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Chinese President Xi Jinping Calls Blockchain a 'Breakthrough' Technology (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on from the next-big-bet dept.

Even as cryptocurrencies continue to draw skepticism from some, at least the underlying technology, blockchain, has found yet another high-profile admirer: Chinese President. Xi Jinping said in a speech this week that blockchain has "breakthrough" applications. From a report: "A new generation of technology represented by artificial intelligence, quantum information, mobile communications, internet of things and blockchain is accelerating breakthrough applications," he said Monday, according to a translation of his remarks. Xi also emphasized the need for China to focus on technological development and become the global center of science and innovation.

82 comments

  1. This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It would allow all transactions to be tracked forever. And currency flight which is an area china has been cracking down on greatly would be impossible and then if they caught you they could retroactively go through and fuck you for everything you've ever done. Its a communist / fascist states dream technology. There is no way they'd use an anonymous wallet, hell it probably just have all your detailed wired into it and then have that drawable from an RFID chip injected into you at birth.

    1. Re:This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in addition, outsourcing the transaction processing to 'miners' effectively makes in the People's Ledger, where each and every person gets to contribute to the state by giving them the use of their device. Fit's perfectly with Chinese Communism (TM)

    2. Re:This is all diversion by ole_timer · · Score: 1

      he said block chain, not crypto currency...

      --
      nothing to see here - move along
    3. Re:This is all diversion by zlives · · Score: 2

      do the math...

    4. Re:This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, there are more applications of block chain than inefficient payment schemes. In the context of this public statement, block chain is just another buzz word. Unless his last gig was in security, it should be assumed that the president of any country doesn't know what he's talking about when he says block chain. And maybe you don't either.

      This isn't tech news, it is a purely political announcement.

    5. Re:This is all diversion by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      China is nominally communist at best these days. The central government still likes to exert a lot of authority, but they're perfectly happy having a market economy as long as everyone recognizes their authority and doesn't speak out against the government.

      They've allowed for several special economic zones which have some of the least government economic interference on the planet and these places are wildly popular and productive. Shenzhen went from a tiny town (by Chinese standards) to one of the largest financial and technology centers on the planet in last ~40 years. The per capita GDP there (when adjusted for purchasing power parity) is similar to major US cities with a lot of tech companies such as Seattle or San Francisco.

    6. Re:This is all diversion by ole_timer · · Score: 2

      what Xi is saying is that the next 5 year plan will have money in it for block chain. you can bet the researchers at universities in china are already developing ideas.

      --
      nothing to see here - move along
    7. Re:This is all diversion by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Informative

      China has always been a fascist oligarchy, like pretty much all Communist nations end up (or, more accurately, start at and never move beyond). A small group of families run everything, and maintain dictatorial control via 100% State control of key industries. China still does this - complete control of communications, steel, transportation (air and rail), banks, and a few other key industries. It also maintains strict controls on the flow of currency in and out of the country, as well as goods and services; not just tariffs on imports, but required tariffs and controls on exports.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    8. Re:This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      China is the most successful US regime change operation in US history. Starting in 1972 with Nixon to now. Before 1972 China looked like NK does today except they had more mouths to feed. All the US had to do was show the Chinese leadership how rich they could become if they adopted a more open market economy. The migration was slow but steady. It's no surprise that the Communist Party leaders are some of the richest people on the planet. And the Party leadership is dynastic in form. People literally inherit their seats at the Party's power table. The Chinese government operates more like a corporate board when it comes to their economy and trade policies. The only turd in the punch bowl is China discovered it was cheaper to steal or borrow technology advancements from others rather than wasting large amounts of money on R&D.

