Top all-time · #1613
Molly White
Personal blog · blog.mollywhite.netprogrammingeconomics
Molly White's personal blog at blog.mollywhite.net covers programming and economics. Since 2013, 47 different Hacker News readers have linked it 57 times, most often “The Blockchain Essays Collection”. The last post was in 2024, but the archive is still widely read.
Blog posts by Molly White, a researcher, writer, and software engineer.
Most-linked posts?
- The Blockchain Essays Collection5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2022-01-15
- Excerpts from letters to the judge in the Celsius Network bankruptcy case5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2022-07-23
- Cryptocurrency “market caps” and notional value4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-07-18
- Blockchain-based systems are not what they say they are3 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-01-10
- Abuse and Harassment on the Blockchain3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-01-23
- The Axie Infinity hack, what happened, and why people keep talking about bridges3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-03-31
- Become a Wikipedian in 30 Minutes3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-03-08
- Digital artists' post-bubble hopes for NFTs don't need a blockchain3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-05-12
- /abuse-on-the-blockchain-lecture/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-03-20
- Blockchain Solutionism2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-10-24
What Hacker News says?
I found Molly White's video here really useful for helping me understand the Reliable Sources policy: https://blog.mollywhite.net/become-a-wikipedian-transcript/ > The way we determine reliability is typically based on the reputation for editorial oversight, and for factchecking and corrections. For example, if you have a reference book that is published by a reputable publisher that has an editorial board and that…
Comment linking /become-a-wikipedian-transcript/
on “Wikipedia’s nonprofit status questioned by D.C. U.S. attorney”Submitted It’s not still the early days of blockchain as a story · 554 points
HN discussionSo there is no progress in non Proof-of-Work coins today? Perhaps the author is saying that there are no blockchains that are being used as the basis of regulated stable-coins and CBDC projects that are being tested by central banks today? I mean, the author is arguing as if Bitcoin, and Ethereum are the only blockchains that exist today. Hence why this is another blog-post that associates all cryptocurrencies havin…
Comment linking /blockchain/
on “It’s not still the early days of blockchain”Submitted On anti-crypto toxicity as a story · 246 points
HN discussionHaven't you watched "Line Goes Up - The Problem With NFTs" yet? It's about a whole lot more than just NFTs. Your question is thoroughly addressed and truthfully answered in that video. Also see his references and citations in "Sources and Further Reading" for more proof. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g Sources and Further Reading: https://web3isgoinggreat.com/ https://tante.cc/2021/12/17/the-third-web/ h…
Comment linking /blockchains-are-not-what-they-say/
on “Bitconnect founder indicted in global $2.4B cryptocurrency scheme”Submitted Is “acceptably non-dystopian” self-sovereign identity even possible? as a story · 238 points
HN discussionI wish that were true. The Celsius and Voyager fallout has shown otherwise: https://blog.mollywhite.net/celsius-letters/ https://blog.mollywhite.net/voyager-letters/
Comment linking /voyager-letters/
on “Nomad drained of $150m due to a coding mistake”Submitted Cryptocurrency off-ramps, and the shift towards centralization as a story · 177 points
HN discussionI'm not sure it's accurate to characterize everything going into crypto "disposable income". The Celsius Network collapse yielded some pretty devastating appeals[0] to the bankruptcy court for the return of people's life savings. [0] https://blog.mollywhite.net/celsius-letters/
Comment linking /celsius-letters/
on “Mass of transactions leaving crypto.com wallets”Submitted Blockchain-based systems are not what they say they are as a story · 168 points
HN discussionso much japing, so little substance and to make a point LETS JUST SWITCH TO CAPS and round it off with a reddit comment - this is capitalism baby! Also, what is this headline even about? Why the bashing on fintech? I worked for 4 fintechs and communicated with many more, not a single one was blockchain related. Why is this even on hn? If you want to read proper criticism of blockchain, read Molly White's essays inst…
Comment linking /blockchain/
on “Fintech dystopia”Submitted Is Web3 Bullshit? (Transcript) as a story · 124 points
HN discussionI have nothing against gambling as long as people know they're gambling . I keep seeing the same cycle of people encouraged through FOMO and taunts of “have fun staying poor”, unsophisticated investors putting at stake more than they can afford to lose, and then the relevant subreddits posting suicide hotline numbers. It's sickening and it needs to stop. Edit: this timely link appeared on my feed: https://blog.molly…
Comment linking /celsius-letters/
on “I Looked into 34 Top Real-World Blockchain Projects So You Don’t Have To”Submitted Abuse and Harassment on the Blockchain as a story · 102 points
HN discussionIt's absolutely true https://blog.mollywhite.net/abuse-and-harassment-on-the-bloc... https://blockcast.cc/news/a-new-type-of-nft-scam-beware-of-s...
