Amer Profile picture
Nov 23 35 tweets 16 min read Read on X
Originally it supposed to be a research paper that I would publish with Damascus University Faculty of Economics, but I remembered that researchers aren’t vibing with crypto, and crypto treat research like a scam, so it is a thread on X with some changes🧵.

#ICP #Bitcoin Image
From A Peer-To-Peer Transaction System to The World Computer

Table of Contents:

1. Big Techs and Data

2. Blockchain

2.1 Bitcoin

2.2 The World Computer

3. Voting Power and general-purpose Dilemmas

4. Conclusion
1. Big techs and Data

1/ The read-write movement that current big tech companies adopted in the 2000s unlocked the true capabilities of the internet.

Web 2.0, especially social media platforms, emerged as tools that empowered ordinary people by providing them with a public virtual sphere to share information, organize, and amplify their voices. All the world’s regimes rely on controlling narratives as a way to ensure stability, and for those who weren’t prepared, this was a black swan event that posed a serious challenge to their authority, as sudden shift of power would inevitably lead to chaos.

thenationalnews.com/uae/facebook-a…
Only after the dot-com bubble burst and filtered out speculative ventures and snake oil projects did those focused on technology and users survive. Today, they are considered the legends of entrepreneurship.

Web 2.0 technology's scalability relies on centralized system; by covering the cost of computational power, these platforms can offer services free to users or minimize user expenses in exchange for their data.Image
Image
E-commerce and social media success stem from their focus on people. E-commerce thrives by prioritizing customer needs, while social media excels by taking care of users as they are both consumers and creators.

Since they have the dataset, they developed a powerful AI algorithm that leaves users always satisfied as it keeps self-improving to highly personalized the user experience that reinforcing their existing values and beliefs. leading them straight to the echo-chamber. After the internet used to be a place for unpopular opinions.
With Their centralized structure they can do it on infinite scale

they manage to enable a robust performance as user bases grow. They acted very reliable as a third-party managing billions of users, With sophisticated cybersecurity system (not immune)

Small businesses and talented entrepreneurs can still succeed in the current big tech era but rarely achieve massive scale. They either face irresistible acquisition offers from big tech or are exposed to platform risks, such as delisting or sudden policy changes.

ventionteams.com/blog/5-main-re…

For example, Zynga and Facebook, the delisting of Fortnite, and the acquisition of WhatsApp, Instagram among others.
When unlimited resources are injected into a startup, it can fundamentally alter its vision.



this dominance has resulted in a free market balanced only through competition among the big tech giants—and @elonmusk
This limited competition creates stability for the giants but narrows pathways for independent.
Politicians were initially slow to grasp the implications of data centralization. However, as long as it served their interests—enabling control of media and tailoring messages to their whims, they were lenient toward these companies. This mutual benefit created a shared interest in maintaining the status quo.

U.S. antitrust laws historically focus on consumer prices, and for years, big tech kept services free or low-cost. It’s only recently that antitrust conversations have evolved to consider factors like data control.

However, they are not threatened, since as they have authority over the money data, they control the end goal.
2. Blockchain

I'll only be focusing on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and ICP blockchains, as each one has taken the industry to another level.

Since any interaction with a blockchain other than ICP will incur fees (by 'interaction' I mean a transaction, because any blockchain that can’t store data fully on-chain is essentially just a ledger). No matter how advanced the ledger is, at best, it can only sign a transaction quickly and securely and cost low. As a ledger, that is the best it can offer.

Ultimately, it will lose to Bitcoin, because if crypto were about the tech, the oldest blockchain wouldn’t be the number one blockchain with ~60% market dominance.Image
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System



Bitcoin offers a solution to a problem that we started in 19th that everyone knows it's coming but no one knows when. bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdfImage
Time and energy can be saved to future by exchange it to the most liquid asset aka money, and it’s USD in this case as it is the world reverse currency.

Time and energy can be stolen directly but humanity has developed laws to criminal such.

Or it can be stolen indirectly by print more money that is not backed by energy or time. Aka inflation, Stealing everyone future saves.
Everything goes according to the macro plan until the economy collapse and printing money is always the easiest/shortest solution, and any temporary policy maker will always choose this solution. By rolling the snowball. However, they went with it too far that a baker can define inflation, offers a rational solution but fiat economists still don’t get it, because the statistic doesn’t match the reality so they think there must be something wrong with the reality.

According to Keynes, animal spirits are a key determinant of economic activity, alongside more rational factors such as interest rates and investment opportunities

the father of the school is not a long-term thinker, so we shouldn’t be surprised with economy crises that happen after 90+ year of moving off the gold standard, and this school is being taught in universities, to graduate experts, so no wonder academicians faded bitcoin.
Bitcoin post-COVID

As governments printed unprecedented amounts of money to stabilize economies, inflation soared, Bitcoin emerged as a beacon—a store of value immune to the inflationary pressures of fiat currencies. Owning Bitcoin, it's about sovereignty, freedom, and security. After it had been stress tested 100 times before it gets this reliance.