    9. Re:This is all diversion by AHuxley · · Score: 2

      Everyone in China gets an encrypted social credit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.... All transactions get tracked.
      When the Communist party detects anything that is not approved that social score is lowered.
      The "blockchain" is not just about creating new wealth.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    10. Re:This is all diversion by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Yup. The largest Chinese banks as listed in order of assets

      1. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China --> 4 Trillion US dollars worth
      2. China Construction Bank Corporation --> 3.4 Trillion US dollars worth
      3. Agricultural Bank of China --> 3.23 Trillion US dollars worth
      4. Bank of China --> 2.99 Trillion USS dollars worth.

      To put that in perspective.

      5. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (Japanese) --> 2.78 Trillion US dollars worth
      6. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (US) --> 2.53 Trillion US dollars ...
      9. Bank of America --> 2.28 Trillion

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    11. Re: This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Political news on tech is tech news. You Ajit Pai fucker.... yeah you are a pig fucker....itâ(TM)s people like you that allowed Ajit Pai to take away Net neutrality.... becos itâ(TM)s not tech news my ass.

    12. Re: This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And it will not allow for crypto currency. They mine it, to steal from all the stupid investors. But they will not allow games to be played with their currency. You can guess I hate cryptofools. Carbon credits. And other scams that essentially create money from thin air.

    13. Re:This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Regardless of other parts of your comment, the Chinese government does not have complete control of the steel industries - it wish it does. For instance, the steel industries in province Hebei is one of the worst air pollution sources for Beijing and surroundings, which the central government is trying hard to cut down (not least because the officials and their families live in Beijing and suffer the consequence themselves). So far the success is significant, but only partial - exactly because the vast majority of steel factories in Hebei are privately owned (and their pollution output are much worse than the state owned ones).

    14. Re:This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A small group of families run everything, and maintain dictatorial control via 100% State control of key industries.

      Golly Gee! I hope the USA never ends up like this!

    15. Re:This is all diversion by RedEars · · Score: 1

      To be honest, with the direction the US Gov't is going, I'd almost rather live in China right now and in the future. At least they admit they're an oligarchy to some extent and don't hide behind the bullshit "Democratic Republic" that the U.S. used to be. At least you know you're getting fucked, kinda like the courtesy of some foreplay. Oh... and the country isn't being taken over by religious zealots who value sky ghosts over science.

      --
      He who forgets will be destined to remember. - EV
    16. Re:This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are an absolute idiot, there are almost 3000 elected officials in the Chinese government; the fact that China actually has election within CCP is probably lost upon you. Calling China a fascist oligarchy is like calling US is a fascist oligarchy, it is moronic. The fact that you are even somehow voted 5 informative shows ./ is full of idiots, probably (hopefully) just Americans.

    17. Re:This is all diversion by gx5000 · · Score: 1

      You wouldn't last very long nor would I...Haven't you read about their
      new facial recognition/biometric/economic/credit-social score tracking systems yet?
      It's true we're being invaded (US and Canada) and it's awful it's still treated as bigotry and tin foil hat/alt right garbage but as I write this I enjoy a full life as a plus Fifty Technology worker, married, a bouncy new puppy, nice house, year old car and savings/investments with a plethora of hobbies, all of which would be curtailed by Chinese authorities were they in charge of our lives....so while we're alive (for the next twenty years or so) we should be at least a little grateful we're not in our twenties...

      --
      End of Line.
    18. Re: This is all diversion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That in no way negates the assertion that the state controls them. The state must maintain their economic warfare plans and can't shut them down immediately. Pollution control is booty nearly as important as establishing a hegemony on the world's steel production.

    19. Re:This is all diversion by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

      You are an absolute idiot, there are almost 3000 elected officials in the Chinese government; the fact that China actually has election within CCP is probably lost upon you. Calling China a fascist oligarchy is like calling US is a fascist oligarchy, it is moronic. The fact that you are even somehow voted 5 informative shows ./ is full of idiots, probably (hopefully) just Americans.