Comment linking /abuse-and-harassment-on-the-blockchain/
on “Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen”Submitted Stop saying “They shouldn't have invested more than they could afford to lose” as a story · 84 points
HN discussionFor a good laugh on this matter, I recommend reading this. https://blog.mollywhite.net/cryptoland-thread/ The level of incompetency and ironical jokes is overwhelming.
Comment linking /cryptoland-thread/
on “Cryptoland [video]”Submitted The Wikimedia Foundation's acceptance of cryptocurrency donations as a story · 22 points
HN discussionRead up on Wikipedia's "reliable source" policies. Information on Wikipedia is meant to be backed up by a verifiable source, partly to prevent a situation where knowledge only makes it onto Wikipedia if enough of the editors agree that it should be true. Molly White made a great video and write-up explaining this a few months ago: https://blog.mollywhite.net/become-a-wikipedian-transcript/#...
Comment linking /become-a-wikipedian-transcript/
on “Wikimedia Enterprise – APIs for LLMs, AI Training, and More”Submitted Why I'm not laughing at C Plus Equality as a story · 21 points
HN discussionA group called this "Feminist Software Foundation", which is apparently comprised of trolls/jokers from 4chan. I think that they were making fun of (i.e. parodying) feminists, not anti-feminists. https://github.com/TheFeministSoftwareFoundation/C-plus-Equa... http://blog.mollywhite.net/why-im-not-laughing-at-c-plus-equ... http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/19/feminist_software_fo...
Comment linking /why-im-not-laughing-at-c-plus-equality/
on “GitHub's 2014 Transparency Report”Submitted The Axie Infinity hack, what happened, and why people keep talking about bridges as a story · 20 points
HN discussionIf (for some reason) you're not expecting it, I'll caution that a guy whose handle I won't promote gets into gross rhetoric on this regarding Jews, women's rights, and so on. Edit: also this transcription linked in the video's description is excellent (and redacts the gross asides I mentioned): https://blog.mollywhite.net/monster-qa
Comment linking /monster-qa
on “New leak of Epik data exposes company’s entire server”Submitted Blockchain Solutionism as a story · 14 points
HN discussion> If true, this means that much of Ethereum’s promise to decentralize the web is in fact a lie: it may instead be controlled by a group of elites whose existence has been purposefully concealed. > This also means that if Eth switches to proof of stake, the larger hodlers will have the power to determine consensus. Absolutely correct and this is where the web3 hype origins were from. They are using web3 to pump their…
Comment linking /blockchains-are-not-what-they-say/
on “Ethereum founder talks disguising purchases to make them look like a legit ICO”Submitted Digital artists' post-bubble hopes for NFTs don't need a blockchain as a story · 12 points
HN discussionI can't recommend "web3 is going great" highly enough for creating digestible explanations. There's good commentary on Axie Infinity (the Sky Mavis game which got hacked) and links to more detailed explanations here. https://web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=2022-03-29-0 (particularly by Molly White the owner of the web3isgoinggreat https://blog.mollywhite.net/axie-hack/ )
Comment linking /axie-hack/
on “Sky Mavis raises $150M, funds to be restored on the Ronin Bridge”Submitted Abuse and Harassment on the Blockchain as a story · 8 points
HN discussionMany people have alaready made sense of web3. The problem with web3? People involved in the space don't care. They are either gullible or know exactly what they are doing (scamming and claiming something that has nothing to do blockchains). One of the earliest articles that already made sense is 5 years old this year: - Ten years in, nobody has come up with a use for blockchain , https://medium.com/@kaistinchcombe/t…
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on “Making Sense of Web3”Submitted Cryptocurrency “market caps” and notional value as a story · 5 points
HN discussion
