Uh, no, Devcon1 Did Not Live Up To Expectations Set By Vitalik

Bravenewcoin: “One of the most anticipated blockchain related events of the year, ÐΞVCON1 has lived up to expectations.” – URL



Don’t expecte a solution to the PoS problem, even if promised by Vitalik Buterin. Because PoS doesn’t work. It’s a dream. Won’t happen.

“Over the next two years, the Ethereum roadmap will include three further phases: Homestead, Metropolis, and Serenity.”

Two years? That’s an eternity in Bitcoin speed. When (if) Ethereum is ready for prime time it’s going up against a much more mature Bitcoin ecosystem, where developers can already today build upon a trusted Blockchain and use a wide-spread and commonly accepted and fungible currency (bitcoins).

And what about Oracles? Without them Ethereum is not useful for much more than for creating auditable betting games (which in itself can be a rather large development path, but it’s not the “world computer” the Ethereum founders have envisioned).

“Microsoft and ConsenSys are partnering to offer Ethereum Blockchain as a Service (EBaaS) on Microsoft Azure, so Enterprise clients and developers can have a single click cloud based blockchain developer environment.”

The Blockchain as a SaaS? Why? That is just SO funny. These people (Microsoft) do not understand that a Blockchain needs a lot of processing power to be safe. You can’t offer that on Azure as a service, who is going to pay for it? You need actual, real, processing power. A regular old centralized SQL database is much cheaper, faster, more efficient and provides more options for its user than “a blockchain”.

Some apps were also presented, but none can get around the problem of Ethereum’s unsafe foundations. For instance, Slock.it. Bravenewcoin says “With a Slock.it lock, you can rent your apartment without incurring the middleman costs. The unused bicycle in your shed gets a new lease of life by becoming available for rental” – huh, what now? Why would a blockchain magically create these properties? You might as well do the same thing with a regular old database…

Slock.it:s slogan is: “If you can lock it, we will let you rent, sell or share it.” That just about says it all (emphasize mine). If Slock is the centralized service letting you handle your property, then what’s the point in using a decentralized blockchain?



The article in question (linked above) contains a long run-down on apps and concepts presented and discussed at Devcon1 but avoids the basic problems on how to secure the Ethereum blockchain. However, when Ethereum fails many of these apps can rather easily and hastily switch to the main chain (Bitcoin’s) as they are built on a (confused) copy of Bitcoin.