      Hmmm... Hi there, I lived in China for 6 years, been spending half my life there for the better part of 20, and my wife is Chinese. One of my best friends is Chinese, still lives there, and has worked his way up quite high in the Zhejiang provincial power structure (politically connected into Beijing, and he runs a division of a heavy industry owned outright by the CCP). Only certain members of the CCP can vote, you need to be sponsored in to the CCP in the first place, and each election has almost always a single candidate for any position. Those "3000" people are all from the same families, they never change over. Xi is causing a bit of a disruption because he's being a bit more vindictive against his political enemies as compared to the last several PMs (who always serve for 2 full terms, for some reason)...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    20. Re:This is all diversion by Agripa · · Score: 1

      China has always been a fascist oligarchy, like pretty much all Communist nations end up (or, more accurately, start at and never move beyond). A small group of families run everything, and maintain dictatorial control via 100% State control of key industries. China still does this - complete control of communications, steel, transportation (air and rail), banks, and a few other key industries. It also maintains strict controls on the flow of currency in and out of the country, as well as goods and services; not just tariffs on imports, but required tariffs and controls on exports.

      The US is also a hydraulic empire with little political representation of its population; it is just not as blatant.

    21. Re:This is all diversion by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      Thanks goodness he approves. I don't know if we could have moved on without his blessing.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  2. Xi Jining is all about centeralized control by aberglas · · Score: 1

    His control.

    And Block Chain is all about decentralized control. So an odd pick.

    I suspect he was just rattling of technological buzzwords that sounded trendy. Looks he forgot "Deep Learning".

    1. Re:Xi Jining is all about centeralized control by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      No. Just... no. One of the things you can do with blockchain technology is decentralize something. However that is not remotely the only application. China is interested in it for it's tracking capabilities, and the advanced control it gives over its citizens actions.

    2. Re:Xi Jining is all about centeralized control by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      Nope. Clearly the government of China is impressed by developments in Russia and are themselves going to pursue changing China to a technocracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.... Democratic at the mid to high level and the rest are taught to vote the right way. It is in line with current trends, it provides significant developmental and economic advantages. The US kakistocracy is rapidly consuming itself, a snake eating it's own tale, being eaten alive by corruption and trying to compete with technocracies will tip it into collapse (it will have to spend enormous amounts whilst corruption steals away most of what is spent but the demand to spend more in order to compete with the technocracies will drive it to continue even though corruption is consuming all of its efforts beyond be able to spread chaos and carnage).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    3. Re:Xi Jining is all about centeralized control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My God, but you are fucking stupid.

    4. Re:Xi Jining is all about centeralized control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Not odd at all. Perhaps he just doesn't want the US dollar to remain the main reserve currency that everyone must hold to do business. US basically can blackball/blackmail any country at any time, just like they are trying to do right now with businesses that may want to do business with Iran. Maybe Xi thinks that blockchain tech can change that.

    5. Re: Xi Jining is all about centeralized control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grow up. Stop watching sci-fi. Stop reading childrenâ(TM)s fantasy book. Fucking retard.

    6. Re: Xi Jining is all about centeralized control by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The only use of block chain is to decentralize it. If it is centralized, then it's better in every way to just use a database.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  3. Ideal for the State! by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You can track EVERYTHING with Blockchain. Make the one-time association between user and hash, and you have everything they ever do. Perfect for an all-controlling State!

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    1. Re:Ideal for the State! by ModelX · · Score: 1

      You can track EVERYTHING with Blockchain. Make the one-time association between user and hash, and you have everything they ever do. Perfect for an all-controlling State!

      That's true, but how is that different from using a credit or debit card or any bank account that's associated to real person identity?

    2. Re:Ideal for the State! by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2

      This isn't just about cash - this is about everything. Follow phones, cars, homes, etc. For financial, cash is still king in China, and this would eliminate it. Remember, you're talking about a country where you have to ensure you have the proper paperwork to live or work outside your home town, and takes photos of all faces and cars all over the place with the intent of tracking everyone, all the time. Anything that guarantees everything is traceable is going to be supported...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    3. Re:Ideal for the State! by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      I've no doubt all that's tracked on some server somewhere. But if it were a blockchain, the intermediaries couldn't fuck with it. It would let top China party members trust the regional bosses to collect lists of all the phone logs, money transfers, lists of people they black-bagged. Their underlings couldn't just pencil in whatever value they wanted, or run a SQL script to DELETE FROM TaxRecords WHERE name=${myNephew}.

