The key takeaway being “...it runs great in a controlled (Private permissioned) environment but may struggle if it ran publically”.
Hedera uses patented tech, so the combo of those two things - private permissioned, and proprietary - starts to make the ledger look a little.. centralized.. which puts the purists off, and all-in-all decreases the chance it will be accepted or widely adopted. The company may do well if their play is purely to simplify the operations of industry (ala R3 Corda) but I don’t think it will displace blockchain in the way that some are thinking.
A lot of the arguments about ‘who will reign supreme’ or ‘what is going to be the next killer tech offering’ start to unravel when you zoom out from the white paper. There are glaring problems with a number of decentralized offerings that just don’t have clear answers when they are applied in real world situations (yet) - I fear, and suspect, that many of them never will.
I’m thoroughly convinced that the solutions that will endure, will be underpinned by solid tech, but will have a primary focus on solving a real problem. The solving part can be completed collaboratively, but also needs to happen efficiently too; its no use creating more complicated problems as you work your way through solving the original conundrum.
So, applying that to cryptos in general: “What problem are they solving?”. Hmm. Was fiat currency and centralized economies so bad... that we had to invent a completely wasteful and frivolous set of alternatives in order to satisfy our burning desire to ensure that we are “finally in control of our own destiny!”...?
If the answer to that is “Damn straight!” then I would politely point to the current fractured state of affairs across the crypto world, with all of the price manipulation, prevalence of scams, hacks, and Ponzi schemes, bad actors, environmental damage caused by bloated PoW algorithms, immutable kiddy porn, and years of wasted Dev talent, government time, and professional expertise that is the result of these endeavors and say:
“How’s that working out..?”
Again, even though it may sound unlikely, I’m still hopeful for the future of crypto and blockchain/DLT tech. It’s an exciting field to be involved in and there is much ground to cover. Much more to say, however I’ll leave it that.
PS A little bonus (nb not my work). A fun, yet thought-provoking take on the game theory of trust. It directly relates to the topic at hand, and presents a surprising (and powerful) set of conclusions about how certain problems should be approached and could be solved. Enjoy
(20min delay)