In the last few years, I've heard "blockchain" and "blockchain 2.0" and many other such buzzwords repeated so many times that I'm beginning to wonder if I've missed out on something major.
I have had Bitcoin Core installed basically since it became a thing. My Bitcoin blockchain is over 300 GB by now. I use Bitcoin whenever I'm allowed to (extremely few services even accept it still) and feel like I can part from some, which is rare to say the least.
A lot of people seem to be pretending as if there is a whole "world" of cryptocurrencies being used and "smart contracts" being used and "Ether" being a whole major thing and... I don't notice any of this. Again, it's extremely rare that I find anyone who actually accepts Bitcoin, and I never hear anyone mention "Ether" or any non-Bitcoin cryptocurrency. People seem to have no idea that they exist at all.
Out of those who used to accept Bitcoin, many have actually stopped doing so recently as well.
I couldn't wish harder for this to become a thing, but I just don't see it. So what's with the constant "blockchain" talk? Do they truly have no idea what they are talking about? Are they consciously talking nonsense to get fiat money from stupid investors? (How can people who have lots of money be that stupid/ignorant?)
Am I missing something? Is there some kind of decentralized network right now which is actually being used which uses Bitcoin or "something else" and which I've somehow not noticed? Are they just talking nonsense?
Ever since I first heard of Bitcoin a decade age, I've been actively searching for ways to actually make a living using this system. It seems like it could still be year 2009 in terms of adoption/widespreadness.
Please don't link me to yet another slick website which links to some "whitepaper" and mentions that you should sign up to their newsletter for "exciting news". I'm not falling for that stuff again...