      It ALSO means they can't fuck with it, which isn't the sort of loss of control I'd expect from godless commie bastards.

  4. Breakthrough Application by hackingbear · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If the translation is right, he said "breakthrough applications" and not "breakthrough technology". See the difference?

  5. Blockchain doesn't have to == cryptocurrencies. by RyanFenton · · Score: 2

    Blockchain is commonly defined by investment folks as such, sure - but it's just a database oriented to ensure uniqueness and carefully tracking user access.

    Here's a gaming-oriented view on how Blockchain can be used more generally, and not just to ask for money:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Perhaps in the end, it will all be a dead-end, since those same ideas can be mixed better in something not called 'Blockchain' - but as it is, it is nicely well-tested set of code you can use for lots of other stuff. It seem a waste to not use it as a basic toolset, when it's so relatively well-tested.

    Ryan Fenton

    1. Re:Blockchain doesn't have to == cryptocurrencies. by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      I see nothing in that video that would benefit from blockchain over a standard database.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Blockchain doesn't have to == cryptocurrencies. by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      One benefit is attention from idiot VCs

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    3. Re:Blockchain doesn't have to == cryptocurrencies. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It doesn't have to equal cryptocurrencies.
      But of all the things it will equal,
      it will DEFINITELY equal cryptocurrencies.

      If you have the means, I'd highly recommend picking some up.

    4. Re:Blockchain doesn't have to == cryptocurrencies. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      blockchain is very good term for general use. cryptocurrency is a horrible term

  6. Decentralized? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When each citizen gets their own government issued ID token that gets encoded in the chain there will be no hiding.

    1. Re:Decentralized? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      People in tech in the west seem to forget the word 'chain' is in there somewhere.

  7. Maybe Satoshi Nakamoto is from China by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just a thought.

  8. I wonder if he understands it. by h33t+l4x0r · · Score: 2

    I wonder what it's like to have a leader who understands things.

    1. Re:I wonder if he understands it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wonder what it's like to have a leader who understands things.

      Our leaders are lawyers.

      Theirs are engineers and scientists.

    2. Re:I wonder if he understands it. by DavidHumus · · Score: 1

      and con-men.

  9. 2009 calling China by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Blockchain was a breakthrough in 2009.

  10. Buzzwords by Dan+East · · Score: 1

    Sounds like he threw out some random tech buzzwords to me. Big deal.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re:Buzzwords by dohzer · · Score: 1

      Buzzwords? I believe you mean "#hashtags".

    2. Re:Buzzwords by Trogre · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well at least with the popularization of hashtags Americans have finally progressed beyond calling # a 'pound'.

      It would have made the #metoo campaign a little... awkward.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    3. Re: Buzzwords by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      #RyanTheRetard

    4. Re:Buzzwords by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lmfao

  11. Time to call a top. by Rip!ey · · Score: 1

    Time to call a top.

    ,br>
    One Japenese band, one Chinese Poo-bah, several people I work with who bought into ICO's, way too much money.

    Time to call a top.

    1. Re:Time to call a top. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I called it several months ago when my barber was talking about it. That was the actual top, it hasn't been that high since.

  12. blockchain question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have an honest question about Blockchain that I am hoping someone that understands it better than myself can answer. Is all (or most) blockchain technology, like Bitcoin: incredibly inefficient and wasteful as a design goal in order to make it difficult for any one person to gain control of the blockchain?

