It's not this specific question. It's the fact that any time anything about blockchain tech is posted on hacker news the first comment will be 'b-but where are the use-cases' with the second being something like 'lol scam.' It would be the equivalent of replying to every HN post with 'but why would anyone want to own a personal computer?' That's how irrelevant and uninformed these posts are.
Asking about practical applications of a relatively mature technology is an entirely, 100% legitimate question to ask. It is frequently asked about many other techs and advances, although it's also frequently omitted since the answer is obvious and readily available/forthcoming. Not so with pretty much anything blockchain. So yeah, if a technology is a solution in search of a problem for ten years, that's gonna come up a lot, and it's entirely fair. What else could be more relevant than that question, given all the hype?
>but why would anyone want to own a personal computer?
Both you and I can effortlessly come up with a dozen or two concrete answers (reality, not hypotheticals) to this question with no preparation whatsoever. Can you come up with just one single example for smart contracts? Reality, not hypotheticals. Heck, I'd settle for hypotheticals that are at least well on their way to reality.
- p2p asset exchange without centralised deposits (otherwise vulnerable to theft)
- micro-payments and offchain payments (they help to scale the tech)
- flash loans (instant access to unlimited capital)
- escrow (setting up N-of-M access to funds -- this would require a lawyer in real life and still be unreliable)
- streamable pay rolls (when you sign an employment contract
-- you get paid after the first week(s/s/s/s) -- you can stream money to employees over time with smart contracts -- this is genuinely novel)
- automated vesting payouts (again -- most employees have to trust their boss to send whatever vested shares theyre owed. you can setup a smart contract to do this to minimise trust and ensure you will be paid.)
- provably backed derivative contracts of many different types (conventional financial contracts require the assumption that the exchange can actually back up contract values -- with blockchain smart contracts you can setup 100 - N% fully collateralised positions -- 100% transparent. Recall what happened with game stop recently. Robin hood couldn't do shit if it were a DEX.)
there is one final killer use case for the tech and by itself its enough to justify it: decentralised markets. most of you remember silk road as a drug market. But believe it or not silk road was about more than just drugs. it was about having the freedom to trade as you saw fit. taking the good and bad as it came. the website sold books, hosting, and many legitimate products and services. of course -- no one ever gives ulbricht credit for that. silk road was the reason bitcoin had any value in the beginning. today there are many more use-cases though.
These are a bunch of either superficially or actually plausible ideas. How can I tell whether it's legit or bullshit without seeing how it fares in the real world? Perhaps I wasn't clear - I was looking for company names, product names, something I can get a feel for in terms of concrete metrics like $$$ invested, sales, profits, how it's faring in the real world, etc.
