Most definitions of crypto refer to tech ("blockchain"), first use case (cryptoCURRENCY), or adversarial environment (@NTmoney). To me, the core is about economics & complex systems, sth like: "A formalized, digital, self-regulating network for economic interaction." Feedback?
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That probably maps onto the "protocol" meaning, then. So, I'll try: "a protocol for recording, enforcing, and settling obligations, value transfers, or computation, without a central authority, through the use of cryptographic assurances together with economic incentives."
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Note that interactions need not be economic in nature, nor is the protocol the network, nor is there necessarily anything formal or self-regulating about any of it. (These are, of course, my opinions only - I can be persuaded.)
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Every interaction is economic in nature. The protocol is the network when it's an open/permissionless system
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That's using the term "economic" so broadly as to make it meaningless. Of course economic considerations touch everything, but that's not helpful. Also disagree that the protocol is the network. Each component influences the entire system, but they're conceptually separable.
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Economic in terms of the network protocol, since it all comes down to transaction processing and the dynamics around the blockchain data structure. Essentially for every transaction someone needs to pay for it so it has some potential economic value
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Yes, of course - but then you can imagine systems where those costs are hidden or implicit, such as permissioned ledgers. It stops being meaningful at some point.
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Those types of subsidised transactions can be seen as an arbitrage of the supposed 'non-economic' transactions by the entity running the system. Your facebook likes might not seem economic to you but they certainly are to Zuck
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Maybe they're not subsidized. In a permissioned chain, everyone maintains a copy of the ledger and pays for their own. There's a lot of cross-subsidy but it all comes out in the wash.
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