    1. Re: blockchain question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes

    2. Re:blockchain question by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      It's mathematically hard by design. That means computational crunching power. You can see that as wasteful if you want, but think of all income of all the bankers and all the severs running VISA transactions and all the advertising costs that Visa and Mastercard and such pay for. And all the fraud. Visa just eats the costs of a lot of fraud (and passes it onto merchants).

      But yeah, any blockchain tech that gets popular and has lots of transactions is going to take serious hardware and have electricity costs.

  13. Git? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't Git (the version control software) sort of like a blockchain? You can't change any of the Git commit history because new commits save hashes of everything that came before it. Hundreds or thousands of people can have a copy of your Git repo and commit to it but nobody can change the history.

    1. Re:Git? by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      Yes, Git is sort of like a blockchain. However, you most certainly CAN change a git history. I've done it before when I realized I accidentally committed 2 things together that should have been separate commits and then pushed them. All you have to do it go back to the spot in the history you want to modify, make the modification, and then successively rewrite everything that came after it. What happens then is that you simply fork the GIT repository. One fork has the original history, and the other fork has the rewritten history. However, the same thing is true of blockchain. You most certainly CAN rewrite the blockchin...you just have to rewrite everything that came after the modification.

      The trick is how you deal with the fork. In a GIT repository, if you grabbed my old history before I rewrote it, then we can no longer share our commits with each other (short of simply cherry picking patches 1-by-1 off the other branch, which is essentially a manual merge of the forks). For this reason, I only do this sort of GIT history rewrite when I know there is nobody else involved. It's never on a publicly shared repository....only a private one where I know none of my coworkers have been working on that project recently.

      But in theory, if one of my coworkers DID grab the old copy of the GIT history, then in order for us to become productive we'd have to come to an agreement on which history to use going forward. Either I say "forget it, lets just ignore my history rewrite", or he accepts my history and then cherry-picks/rewrites his commits to work against the new history. Of course that's only when there is 2 of us. If 100 people had grabbed the repository and made changes against it, then the solution becomes obvious...we CANNOT accept my rewritten history, and I'm overruled by my 100 coworkers.

      And THIS is where we come to the ONLY thing that blockchain offers...how do we come to an agreement when not everyone agrees (ie: when the history has been forked). In the case of my GIT repository fork, we either manually resolve the 2 branches, or in the case of 100 coworkers I just accept majority rule and continue working off of their fork containing my unmodified history. Blockchain's ONLY contribution here is in algorithmically defining how we automatically all come to an agreement over time, and then particular blockchain implementations define (via proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, proof-of-storage, etc) how we ensure that one person can't pretend to be infinite people, thus manufacturing their own "majority" to stuff the ballot box and force their particular fork on everyone else.

      Of course you can have it another way...you can have a central controller who is always the authority on what is the real history. An example of this is where you need to customize the code in a public GIT repository, but for one reason or another cannot push your code back into the GIT repository (either your changes must be kept secret, or the repository maintainer doesn't want to accept your changes). In that case, the person maintaining the repository is ALWAYS the authority. You can customize it to your hearts content, but nobody else using the repository has to care about your changes, and every time he releases an update, you are responsible for figuring out how you resolve the differences in your own copy of the code.

      In the case of this central authority, blockchain offers NOTHING of value. We've already picked the algorithm for resolving multiple forks....we all trust and accept the central authority's decision and make his version official. In theory, he could always go back and rewrite his history...make a modification to a commit years ago and then rewrite the entire chain of modifications after that. He would then force his rewrite upon everyone else and they'd just have to accept it.

      This sort of thing tends not to happen, because one possible outcome is that the masses agree he is no longer the central authority to be trusted. However, there are cases where this would happen. Think of a governme

    2. Re:Git? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wonderful explanation - thanks very much.

  14. NWO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do you want a one world government, because this is how you get a one world government.

    1. Re:NWO by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      I ordered my new world with Italian sausage and extra cheese.

  15. Be very afraid ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Xi Jinping said in a speech this week that blockchain has "breakthrough" applications.

