Cofounder of @hyle-org ➡️🇧🇪 EthCC

Do we even need blockchain at all?

@sylve has ✨ opinions ✨ , and we turned them into a blog post.

Let's talk 🧵 ⬇️

Hylé is the core layer for the modular ZK stack, a secure, decentralised, censorship-resistant settlement layer for all ZK proofs. https://www.hyle.eu/ /hyle

Most of the uses for blockchain mentioned in the Ethereum whitepaper have been implemented: tokens, voting, DeFi…

Which means we should probably start thinking about what comes next 👀

As @polynya says, blockchain is useful if you need all three of these characteristics:
• Peer-to-peer
• Strict global consensus
• Strict objectivity

This makes blockchains great for internet-native value: identity, money, and virtual assets. But that's about it.

IRL contracts are great because you can change them. A blockchain can only parse whatever is happening inside its system.

More from polynya:

This makes blockchains great for internet-native value: identity, money, and virtual assets. But that's about it.

IRL contracts are great because you can change them. A blockchain can only parse whatever is happening inside its system.

More from polynya: https://polynya.mirror.xyz/1OCMfgYf64p_CdFL7TAgEf2Zncld0Rx5LzmxBO%E2%80%A6

You do not need a strictly coherent system with peer-to-peer operations and a strict global consensus. You may just be better off with a centralized database!

We’ve had blockchain for 15 years now − and to the blockchain hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Every time we want trustlessness, we think « Yep, that goes onchain ».

We take what we’ve been doing for hundreds of years and throw it onchain.

But what if censorship resistance is not absolutely essential to you, and you’re happy with something centralized as long as you can ensure your operations have been properly handled?

Validity proofs and zero-knowledge proofs, in general, may be the answer. They give us trustlessness without decentralization. I can prove that I’ve made a bank transfer, and I don’t need strict global consensus to make this information accurate: I can just run a verifier.

ZKPs are most useful in three cases:
• Computing power imbalance
• Adversarial environment
• Anonymity

That makes a whole class of problems you can solve with zero-knowledge proofs!

Read more on our blog! https://blog.hyle.eu/opinion/do-we-need-blockchain-at-all

That's the end of the thread. Have a nice day, and be kind! 🧡

Blockchain has two main advantages:
• Trustlessness: when something works onchain, it generally means it’s irrevocably true
• Decentralization: while different conditions may apply depending on the blockchain, anyone can join the network and contribute their computing power