Filecoin Foundation Donates $10 Million Worth Of Filecoin To Internet Archive
from the huge-news dept
Some really fantastic news if you believe in (1) the wonderful work the Internet Archive does and (2) the future of a more decentralized internet (and, for what it's worth, you should believe in both of those things). The Filecoin Foundation has donated 50,000 FIL to the Internet Archive. This is approximately $10 million worth of Filecoin, which represents the largest single donation to the organization. Obviously, by the amount alone, this is a big deal and hugely important for an Internet Archive that is currently facing an existential legal attack by publishers who hate the very idea of libraries.
But it's doubly interesting, because Filecoin is a key component that many are hoping will empower a new more distributed web. And it appears that the Internet Archive is looking to take advantage of this aspect as well (as it should):
“Holy Crow! This is a big deal,” said Brewster Kahle, the Internet Archive’s founder. “And what are we going to do with it? We’re going to invest it in making the Internet Archive more decentralized, so that our digital history is available from thousands of computers, not just a few. The idea is to make a robust and private Internet that has a history that will persist over decades and maybe centuries.”
This is amazing news and exciting for both the future of the Internet Archive and a more distributed internet, not under the control of any single big internet giant.
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Filed Under: distributed web, filecoin, library, support
Companies: filecoin foundation, internet archive
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So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is complete BS.
If you can't buy groceries with it, IT IS NOT A VALID FORM OF MONEY. I really don't see how people get suckered into this scam.
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Re: So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is complete BS
I have news for you about fungibility and exchanges and you might want to sit down...
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Re: Re: So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is complet
I'm listening, Mr. Masnick.
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No you’re not.
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Re:
Maybe they're not, but if Mike actually has news about such things, I'd like to see it. This is kind of a news site, after all, and news about cryptocurrency exchanges is often interesting.
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maybe he can't hear over your idiot noise, stevie
anybody at alldisagree TD leaps to attack,, smart move
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Re: Re:
darryl, is that you? How's them solar panels in Australia doing?
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Re: So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is complete BS
They've definitely got something, which may or may not turn out to be as useful as 10 million American dollars in the end. (Remember that American dollars have not, themselves, had any "real" value since 1971; and of course gold is treated as much more valuable that can be justified with practical uses.)
It would be prudent for them to convert to a more practical currency as soon as possible. But it might not lead to a favorable result (i.e., there's a chance they'd get more value by keeping it in Filecoin).
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Re: Re: So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is complet
No currency has ever had intrinsic value other than what society agrees upon, one way or another. In fact, nothing has any intrinsic "value".
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Re: Re: Re: So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is com
What about pizza_and_beer (which is actually one word)?
Seriously, I think some things like food can be said to have some intrinsic value, at least to critters that eat said food. Unless there is an infinite and effortless source of said food, which really isn't a possibility.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is
Even with infinite supply it would have value to those who believe life has value (i.e., they'd still choose to acquire it). But that's not intrinsic value, just a side-effect of our evolutionary bias in support of continued existence.
Anyway, it's all beside the point. The US dollar has value because people believe it has value; the same is true of gold, food, filecoin, and tulip bulbs. Value is an opinion and doesn't have to be numeric in nature. Archive.org needs things such as digital storage devices, network access, real estate, and human labor. Whatever helps them acquire these things has value to them.
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You mean like how John Steele convinced people to let him sue on their behalf to enforce copyright, blue?
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Re: So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is complete BS
I would love to for someone to gift me a one ounce gold coin. I don't care if I have to go through the extra step of exchanging it at a coin dealer first, I'll take it.
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Re: So, they got nothing - because cryptocurrency is complete BS
"If you can't buy groceries with it, IT IS NOT A VALID FORM OF MONEY"
I can't buy groceries with the US Dollar where I am, so by your standard it's not a valid form of money.
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So how much CO2 was burned in this transaction?
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Future of cryptocurrencies
I am all in favor of the concept of decentralized means of exchange that cut out governments and bean-counters altogether. However, I am not yet convinced that our current crop of cryptocurrencies are the solution. I am also a late-adopter in general, and I try to avoid getting cut on the bleeding edge of any new technology.
Bruce Schneier and Barath Raghavan have an interesting article on some of the positive features and possible pitfalls of blockchain cryptocurrencies as they stand right now.
tl;dr
The last line of the article:
"We are watching a public socio-technical experiment in the making, and we will witness its success or failure in the not-too-distant future."
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Re: Future of cryptocurrencies
Part of the pitfall is the blockchain idiocy. Eventually it will take all the energy the universe ever had in it to keep the stupid books.
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Oh boy, they're now trying to tie the internet archive to an environmental catastrophe in the making so people can feel slightly better about the electricity and e-waste they're burning through gambling on crypto... Woo.
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Uh, Bloof, not all cryptocurrency uses energy intensive methods. For example... Filecoin does not.
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So there's no mining involved, no computers sat churning away until they burn out in the hope of generating tokens for gamblers like every other crypto?
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While it does use blockchain elements, Filecoin does not operate like other cryptocurrencies. It's basically a token for storage space, à la IFS.
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It does not use a proof of stake that requires computers churning away. 30 seconds on Google might help you understand this...
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