    Not to put too fine of a point on it, but if Xi Jinping is saying this, then I predict something incredibly ominous and scary is about to unfold.

    This is not a country, government, or culture want to make this kind of proclamation without a lot of stuff which isn't obvious behind it.

    I read the headline and immediately felt dread.

    No, this isn't some hippy mumbo jumbo, this is my gut feeling after a long time of watching geopolitics.

    What he considers "breakthrough" applications scare me ... a cryptographic record of a chain of events in the hands of a government which doesn't care about human rights, believes only in its own supremacy, and a nation which has been lifting high tech processes on the manufacturing back end for years.

    They've figured out how to do something which will be beyond belief. Or, at least, they think they have.

    1. Re: Be very afraid ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When mandatory it means you aren't allowed anything without it getting tracked for eternity. Every thing you are allowed to do becomes a non-deletable transaction. It's the pinnacle of Capitalism.

  16. ...global center of science and innovation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TFA> Xi also emphasized the need for China to focus on technological development and become the global center of science and innovation.

    On the bright side, if they manage to make it work, we'll finally be freed from this obnoxious units that only the US mor^W folks want.

    On the other hand... what will we use to communicate? English? That doesn't even work well with native speakers, how will the common Chinese man fare better?

    Chinese seems to be a somewhat simple language, from what I've heard, but pronunciation can be tricky (even more than English) and the writing -- frankly, Chinese people, the last time ideograms were a good idea Cleopatra was alive... and even then perhaps not anymore, as nobles preferred Greek...

    Feel free to provide examples of why ideograms might be advantageous, if you will.

  17. shallow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That reads like someone listing a bunch of buzz words they don't have any real understanding of. trump level.

  18. Two meanings of "Corruption" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    In the USA, it means money lobbies government to reduce to impact of the voters.

    In China there are no voters, totally corrupt in that sense. And "Corruption" means princelings putting public money directly into their own pockets -- that type of direct corruption is extremely rare in the USA. (It is done indirectly, e.g. the general getting the job in the arms factory upon retirement, but not directly.)

    There is no comparison.

    Sure, there is trouble in the USA. But they are chalk and cheese.

  19. Re: Blockchain doesn't have to == cryptocurrencies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ryan is a retard. Ryan likes to sign his name thinking his name actually means something. He is right. Retarded Ryan. With the 4th grade mind. Ryan think he wrote something intelligent. Ryan think he used well thought out ideas. But due to Ryan the Retards retarded thinking, he can not see it is childlike.

    Ryan the Retard. A secret admirer.

  20. Reading Comprehension 101 by Donwulff · · Score: 1

    According to the translation he's saying "A new generation of technology ... is accelerating breakthrough applications". You know what this means? Party time! Blockchain mentioned! Actually, it's called one of many new generation technologies. I also agree with comments noting it sounds basically a list of buzzwords with no specific meaning, although if you look at the list, they're all immensely useful technologies for ubiquitous surveillance. But he said "breakthrough applications", that can only mean one thing... Cryptocurrency mentioned, party time!

  21. You are correct !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know /. doesn't carry Mandarin words, but this is the key sentence in which 'Blockchain' was mentioned:
     
    ... ...
     
    ... Artificial Intelligence, Quantum communication, Mobile networks, IoT, Blockchain as key fields for the new generation of rapid-breakthrough application ...

  22. All cryptocurrencies and ICOs are scams by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are (any) fiat-currency and (any) cryptocurrency really equivalent, as cryptocurrency fans claim?
    For example, US Dollar and Bitcoin are really equals?
    Value/validity/authorization of US dollar is provided/guaranteed by US Government (and in-turn whole US Public)!
    Also, not to mention, US Dollars in any US Bank is insured by US Government!
    What authorization/guarantee/insurance is behind Bitcoin? Nothing!
    Sorry but that is the end of discussion then!

