4 ms·

The Wired.com headline (but not the headline here at HN) is misleading. Per an Overstock SEC filing, any securities they (or t0.com) issue "will not be issued o

The Wired.com headline (but not the headline here at HN) is misleading. Per an Overstock SEC filing, any securities they (or t0.com) issue "will not be issued on the Bitcoin blockchain ... the ownership and transfer of such digital securities will be recorded on a proprietary ledger that will be publicly distributed."

muloka 11y ago
I agree the Wired headline is misleading, which is why I changed it to better reflect what the article is about. Thanks for posting to clarify the change.
jabgrabdthrow 11y ago
It's only misleading if you thing "blockchain" is not generic but means "The Bitcoin Blockchain". Is this a common understanding?
- eximius 11y ago
  Without clarification or context (i.e., "a new blockchain"), then it is usually Bitcoin.
- brighton36 11y ago
  How is this any better than a database?
  - anilgulecha 11y ago
    Decentralized store and decentralized trust. The latter is hard with a publically accessible & editable mysql.
    - brighton36 11y ago
      Except that this isn't decentralized - its a controlled blockchain that's only available for public download (which http does just fine) As does archive.org
      - anilgulecha 11y ago
        I think you incorrectly understand how the blockchain can be updated.
  - sanswork 11y ago
    It's not. This use case is pretty stupid since regulations make it impossible to allow true anonymous p2p trading.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- umanwizard 11y ago
  "blockchain" or "a blockchain" to me is generic. "the blockchain" to me refers to the most famous one (Bitcoin)
pash 11y ago
The Wired headline is less misleading than your comment. Information about transfers of ownership will be recorded on a private ledger, and a hash of that information will be inserted into Bitcoin's blockchain, one hash inserted for each transaction. In other words, the private details of each transaction will be recorded on a proprietary ledger so that those details can remain private. But the fact of each transaction's occurrence will be recorded publicly on Bitcoin's blockchain, and recorded in a form that allows parties privy to the transaction details to verify cryptographically that the entries in the proprietary ledger correspond to the sequence of transactions published to Bitcoin's blockchain. Basically, this scheme uses Bitcoin's blockchain to provide security (immutability) and public accountability while keeping private information private. (This insert-a-hash scheme is typical of "colored coin" implementations even when privacy is not desired, since each Bitcoin transaction can insert only a small amount of data into the blockchain.) The amended S3 filing [0] spells all of this out in detail. The most relevant section starts on page 35, and the first paragraph of page 36 describes the core of the scheme: In connection with a digital securities transaction, the tØ software will publish the transaction to the proprietary ledger ... . Concurrently, the tØ software will electronically publish the proprietary ledger and commence the process of embedding in the Bitcoin blockchain information necessary to mathematically prove the validity of available copies of the proprietary ledger. Specifically, after a set of transactions in our digital securities have been executed and recorded to the proprietary ledger, the Pro Securities ATS will send a de minimis amount of Bitcoin from an ATS-controlled Bitcoin wallet to another ATS- controlled Bitcoin wallet using the blockchain protocol. This blockchain protocol provides for an editable field that can be used to implant code or other data within the Bitcoin transaction that will be embedded into the blockchain, and the tØ software will use this field to implant anonymized cryptographic hash functions for the digital securities transactions reflected on the proprietary ledger into the Bitcoin transfer made by the ATS. The blockchain will validate this de minimis Bitcoin transaction and embed it, together with the implanted anonymized cryptographic hash function, into the Bitcoin blockchain. As a result, once the Bitcoin transaction is immutably embedded into the Bitcoin blockchain, an immutable record of the digital securities transactions reflected on the proprietary ledger is also recorded within the Bitcoin blockchain. ... 0. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130713/000104746915008523/a2226515zs-3a.htm#dk40601_about_digital_securities http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130713/0001047469150...

muloka 11y ago

I agree the Wired headline is misleading, which is why I changed it to better reflect what the article is about. Thanks for posting to clarify the change.

jabgrabdthrow 11y ago

It's only misleading if you thing "blockchain" is not generic but means "The Bitcoin Blockchain". Is this a common understanding?

eximius 11y ago
Without clarification or context (i.e., "a new blockchain"), then it is usually Bitcoin.
brighton36 11y ago
How is this any better than a database?
- anilgulecha 11y ago
  Decentralized store and decentralized trust. The latter is hard with a publically accessible & editable mysql.
  - brighton36 11y ago
    Except that this isn't decentralized - its a controlled blockchain that's only available for public download (which http does just fine) As does archive.org
    - anilgulecha 11y ago
      I think you incorrectly understand how the blockchain can be updated.
- sanswork 11y ago
  It's not. This use case is pretty stupid since regulations make it impossible to allow true anonymous p2p trading.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
umanwizard 11y ago
"blockchain" or "a blockchain" to me is generic. "the blockchain" to me refers to the most famous one (Bitcoin)

pash 11y ago

The Wired headline is less misleading than your comment. Information about transfers of ownership will be recorded on a private ledger, and a hash of that information will be inserted into Bitcoin's blockchain, one hash inserted for each transaction. In other words, the private details of each transaction will be recorded on a proprietary ledger so that those details can remain private. But the fact of each transaction's occurrence will be recorded publicly on Bitcoin's blockchain, and recorded in a form that allows parties privy to the transaction details to verify cryptographically that the entries in the proprietary ledger correspond to the sequence of transactions published to Bitcoin's blockchain. Basically, this scheme uses Bitcoin's blockchain to provide security (immutability) and public accountability while keeping private information private. (This insert-a-hash scheme is typical of "colored coin" implementations even when privacy is not desired, since each Bitcoin transaction can insert only a small amount of data into the blockchain.) The amended S3 filing [0] spells all of this out in detail. The most relevant section starts on page 35, and the first paragraph of page 36 describes the core of the scheme: In connection with a digital securities transaction, the tØ software will publish the transaction to the proprietary ledger ... . Concurrently, the tØ software will electronically publish the proprietary ledger and commence the process of embedding in the Bitcoin blockchain information necessary to mathematically prove the validity of available copies of the proprietary ledger. Specifically, after a set of transactions in our digital securities have been executed and recorded to the proprietary ledger, the Pro Securities ATS will send a de minimis amount of Bitcoin from an ATS-controlled Bitcoin wallet to another ATS- controlled Bitcoin wallet using the blockchain protocol. This blockchain protocol provides for an editable field that can be used to implant code or other data within the Bitcoin transaction that will be embedded into the blockchain, and the tØ software will use this field to implant anonymized cryptographic hash functions for the digital securities transactions reflected on the proprietary ledger into the Bitcoin transfer made by the ATS. The blockchain will validate this de minimis Bitcoin transaction and embed it, together with the implanted anonymized cryptographic hash function, into the Bitcoin blockchain. As a result, once the Bitcoin transaction is immutably embedded into the Bitcoin blockchain, an immutable record of the digital securities transactions reflected on the proprietary ledger is also recorded within the Bitcoin blockchain. ... 0. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130713/000104746915008523/a2226515zs-3a.htm#dk40601_about_digital_securities http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1130713/0001047469150...