Venkatesh Rao ☀️ pfp
Venkatesh Rao ☀️
@vgr
"Token" for blockchains should be like "packets" for general internet stuff. Nobody but geeks should really have to know about them. The lowest level retail user abstraction should be some token equivalent of "session" in relation to packets. By analogy to TCP vs. UDP, we're now in the UDP stage of "tokens" where the lack of hard guarantees on key behaviors means you can't quite abstract away from the low level but you get certain kinds of high performance analogous to "speed" for UDP. Maybe regular tokens are like UDP and stablecoins are like nascent TCP? Low slippage would be analogous to low packet loss visible to users
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nicholas 🧨 pfp
nicholas 🧨
@nicholas
where would the gains for the little guy be in such a system?
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Venkatesh Rao ☀️ pfp
Venkatesh Rao ☀️
@vgr
Wrong question. It’s about intelligently leveraged utility in applications, not about token speculation.
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nicholas 🧨 pfp
nicholas 🧨
@nicholas
PMF for blockchains thus far would disagree. There will be blockchain applications that are not speculative, but for now almost all are, and their speculative angle is precisely what makes them interesting to the precariat and illegible to overpaid silicon valley tradgineers.
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Venkatesh Rao ☀️ pfp
Venkatesh Rao ☀️
@vgr
We shall see.
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nicholas 🧨 pfp
nicholas 🧨
@nicholas
For what it's worth, I'm principally drawn to blockchains for the meaningfully decentralized applications, the permissionless global access, and the composability of ownerless turing machines, not the speculation. Above I am merely responding to the concept of abstracting tokens, which in this particularly exhuberant moment, remain the primary draw of "crypto" thus far. Even stablecoins, the other extant killer app, are a sort of inverse speculation—useful for holding wealth in countries where inflation is out of control, or transacting quickly across borders. However I am forever more interested in the loftier ambitions enabled by networks of permissionless and composable world computers. Are you interested in any Sci Fi currently, as a part of your _____ of Protocols work, or related thinking? I have been quite inspired by several classics I've been catching up with lately.
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