    Why do you think Satoshi Nakamoto is really hiding his identity, if Bitcoin is really such a great innovation?
    He is just someone does not like media/fan attention?
    Or, could it be really because Bitcoin (and all cryptocurrencies followed it) are actually Ponzi Schemes?
    (So he knew very well that law enforcement would come after him sooner or later?!)

    If so-called cryptocurrencies are really good innovation, why they attract so many criminals/criminal activity?
    Could it really be because, all cryptocurrencies themselves are scams, and that is why they attract all kinds of criminals/criminal activity?

    If so-called cryptocurrencies are really currency, why no company/store can use Bitcoin as currency anymore?
    Because the price of Bitcoin proved to be extremely unstable to use as a currency?
    Would the result be different, if Bitcoin replaced by any other "cryptocurrency"?
    Aren't all work the same way?

    If so-called cryptocurrencies are really money; isn't people issuing their own money, illegal already, in all countries?
    If so then, why they are still not banned in all countries?

    Or, they are not actually virtual currency but virtual investment?
    But, if they are actually investment, why we need/want them?
    What would happen to world economy, if people invested in virtual investments, instead of real investments?

    Or, all so-called cryptocurrencies are actually just a modified (made decentralized and paying variable interest) Ponzi Schemes?
    (Price of cryptocurrencies would keep increasing in the long term (by their design), so it is equivalent of paying variable interest to all long term investors.)

    Also, since all so-called cryptocurrencies are actually financial scams (Ponzi Schemes), that means, they cannot be the solution for any of existing financial problems of our world!

    As more and more people invest in cryptocurrencies, it will become harder and harder to ban their trading everywhere (because people invested in cryptocurrencies, would try to stop anyone trying to ban cryptocurrencies)!
    All cryptocurrencies need to be banned globally before it is too late!

    1. Re:All cryptocurrencies and ICOs are scams by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      Are (any) fiat-currency and (any) cryptocurrency really equivalent, as cryptocurrency fans claim?

      Of course they're not equivalent. Fiat-currencies are backed by hopes and dreams and the trust in the issuer. They can, at their whim, simply print more money and devalue it, making all of the currency you're holding worth less and throwing your usage of the currency into uncertainty. If you can trust the US government to keep the private institution that is the Fed in line, then you can trust the value of the currency. And if you can trust FDIC, you can even trust banks and credit-unions and such. And you can. The US government is very stable. So people think US dollars have value, and so it does.

      And on the other-hand, crypto currencies are backed up by math and a metric metaphysical ton of speculation. As well as people needing to send money globally without wanting to pay as much to middle men or being tracked. It's relatively new, and people are wrapping their heads around it, and there's a ton of hype, so the price is volatile as all get out and there's loads of uncertainty. So I wouldn't set prices by it, and I wouldn't hold onto coins longer than necessary. But it let's me trust a random stranger on the Internet across the globe give me money, so it has utility. There are other services that do this with US dollars, but they're more expensive, and less trustworthy. Paypal was good for a while, but they've got a bad habit of freezing funds.

      For example, US Dollar and Bitcoin are really equals?

      No, right now one bitcoin get you 7413.99 US dollars.

      What authorization/guarantee/insurance is behind Bitcoin?

      Math.

      Math is your friend. You can trust math. Implementations using it... ehhhh, they can have troubles. But you can take every resource available to the US government and the US public and they are powerless against $5 of processing time on commodity hardware running hard crypto. Because of math.

      Why do you think Satoshi Nakamoto is really hiding his identity, if Bitcoin is really such a great innovation?

      He's a paranoid recluse. Very much the sort of scheme and work really hard trying to.... upend the US monetary system? I'm pretty sure he's the type to rant about how central banks are behind a bunch of conspiracies and shit like that. And yeah, I imagine he has a pile of bitcoins and could sell them for a load of money. Having that sort of asset sitting around on your hard drive makes you a juicy target.

