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Comment by aeoleonn | Hacker News Reader

I was at an event where Joe Lonsdale spoke a couple months ago.

He took questions after giving a short speech.

One person asked what he thinks about blockchain-based businesses.

Joe basically said "These days, in Silicon Valley, if anyone brings up a business idea that involves blockchain, that's how you know that team doesn't know what they're doing."

Basically, to paraphrase, people trying to throw blockchain into business concepts is like throwing like spaghetti against walls. Investors, according to Joe Lonsdale, do not typically find such ideas respectable-- in fact, the opposite: they seem to find them comical and gimmicky.

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I talked to Joe briefly on the phone about ten years ago. He has a very sharp mind for financial related startups and his insights truly impressed me. If he said this, it says something to me.

Blockchain scammers just love to latch onto celebrities with a cause, and feed off of their reputations. It's a pity it's happened to Woz again.

Who remembers how Imogen Heap's blockchain based "Creative Passport" would solve all the music industry's efficiency and fairness problems? Her mi.mu gloves are pretty cool though, but they don't need blockchain.

https://tidal.com/magazine/article/imogen-heap-and-the-block...

Imogen Heap: Mycelia's Creative Passport and reimagining the music industry

Multi award winning artist Imogen Heap shares how she's creating a fairer music industry with Mycelia's Creative Passport and demonstrates how to make music with her wearable tech mi.mu gloves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_lR5ua54XY&ab_channel=Nesta...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imogen_Heap

>Heap developed the Mi.Mu Gloves, a line of musical gloves, as well as a blockchain-based music-sharing program, Mycelia. She also composed the music for the West End/Broadway play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Over the course of her career, she has received two Grammy Awards, one Ivor Novello Award, and one Drama Desk Award. In July 2019, Heap was awarded an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music.

Imogen Heap's Mycelia: An Artists' Approach for a Fair Trade Music Business, Inspired by Blockchain

https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgehoward/2015/07/17/imogen-...

>“It sounds a bit far fetched maybe right now, but I really believe it’s attainable,” Heap adds. “We just need musicians to put their foot forward and sign up for something that isn’t really there yet. There’s no ecosystem there, there’s no marketplace there. Will you put the flag in the ground showing that you’re here?”

Hmmm...

That sounds awfully reductive. While it's obviously true that many blockchain-based businesses are/were just trying to cash in on hype alone, that doesn't mean that ALL ideas involving a blockchain are bad.

Just that all people involving a blockchain are bad, who will fuck up even the few good ideas involving a blockchain, in their quest to get rich quick without actually doing any difficult work or providing any useful services.

I'm sure there exist a few rusty metal sewage snakes in need of lubrication, but that's not what most people are selling snake oil for.

Hope this was sarcastic, as it's an awfully edgy comment.

So you actually think these scammers who have latched onto Woz are legitimate??! Have you sent them your money yet? How's that going, are you at the top of the pyramid? How much are you in for? Are you rich quick yet?

The situation is bad enough that anyone with an idea that isn't bad would do best to rename or obscure the "blockchain" connection.

Not only does attaching to it act as a fairly reliable indicator of fraud or cluelessness, but it also means that you'll be constantly wasting your time deflecting suggestions to copy practices which are illegal, unethical, or just technically unsound from the majority of other 'blockchain' based ventures.

One thing Joe mentioned was the potential for illicit activity within the encrypted data inherent in blockchain.

He brought up an example whereby some user could hide something very illegal within the encrypted data.

To be honest, I don't know enough about block chain or the blockchain economy, but the idea of hiding data/URLs related to very illicit content definitely makes me think it could be abused. Especially since decryption would be necessary to uncover the abusive usage (i.e. the concealing of illicit content/URLs to illicit content)

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