[Cryptography] What has Bitcoin achieved?

[Zooko Wilcox-OHearn]

[disclosure: I'm gnawing on these ideas as a potential new business to launch…]

On Wed, Jun 4, 2014 at 11:11 AM, ianG <iang at iang.org> wrote:
>
> Now, there is another hidden assumption which I must surface:  there is
> an issuer.  In Bitcoin, there is no 'issuer' of record, nobody who
> stands behind a contract.  This means that all Bitcoin value (and
> copies) is limited to supply & demand games;  this is the "copy the gold
> idea" trick.  It was pulled off once or thrice, but it isn't a trick you
> can copy more than a few times.

Have you looked into the "colored coins" and related ideas for using
an underlying cryptocurrency's anti-double-spending mechanism, and its
global public ledger, but creating tokens that you can issue as many
of as you like, and underwrite with an asset of your choice?


> (How to take BTC and the Trent-free context and turn that into
> waste-free zone is a topic of much discussion.  I think I know how to do
> it, but need to be sure.  This is alchemy, the experiments can blow up.)

A lot of smart people, and also me, have been chewing on that one for
a few years now, and I still can't see how to do it. I'd be happy to
compare notes!


Regards,

Zooko Wilcox-O'Hearn

Founder, CEO, and Customer Support Rep
https://LeastAuthority.com
Freedom matters.