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It seems to be that for the blockchain to have an understanding of the real world it needs an oracle. That oracle can be made of many different actors each staking some funds and the "correct" value is determined by the value with the most funds staked against it. This still doesn't prevent coercion of a large majority or just a very rich whale betting on achieving what is essentially a 51% attack on the network.

> many contracts may operate simultaneously, and some even over shared claims in market disputes

Potentially - I don't disagree that the tech can technically do this, but ultimately it's still down to 1) people choosing to use it (as opposed to traditional contracts enforced by judges & subsequent law enforcement personnel) and 2) that whatever outcome reached by the blockchain can successfully be enforced in the real world - you'd need a government with jurisdiction upon the disputed assets to recognize the blockchain's outcome as legitimate and enforce it. People are unlikely to do "1" if they're not confident that "2" will happen especially if the problem can be solved by existing legal contracts who unlike blockchain-based solutions have a track record of being enforced.

Ultimately I don't think we'll ever reach an agreement here so I think the best course of action is that we stick to our opinions and either of us can tell the other one "told you so" in a decade as we see how the situation evolved.



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