Ben Green on Warpcast

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Do we even need blockchain at all? @sylve has ✨ opinions ✨ , and we turned them into a blog post. Let's talk 🧵 ⬇️

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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

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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 👀

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

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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

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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!

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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.

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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?

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That's the whole Mina pitch isn't it? Just keep the proof that some externally hosted data is correct and you don't need a blockchain.

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Mina supports their native proof system Kimchi. If you want to use any other proof system or zkVM you will need to "prove your proof" into a kimchi-compatible proof, adding overhead and complexity. We aim at supporting all proof systems to accomodate all use cases.

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