-The absence of a reliable store of value inevitably leads to various negative consequences that impact everything (Using something as a store of value when it isn’t designed for that purpose)

storing value is essential as humans are inherently low-time-preference creatures. In any part of the world.

For example:

the prices of real estate in Damascus are higher than in Los Angeles because safe areas become scarce during war, in addition, wealthy individuals use it as a substitute to store their wealth. This has made life increasingly challenging for future generations, who now face the additional burden of rebuilding Syria with a long-term perspective, Moreover, the collective economic sanctions imposed on the country have crippled the economy, leading to hyperinflation and unemployment. leaving 90% of Syrians in poverty.

apnews.com/article/syria-…

(this does not include the enormous resources the immense resources spent to destabilize Syria).
The amount of money being liquidated on a thin trading day in crypto is enough to rebuild all the universities and schools in Syria—institutions that never took a day off during the war, even under the toughest circumstances. Western media which claims to value education, would never highlight this as it might challenge the narrative surrounding the third world.

So, the real world now makes way less sense than crypto, thanks to the current interest-driven monetary system (Riba). that has created a persistently stressful environment that later normalized self-deprecation and gambling as acceptable paths to wealth.
Bitcoin's tokenomics ensure that adopting the Bitcoin standard won't result in a chaotic power shift. Instead, it is the first step toward the principle of "fix the money, fix the world."

A new all-time high for Bitcoin isn’t surprising anymore. Even presidential candidates are seeking the approval of the Bitcoin community—clear signs that bitcoin is on the right way toward a power shift.

x.com/saifedean/stat…
The World Computer:

Ethereum extend blockchain technology and Satoshi's philosophy "remove intermediaries” beyond just a currency system, to a platform that could host an entire ecosystem of applications where the code is the intermediary

Where trusting -an anonymous -on money -on the internet to build a project is now possible, this groundbreaking idea has shaped the vision of a world computer.
However, Ethereum as the world computer is a world computer that charges more the more it is used, is not going to work. Dom knew it early on and founded dfinity. lead by dom and jan, they started from users experience backwards to the technology and came up with reverse gas model and chain key as scalability solution simplifying verification while maintaining high security.

x.com/dfinity/status…

x.com/dfinity/status…

Making the world computer a real possibility following the number the rules for any digital product to be globally adopted we mentioned before.
ICP

The most secure way for storing money is in any scares physical form within sight, but if it needed to be fully liquid, and make deals across the globe in seamless and in the most secure and private way, then a peer-to-peer electric cash system emerges as a new form of money (most innovative form of money) that has all the monetary criteria (Divisibility Durability Portability Scarcity...)

Bitcoin has solved the problem of securing financial data.

But what about the other sensitive data that defiantly the future is being built upon? It is so obvious that AI will become a part of everyone life, since the data is the heartbeat of AI it raises a crucial question of where these data is going to live and who has access to it?
The most secure way for storing data or run a custom AI is a Private Data Center, but if it needs to be shared seamlessly, securely, on a global scale in the most secure and private way, then a canister is a new form of smart contract that has properties of smart contract (Tamper-proof, Transparency, Interoperability) and hold up to 500GB
x.com/dfinity/status…
ICP's unique positioning comes from its ability to offer a fully on-chain environment where both data and AI can be resistant to data poisoning, model manipulation. Every change or update to the model is recorded and verified, and it is decentralized so there is no single point of failure for hackers to attack. (immune)

They communicate with each other and external systems, treating these interactions with the same level of security as blockchain transactions.

x.com/dominic_w/stat…
The awareness of the important of cybersecurity is more serious than ever. Especially when AI is now added to the equation.

No one pivot to a completely different structure if they don’t have to. So whatever events that would lead to realization of ICP importance as a security hedge may not be pleasant

The awareness of a hedge against inflation has gone parabolic since covid, took bitcoin value with it.

The recent years highlighted the importance of Bitcoin as a store of value and Sovereign money, some who were took a hit have since turned to Bitcoin.

only ~0.2% of the world's $900T of capital has shifted into Bitcoin. As it offers a solution and it is considered a paradigm shift, Same applies to ICP in cybersecurity sector.

ICP is developing a secure infrastructure to counter a massive potential threat, its delusional to think that will be dominated by one entity.

So, if ICP solution to this managed to secure 2% of this market. It will be considered a paradigm shift in cybersecurity sector, for some, this will be necessary—revolutionary projects will prioritize ultimate security over other considerations.
internetcomputer.org/capabilities
3.1 Voting Power Dilemma

On paper, ICP is decentralized. However, without going into too much detail...

There is no way the world computer will be fully decentralized just four years after genesis, with only one major contributor behind it.

Currently, Dfinity is the only major contributor to ICP, effectively controlling development direction. All the capabilities mentioned have been shipped by them. Dfinity is the most trusted and expert entity in the ecosystem, making their voice the loudest and seemingly the safest to follow (voluntarily). Creating a voting power Delima.

Same Dilemma that would have happened to bitcoin block size war if Satoshi had a say.
but in ICP's case, it's incredibly difficult for a new major contributor to join and compete with Dfinity’s experties, as a result, we have a non-dialectical ecosystem, and any ecosystem lacking dialectics is inherently incomplete or artificial.

