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How would you feel about signing a smart contract? (details in description) (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 year ago by kurogane@sopuli.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

As a foreword, yes I am very aware of resources like https://web3isgoinggreat.com You don't need to spam the comments with the link.

I am not asking about your general opinions on why crypto kittens is a jerk fest for crypto bros. Please cut the automatic generic rant on why cryptocurrencies is the sandbox of brainless dopamine monkeys. I am asking about your sentiment on a specific scenario, that tries to solve a real problem.

This is just an example, for oversimplification.
In a trust-less environment, one person shares some of their cloud space for a fixed amount of time, with another person they don't know much.

The person asking for the cloud space, promises that they will use it only for X,Y or Z. They both agree to leave all the data in clear text (it is easy to prove whether there has been a breach of trust).
If the person doesn't respect their engagement, they must be penalized. In this scenario, there is no legal tool to ensure this.

Enters the smart contract. The individual asking for a share of the cloud space, deposits a certain amount of ETH in a smart contract. The smart contract itself ensures that the owner of the cloud space will NEVER have access to the deposit fund.
Both individuals sign the smart contract. After a fixed amount of time, the depositor can retrieve their deposit back.
However, if for somewhat reason the depositor breaks their engagement (and do something outside X,Y, Z), the person sharing their cloud space can refuse the refund of the deposit.
Both individuals must then reach a consensus, or the deposit will stay frozen on the smart contract forever.

In this case, would the use of a smart contract be a reasonable solution to you?

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[–] alokir@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What do you mean by "cloud space"? Is it on a cloud drive somewhere or my own computer?

Because if they want extra cloud space it's cheaper and safer to just buy it from an established provider.

If they want to store their data on my computer, what guarantees do I have to offer in therms of availability and speed of access?

Do I have to keep my PC turned on at all times? What happens if I lose internet connection? Can I restart my pc after an update? Do I have to ensure redundancy? How do I compensate them on data loss?

If they don't want to use a provider like Google, Microsoft or Dropbox, then why? Do they want to store something questionable or illegal?

[–] kurogane@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't really understand your point. The scope of this conversation is not about cloud shopping, but trying to find the middle ground in trust-less environments. This is why I specified that this is an oversimplification, and not a real world example.
Take IPFS for example https://www.scaleway.com/en/blog/ipfs-the-real-web3-explained/
The data on the network can not be modified and tampered with, and nothing is encrypted. This answers the problem of "questionable content". You are not responsible of its uptime, and you are not even required to host the data yourself.

[–] alokir@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I assumed you meant file/data storage because you were talking about "cloud space".

My issue with these solutions is that you have to trust that your data will be available on the other person's machine whenever you want to access it.

Imagine something like a torrent. They only work as long as there are people seeding it. As soon as nobody's interested, the torrent file is useless.

If I agree that I'll host someone's data on my computer for money I'll have to guarantee that it will be available, otherwise why would they gamble that they might lose their data?

My impression with all these web3/crypto projects is that aside from crypto currencies everything that I've seen so far can be solve in a better way with conventional methods.

If your point is doing web3 for web3's sake then go ahead, it's an interesting concept and thought experiment, just not that useful yet in my opinion.