> The problem with all that, is the fact it remains possible to create a protocol with N big institutions [...] This maintains many benefits of the blockchain and lacks many issues (fast, simple, near zero cost)

That's more or less exactly what this is. Stripe is launching an EVM L1.

The Ethereum Virtual Machine part gives it a mature tech stack with experienced developers and auditors. Plus, well-tested smart contracts that have already processed billions of dollars on other chains can be deployed on Tempo.

The "Stripe L1" part will ensure that it's fast, simple, near zero cost.

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serial_dev 6 days ago | parent [-]

I don’t get it yet.

If we skipped the whole blockchain part, wouldn’t it be faster, simpler, cheaper? What value does the whole blockchain, EVM, L1 offer? Don’t they fully control the network? Don’t they decide “everything” anyway?

I’d love to understand it, I’m not a hater, just a developer who don’t quite get this announcement.

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k__ 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

They say it's permissionless.

That can mean different things.

It can mean anyone can use it without needing to sign up.

It can also mean anyone can host a node, i.e. become part of the network, without needing to ask anyone for permission.

The question is how far they went with that and why people wouldn't use another L1 that offers similar features without having Stripe looming over it.

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WinstonSmith84 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

good questions - and your questions are, or could be, actually rhetorical. Yes, they are the validator and thus they control the transactions. It could be as simple as having a Database at the end ... Well I can think of two things:

1- they start by owning all validators, maybe they expect to open validators to other entities at some point in the future. If these entities don't collude together, we could expect some sort of neutrality

2- Marketing - because crypto is coming at an ATH and why not getting some good marketing for free (or almost)

And people mentioning costs, this is not particularly relevant. L2s are extremely cheap by most standards, let alone by Stripe standards which charge horrendous fees.

	▲	serial_dev 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		My questions were not rhetorical. I’m actually interested in the space (fintech, web3, blockchain, etc), but in this space particularly, it’s hard to discern marketing gimmick from use cases where these technologies actually provide real value, so I’m being critical of these announcements while at the same time keeping an open mind.

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Zpalmtree 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

There has been a huge amount of tooling and programs written for EVM that you instantly have access to