Pyth project could open up decentralized trading and lending, supporters say

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-worlds-biggest-traders-are-betting-on-blockchain-data-11638803023

by jbredeche • 5 years ago

19 20 5 years ago

joe_guy• 5 years ago

This is an advertisement for Pyth. The article starts off with claims that make no sense. Then instead of backing up those claims, it keeps dragging on and on hyping Pyth.

dang• 5 years ago

Ok, I've changed the title from the rather generic and baity article title, to its subtitle. But an article being about a project and its supporters doesn't make it bad for HN. Often such articles contain interesting things. (I haven't read this article.)

lsseckman• 5 years ago

thank you!

F6F6FA• 5 years ago

I do not think it is an advertisement. The author studied CS at MIT. Then was a journalist based in Moscow. Now works for the Wall Street Journals on scoops involving DARPA.

But I do think it is artificially placed. Probably an institutional propaganda push for Pyth (or at least, that's what the supporters say it could become). Perhaps these found the right lobbyists or pockets.

jc_811• 5 years ago

I unfortunately cannot read past the first few sentences due to the paywall, but the opening line says this:

-> Suppose you could buy a share of Tesla Inc. and send it to a friend in Shanghai as easily as sending an email. Or imagine placing a bet on the inflation rate at the end of President Joe Biden’s term, which would pay off in bitcoin if you were right.

Couldn’t we already do this with traditional technology? Why on earth would this have to be on a blockchain to work?

The reason we can’t do this currently is due to laws & regulations (which developed over decades to mollify various issues that arose in markets) - not because of the tech.

It seems that blockchain in this sense is simply trying to erase decades of laws and regulations and paint itself as “different”. Solving human issues (eg laws), requires human solutions, not pseudo-technological ideas.

Unless I’m mistaken, I’m always open to hearing the opposing viewpoint on why it’s necessary to use blockchain for this and impossible to use current technology. I just don’t seem to see why

rp12• 5 years ago

Allowing people to bet on inflation would be complicated. You’d need to take payments, hold their money like a brokerage, and have the ability to payout. The blockchain let’s you implement such a scheme in a few lines of code. Definitely simpler to do on a blockchain.

qeternity2• 5 years ago

This is a completely absurd take. There are bilions of dollars of inflation trades every single day in interest rates markets. It’s enormous.

The reality is that most crypto proponents have zero experience in capital markets and its plumbing. Your assertion that it’s simpler to do on blockchain is wrong is almost every single facet, and I’m happy to enumerate them if you’re interested.

edgyquant• 5 years ago

Yes crypto is attempting to shrug off at least a century of regulations that have made the world as stable as it is. If crypto ethnusiasts had their way we’d go back to the 1800s where we had a depression every generation and inflation jumped between 1 and 20% depending on the year. Most of these people don’t have a clue about finance and the ones that due have ulterior motives

dcolkitt• 5 years ago

Solving human issues (eg laws), requires human solutions, not pseudo-technological ideas.

Disagree with this general viewpoint. For example I think NYC Yellow Cab laws were antiquated, rent-seeking, and anti-consumer. App-based ridesharing tech, not human politics, changed that equilibrium.

Technology disrupts pre-existing rules, laws and regulations all the time. In most cases it's a net positive for humanity. Not saying all regulation is bad, but if regulations an be easily disrupted by tech, then usually it's sclerotic and outdated.

bko• 5 years ago

Solving human issues (eg laws), requires human solutions, not pseudo-technological ideas.

Good luck changing international relations while people in developing worlds wait for their respective governments to work things out.

Property is a human right, whether the state allows it or not. If I have $1, I should be allowed to transfer it to whomever I want, otherwise I don't really own it. If a state says I can't transfer it to my relative in [bad country], then I see that as unjust and I will go around the system. If some government forbids its people to hold a certain denomination of currency, that's unjust as well and I will go around that system.

AlexandrB• 5 years ago

This is a ridiculously narrow conception of rights that ignores how your property rights interact with those around you. If you transfer your $1 to a slaver (extreme example) for his goods or services, your property rights directly undermine the rights of others. Your property rights end where the rights of others begin.

SantalBlush• 5 years ago

If I have $1, I should be allowed to transfer it to whomever I want, otherwise I don't really own it.

This argument requires further justification. I really don't see how spending constraints would imply you don't "really" own your dollar.

mountainriver• 5 years ago

It’s also just a problem I’ve never had before

neonate• 5 years ago

https://archive.md/8w1r8

http://web.archive.org/web/20211207114124/https://www.wsj.co...

berenza• 5 years ago

just be aware pyth is still in early stages. their network currently has three price feeds (probably the simplest thing you can do with a blockchain oracle) on mainnet which you can see here https://pyth.network/ and they have had at least a few problems with these where incorrect prices were reported, costing traders money. a recent one has a writeup here https://thedefiant.io/pyth-solana-bad-pricing-meltdown/ on the plus side, pyth network is in its very early days, has the backing of the FTX guy, and historically buying into what this guy is invested in has made people very rich. if pyth network ever releases a token the early buyers might do well. as they say with crypto, DYOR.

roywiggins• 5 years ago

"The creators of Pyth hope to unseat rival services to become the leading source of financial data for DeFi projects... Proponents say DeFi will cut out middlemen"

So, Pyth is hoping to become the One True Middleman, or at least the biggest one, by offering its data up for free (at first)?

Pyth project could open up decentralized trading and lending, supporters say

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