Bitcoin: What do you think?

   / Bitcoin: What do you think? #31  
Sorry if this has been addressed I have not followed the thread...

The credit card / banks have to be way ahead of the game on the future of electronic money...
I see card / chip (as well as iris or f-print) scanners coming on new computers and USB dongles for older machines...

security and confidence will be the backbone of the future form of e-money IMO...
 
   / Bitcoin: What do you think?
  • Thread Starter
#32  
   / Bitcoin: What do you think? #33  
grsthegreat said:
Flaw in Bitcoin, exchange shutdowns, $2.7 million theft: Is the end coming? | VentureBeat | Business | by Barry Levine
Click to expand...

The Bitcoin flaw that shut down Mt. Gox does not allow the theft of coins. Basically, what it does is cause a transaction to appear to go through multiple times, causing a person's account to have a lower balance than it should, but the system always eventually resolves the transactions correctly. For more:

Using transaction malleability, it seems that some Mt. Gox customers were able to pull off a version of refund fraud, says Antonopoulos. Mt. Gox is claiming that some customers requested a bitcoin transaction and were able to quickly change the fingerprint on the transaction, making it looks like it hadn't gone through. When they returned to Mt. Gox to complain, the exchange would agree to send payment again.

But it's not just a headache for the exchanges. Malleability can also cause problems for people who conduct multiple Bitcoin transactions in rapid succession, causing some transactions to be voided and wallet balances to get out of sync with what's reflected in the network. In essence, however, this is an accounting problem. It is not possible to use this flaw to steal or misdirect Bitcoins that you do not own.

"What these are are phantom transactions that don't effect the balance but can fool your wallet into thinking that it has less than it has謡hich is scary but harmless," says Antonopoulos.
Click to expand...

So then what about the $2.7 million theft? The Mt. Gox flaw does NOT allow fraudulent transactions to go through. Also, SR usually stores their Bitcoins in cold (offline) storage, but they had just "coincidentally" temporarily moved all of them to hot (online) storage to do a system upgrade or something at the time of the theft. So the Silk Road story does not add up. The explanation that makes the most sense to me is that the organizers of Silk Road themselves are the ones who have stolen the $2.7 million, and they are using people's misunderstanding of the Mt. Gox flaw as a cover story.

It's important for people to realize that BitCoin is very much like cash in the way it is transferred and held. A whole bunch of people gave a whole bunch of cash to some unsavory characters, who then ran off with it. This is hardly a novel story, and it is hardly unique to Bitcoin.
 
   / Bitcoin: What do you think? #34  
I think anything that is as simple as currency that takes a whole lot of head scratching to "get it" is not something I want to fool with.

I also think "If you don't hold it, you don't own it".

( and yes, that applies to US fiat currency, as many folks that held MF Global accounts will tell you )
 
   / Bitcoin: What do you think?
  • Thread Starter
#35  
/pine said:
Sorry if this has been addressed I have not followed the thread...

The credit card / banks have to be way ahead of the game on the future of electronic money...
I see card / chip (as well as iris or f-print) scanners coming on new computers and USB dongles for older machines...

security and confidence will be the backbone of the future form of e-money IMO...
Click to expand...


I don't think a Bitcoin ATM will be coming to my town anytime soon. :laughing: But, it is interesting following this just to see how it unfolds, or folds.

Bitcoin ATMs coming to the U.S. - CNN.com

To create a Robocoin account, a user enters their mobile phone number at one of the kiosks. The machine sends a code to that phone and, after the user enters the code, they are asked to scan the palm of their hand.

"Your phone is your user ID and your palm is your password," Kelly said.

The user is then asked to insert a driver's license or other government-issued ID, further personalizing their account as well as providing Robocoin an opportunity to verify the user's name against government watch lists for terrorists or others who may not legally do business in the machine's home country.

Then, the user takes a photo at the kiosk, which must be verified as a match with the picture on their ID card.

Once their account is verified, a process Kelley said takes two to five minutes, they are free to buy Bitcoins at the kiosk. Customers may either transfer them to an account, using a private code the machine dispenses, or use a smartphone app to store them on their phone.
 
   / Bitcoin: What do you think? #36  
joshuabardwell said:
I'm not an economist, but isn't that what "deflationary" means? Inflation means your money is worth less; deflation means your money is worth more.
Click to expand...

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Deflationary_spiral
Deflationary spiral is an economic argument that proposes that runaway deflation can eventually lead to the collapse of the currency given certain conditions and constraints. It is a common criticism made against the viability of Bitcoin. The 租eflationary spiral is a real condition that affects the popular fractional reserve backing system. Bitcoin is not affected by this because it is fundamentally different from popular currency.

Deflation is a decline in the general price level. Deflation occurs when the price of goods and services, relative to a specific measure, decline. It is not necessarily that the value of the goods and services themselves declined, but can be because the value of the currency itself increased.

Lots more information at site.

Loren
 
   / Bitcoin: What do you think? #37  
First penny auctions now Bitcoin. The gullibility of ponzi scheme investors is astounding. What is incredible about Bitcoin is that they call it a currency so there isn't even a pretense of having a product.
 
   / Bitcoin: What do you think? #38  
there are a limited number of bitcoins ... 49% are owned/held by 1 entity already....

just like shares , each one appreciates in value as long as someone is willing to pay more for a "share" ( or portion of ) than the original stock price... eventually it will even out as the ceiling is reached ....

yes the first ones to get in will make mega bux ... the rest , less so ... and the tailenders will end up footing the bill eventually ....


The governments will step in as more companies try to copy / cash in .... and they will demand to know who bought what and for how much, then check to see if the "taxes" were paid on the transactions or increase in value when sold or exchanged. It's gonna get messy.


just remember " there are no physical bitcoins " ... only electronic entities ... BTW , anyone seen the emperor's new clothes?
 
   / Bitcoin: What do you think? #39  
   / Bitcoin: What do you think? #40  
that "entity" was the original developer and all the major players that set it up ....... just to make sure they got their share of the spoils ...
 
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