably reported that we’d have autonomous quadcopters dropping off toothpaste and Amazon boxes on our doorsteps? Or when 3D TVs were the future of entertainment, pushed so aggressively that manufacturers stopped making non-3D models for a while? Where are they now? Rotting covered in dust in […]

hamishcampbell.com/techshit-hy

hamishcampbell.com#Techshit Hype – #NothingNew – Hamish Campbell
More from Hamish Campbell

"According to a memo circulating among State Department staff and reviewed by WIRED, the Trump administration plans to rename the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as US International Humanitarian Assistance (IHA), and to bring it directly under the secretary of state. The document, on which Politico first reported, states that as part of its reorganization, the agency will “leverage blockchain technology” as part of its procurement process.

“All distributions would also be secured and traced via blockchain technology to radically increase security, transparency, and traceability,” the memo reads. “This approach would encourage innovation and efficiency among implementing partners and allow for more flexible and responsive programming focused on tangible impact rather than simply completing activities and inputs.”

The memo does not make clear what specifically this means—if it would encompass doing cash transfers in some kind of cryptocurrency or stablecoin, for example, or simply mean using a blockchain ledger to track aid disbursement."

#USA #USAID #Trump #Blockchain #Crypto #Cryptocurrencies #HumanitarianAid

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

Sign for USAID
Ars Technica · Trump administration’s blockchain plan for USAID is a real head-scratcherBy WIRED
Continued thread

“All distributions would also be secured and traced via blockchain technology to radically increase security, transparency, and traceability,” the memo reads. “This approach would encourage innovation and efficiency among implementing partners and allow for more flexible and responsive programming focused on tangible impact rather than simply completing activities and inputs.”

"According to a memo circulating among State Department staff [...], the Trump administration plans to rename the United States Agency for International Development (#USAID) as US International Humanitarian Assistance (IHA), and to bring it directly under the secretary of state. The document, on which Politico first reported, states that as part of its reorganization, the agency will 'leverage blockchain technology' as part of its procurement process."

wired.com/story/trump-administ

WIRED · The Trump Administration Wants USAID on the BlockchainBy Vittoria Elliott

So far, I have been delving into the #Web3 and #crypto debate only superficially, as the very few notions I got led me to abhor any kind of technology related to the #blockchain.

Since I started my new job at @dweb, though, I am finding myself revisiting my position by deepening my knowledge on the topic. I am mostly drawing the same conclusions—crypto is terrible—yet I am glad I am learning more also on what I am very critical about.

I am particularly thankful to @mai for writing this article, which I believe is a great starting point to develop an informed opinion.

Above all, as mai points out, nothing is all-bad, and there are for sure ideas and practices that can be learned (as cautionary tales in the worst case scenarios) even from problematic technologies, communities, and/or founders.

ffdweb.orgFFDW DWeb Digest: The Debate Over DWeb vs. Web3 & The Decentralized Elephant in the Room

Guys I've been thinking about this recently
So the telegraph has existed for a while, and became widespread in 1800s. Charles Babbage worked on the first mechanical #computers in the 1820s

What would be the earliest point in time in which a #Bitcoin like #Blockchain could've been made?

As I understand it all the system needs is a #network of computers each running a program that checks for transactions

I'm wondering if a different hash function was used it could be a lot simpler to implement into hardware, but if mechanical computing wasn't powerful enough for that the earliest might've been after WWII with the code breaking machines that the Allies invented

Any boosts would be greatly appreciated!

BRICS PAY

「 BRICS PAY will feature a decentralized Cross-border messaging system (DCMS), developed by scientists of the Center of Saint-Petersburg State University of Russia. DCMS operates, transparently, without any central owner or hub. Participants manage their own nodes, allegedly making the system resistant to external abuse, control or interference 」

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRICS_PA

en.wikipedia.orgBRICS PAY - Wikipedia

What is the best case that can be made that "AI & Blockchain" are things that go together? What's a product for which this combo makes a lot of sense?

(Yes, I can think of a lot of snarky explanations, too ... but given how many people and events use this combo, I hope there are some reasonable explanations for it, too?)

U.S. Housing Agency Considers Launching Crypto Experiment

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees billions in aid and insures more than a trillion dollars in mortgages, is pondering using the blockchain and a stablecoin. One HUD official derided it as “monopoly money.”

propublica.org/article/hud-con

ProPublicaU.S. Housing Agency Considers Launching Crypto Experiment
More from ProPublica