      It's not a ponzi scheme. At least not a classical one. That requires you to lie about how well other peoples investments are doing. You have to hope people don't try to cash out. But it IS very much the sort of thing other people have to believe in to have value. Like everything else. There's..... mind-space market share. Like a company brand or shit like that.

      If so-called cryptocurrencies are really good innovation, why they attract so many criminals/criminal activity?

      Oh no, don't get me wrong. It's crazy useful for money laundering. Moving money around the globe is one of those things that (big time) criminals do a lot of. There's a difference between doing well and doing good.

      If so-called cryptocurrencies are really currency, why no company/store can use Bitcoin as currency anymore?

      Well... there ARE stores that accept bitcoin. So... blow that one out of your ass. But yeah, with this volatility, I wouldn't list a static price in bitcoins. You'd have to have a dynamic market-price tracker with some reasonable limits, or just state the price in US dollars and accept bitcoins as an intermediary. Hopefully the price will stabilize.

      Would the result be different, if Bitcoin replaced by any other "cryptocurrency"?

      Fundamentally? Probably not. I think they all try to do their own thing, each a little

  23. What good is it? by jbmartin6 · · Score: 1

    Despite all the hype, I still haven't seen much to convince me blockchain has any sort of really new applications other than the original intent to support cryptocurrency. All the other pie in the sky speculation boils down to applications we are already supporting with existing technologies like good old databases.

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    This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
    1. Re:What good is it? by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      well yeah. But with the added twist of "you don't have to trust the people holding onto the database." Like how email let you "send mail... but on a computer", all the crazy blockchain ideas are just old tasks done on a distributed ledger that's secure from people fucking with it. Right now you have to trust your bank to keep the right number next to your account. You have to trust the DMV to have the right picture and birth year and name associated with your driver's license. And they generally do a great job. But you also have to trust that Experian and TransUnion doesn't get anything wrong with your account or it can mess up your credit score. And they get that shit wrong all the time. If we had a blockchain yelp of people complaining about companies, people, governments, it'd be immune to censorship. No warrant or black van could censor what someone said. ...Unless they blocked the whole thing.

    2. Re:What good is it? by jbmartin6 · · Score: 1

      The problem is that very immutability. That works great for cryptocurrency ledgers, not so great when the bank or credit agency gets something wrong. (And yelp is already full of garbage reviews.) Since you need to be able to edit the information in every case, it isn't adding anything we don't already have. Unless you can guarantee it will be right the first time and will never need to be changed.

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      This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
    3. Re:What good is it? by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      Oooooor fix it, and note that you fixed it. It's not like anything in a git repo "never needs to be changed". The values in the ledger change all the time. It's actually their defining feature keeping track of a value that goes up and down.

    4. Re:What good is it? by jbmartin6 · · Score: 1

      As you say, this is a problem that has already been solved. There is stll no problem mentioned that benefits from an append only distributed ledger where additions are made by consensus. Except cryptocurrency designed to have no central management. We already have digital signatures and other solutions if we need to implement an integrity control.

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      This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
  24. More power to them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shouldn't be hard with our retarded president going full black lung

  25. China has intelligent leaders by TJHook3r · · Score: 1

    Quite a novel idea, having intelligent politicians, like scientists, engineers etc Wonder what Trump thinks of blockchain? Apparently he struggled with the difference between HPV and HIV as a health concern, despite extensive explanation.

  26. Of course they do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Chinese government loves anything and everything that allows them to track their citizens. Hell, they'd record people's thoughts and analyze every poop in real time if they could. Millennials, say it with me: *China has a totalitarian government. They oppress their citizens (and neighboring people) and lie to the rest of the world*. They are not the 'good guys'. I congratulate Silicon Valley on once again creating tools that get the seal of approval from fascist regimes overseas. Good job, enjoy your bonus, dumbasses. /s

    This definitely indicates that we should NOT pursue block chain, we should go as far as possible in the opposite direction.

  27. Perfect tracking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What better way to track everyone than to track every single transaction in an unalterable way? Blockchain is the ultimate spy device.