Dfinity is not a traditional company and icp isn’t their product, so the solution in this case has to be from community members and independent devs as web 3.0 book says, and dfinity heavily supports that by many programs. Which eventually leading to point zero, making the ecosystem to be even more around dfinity!!!
ICP, as the first blockchain capable of hosting full-stack applications entirely on-chain, is essentially building everything from scratch. This brick-by-brick approach takes immense time and effort, it’s not something you can simply fork and bypass years of work.

The goal of the Network nervous system (NNS) is to give morality to the internet capabilities and AI.

Moral codes are shaped by societies through collective agreement, rather than being dictated by the wealthy. ICP aims to empower individuals. However, individuals often pursue money, and the wealthy seek power, which will always end up with voting power in the hands of the rich, creating a 'DAO paradox.'. However, managing a paradox would always paves the way for the creation of great things.

A big step has been taken toward solving this with the implementation of the 8-year locked neuron.

x.com/Amerxyzz/statu…
Decentralizing ICP is much harder than decentralizing Bitcoin and is inherently controversial, the creation of a governance structure that is universally accepted and gives individuals across the world the same opportunities and rights on the computer that being built on the internet.

Shifting voting power is fraught with challenges and must be managed with great care, to prevent the chaos of a sudden power shift, particularly ICP as a permissionless application layer.
3.2 General-Purpose Dilemma

ICP is a general-purpose blockchain, and while certain use cases may require private code. But that is not acceptable when it comes to Defi/NFTs.

and stealing by pushing updates is not a good look for any blockchain. the platform’s reputation will always be at risk!

So as long as ICP hasn't figured out a solution for such cases, it is not a mature protocol that is ready to serve the world
at this stage. Any community member or independent dev constructive criticism the system is the real major contributor on the other end. For balancing it. I consider them the most ethical for addressing concerns that negatively affect their own locked holdings.

It’s always those with the deepest understanding of ICP who raise the hardest questions, if these individuals were to leave ICP, ICP will end up playing in web 2 league, and in web 2 league lCP has no competitive advantages.
4.Conclusion

social media it's been taken over by capitalism it came from it in the first place, it plays the role of big data broker, and a cushion to absorb societal shock after it use to cause them. Probably memes that keeps them alive

cnbc.com/2024/05/16/red…
we will know if X (private company) is the winner of social media, this will be catalyzed when we see how nuanced @grok will be, given the high-quality free speech data it is being trained on(IF). probably what keep social media alive are the memes

-Most of crypto projects are snake oil narratives. solving unnecessary problems, 99% of the time Bitcoin maxis are right. But when they’re wrong, we get innovative tools that we invented along the way (smart contracts, Evm, Amm, Daos, Stablecoins, ZKP, RWA...) later composed into advanced systems like (canisters, cycles, Bitfinity evm, NNS/SNS Dao, and UTC).

A major flaw of ICP is its overly serious approach to the crypto industry, focusing on leveraging blockchain technology to build utilities designed to serve the entire worl,as a priority. (Not narratives or marketing) which is kind of weird to crypto.

x.com/sisyphusdancin…
ICP would not exist without the inspiration that Ethereum provided, which introduced the concept of a “World Computer” and “smart contracts”

after all:

Remember, Mistakes are unavoidable when you're building something of this scale and novelty, and we're lucky to face these challenges early on.

Even the now-untouchable Bitcoin was once centralized, with Satoshi stepping in to fix a critical bug during its early days, long before it achieved its current level of resilience.

x.com/jconorgrogan/s…
Let's be honest, web 3.0 can’t beat web 2.0 on features, big techs have almost unlimited data and unlimited resources to spend on R&D, however, big techs can’t reach to blockchain level of security. Or get the benefits of decentralization.

I have 25 amazing ideas to improve ICP—if I’m wrong about 24 of them, I would still have added a brick to the world computer. So just imagine what global adoption would do!

Web 2.0 companies at best have 20 talented board members brain storming improving ideas.
If you ever doubted ICP again, think of this:

Someone in Damascus, can raise a serious discussion about democracy with Americans because of the shared interest we have in ICP, this form of communication represents a significant leap forward and is entirely new for humanity.

Regulators have granted the crypto industry enough time to mature. This cycle may be the most pivotal in crypto history before regulators step in to burst the remaining bubbles.

Any competitor trying to copy ICP is already too late and will always lag behind ICP in terms of technology. They might succeed with better marketing or narratives, but only until the bubble bursts.

Regulators’ nightmare is a permissionless ecosystem, I’m not sure how crypto is gonna mange to pull it off, however, a permissionless ecosystem that governed with skin in the game distributed participants and taking feedback directly from the free market is likely to yield only good results after being filtered through diverse cultures.
-ICP It’s not a theory anymore If @dominic_w had told me about it in 2016, I'd probably have thought of it as very long shot or just asked him to pass whatever he was smoking.

x.com/dominic_w/stat…

-More community driven ecosystem and ICP will be way closer to success than failure.

It’s clear now why this is a thread on and not a formal paper. Because communities are where change begins.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Amer

Amer Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(