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778 points ananddtyagi | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.413s | source
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moneywaters ◴[] No.44487086[source]
I’ve been toying with a concept inspired by Apple’s Find My network: Imagine a decentralized, delay-tolerant messaging system where messages hop device-to-device (e.g., via Bluetooth, UWB, Wi-Fi Direct), similar to how “Find My” relays location via nearby iPhones.

Now add a twist: • Senders pay a small fee to send a message. • Relaying devices earn a micro-payment (could be tokens, sats, etc.) for carrying the message one hop further. • End-to-end encrypted, fully decentralized, optionally anonymous.

Basically, a “postal network” built on people’s phones, without needing a traditional internet connection. Works best in areas with patchy or no internet, or under censorship.

Obvious challenges: • Latency and reliability (it’s not real-time). • Abuse/spam prevention. • Power consumption and user opt-in. • Viable incentive structures.

What do you think? Is this viable? Any real-world use cases where this might be actually useful — or is it just a neat academic toy?

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Aurornis ◴[] No.44489735[source]
> Senders pay a small fee to send a message. • Relaying devices earn a micro-payment (could be tokens, sats, etc.) for carrying the message one hop further.

The Helium Network tried something like this, but with a fixed infrastructure: People were incentivized to run Helium network nodes and could earn micropayments for running nodes and handling traffic.

It revealed a lot of problems with structures like this, such as the incentive to cheat through various loopholes that were discovered.

It also became apparent that the monetization/tokenization aspect overtook the network functionality as the primary motivator for the project. After a while, people started looking at the traffic and payouts and realized that almost nobody was using it for real communication, it had become one big shell game for collecting the payments designed to incentivize nodes to come online and relay traffic. Then the token itself had become a speculative commodity that people used for trading more than anything.

I think it would be interesting if someone could invent a stable coin cryptocurrency with low overhead that enabled some of these use cases, but it seems the allure of generating a new token that the founders can sell into a speculative market to raise funds for the project is always too alluring, so every project goes from having good intentions to becoming a veiled pump and dump. Maybe some day there will be a stable coin that escapes these issues, but I haven’t seen it yet.

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repeekad ◴[] No.44490336[source]
> I think it would be interesting if someone could invent a stable coin cryptocurrency with low overhead

Like the US dollar and Postgres?

For like $200 anyone can start a business entity in the US with a tax ID and a bank, I’m still yet to understand how crypto is better other than for circumventing regulators

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deweller ◴[] No.44490465[source]
Cryptocurrency transfers are irreversible, publicly verifiable and pseudonymous. For a privacy focused application, these attributes make crypto a better choice than USD and the traditional banking system.
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strangattractor ◴[] No.44495700[source]
Handing someone a $1 is irreversible if they won't give it back. All transactions are anonymous and private when using a physical dollar. Crypto has the primary advantage of allowing you to launder money by converting the "Coin" in criminal friendly countries to a fiat currency (dollars) that actually buys stuff. Especially useful when hackers hold your data ransom. Usually what people mean by not like "traditional banking system" is unregulated/lawless.
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throwaway290 ◴[] No.44498543[source]
People who don't like traditional banking system just want a system where they have more money. If they actually wanted to fix fairness etc creating a new system is not a way, you can make the old system fairer like you can make a new unfair one
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immibis ◴[] No.44500862[source]
The old system is a centralized one where there is one entity in charge which gets to set the level of fairness, unless you mean the meta-system whereby anyone can create a new system where they will be the dictator.
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strangattractor ◴[] No.44501754[source]
Nobody ever addresses the money laundering issue or wash trading that goes on that gives Bitcoin the illusion of liquidity.

>".... one entity in charge which gets to set the level of fairness"

Exactly what is unfair about the current system? The way we insure fairness is with laws and regulation. A system without those will suffer - well - lawlessness.

How is it centralized? The vast majority of dollars only exist as bits in computers in multiple banks all over the world. Doesn't get more distributed than that. Not only that - if you don't like dollars trade it for Euro's or Yen - you can pay your rent, mortgage and buy things with them also.

Other benefits of the current system. If someone steals my credit card I'm only on the hook for $50. My transactions are confirmed in a matter seconds pretty much anywhere in the world. I AutoPay many of my bills. If I set up automatic payments with Bitcoin I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

There are problems that Bitcoin could help solve - it just isn't replacing currencies. I see a technology in search of a problem.

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1. immibis ◴[] No.44502731[source]
If you don't think the government is corrupt, I don't know what to tell you. You can keep on using your "fair" government currency (which the government prints by the hundred billion and gives to its billionaire friends) for everything, I'll be over here wishing for alternatives to Bitcoin.

Do you even hold significant government currency, or do you only hold the layer-2 bank currency, and stocks?

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2. strangattractor ◴[] No.44536813[source]
Yes my entire retirement is in "gov't currency" called US dollars and Stocks.

I asked for specific evidence or instances of corruption or unfairness. Making an accusation (gov't is corrupt) without evidence or example and saying something is true repeatedly is not a substitute for actual evidence. There are many documented cases of money laundering and wash trades with Bitcoin. These same activities are done using fiat currencies, but in the US at least BT (before Trump), they were illegal and people doing it were subject to criminal investigation. I do agree that there are many gov't policies that have lead to inequities in the distribution of the money that should be addressed.

Bitcoin will only make a fixed number of Bitcoins but they forked Bitcoins into 2 separate coins years ago which some might consider as printing more Bitcoin since everyone got a copy of their existing coins. New ShitCoins are minted to scam people on a regular basis. If anything the barriers to printing too much money are lower with Crypto because it is so easy to make a new coin type. Have you invested in any NFT's lately? What about coin front running? [0]

[0] https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/argentina-main-stock-...

Thinking Crypto is not subject to corruption is very naive.

>"If you don't think the government is corrupt, I don't know what to tell you. " If you cannot explain of give examples then I have to assume you don't really know - it is your opinion. I am sure people living in certain deeply corrupt countries - Russia comes to mind - like Bitcoin because their countries currencies are unstable and access to other currencies is limited. That said the reason they like it is BC can be exchanged for stable currencies to buy things. If those stable currencies did not exist BC would be useless for them also.