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> Another problem with ZCash is the fact that it’s brand new cryptography. It's using libsodium. This is an alarmist and false statement. > Nobody can really

> Another problem with ZCash is the fact that it’s brand new cryptography. It's using libsodium. This is an alarmist and false statement. > Nobody can really guarantee that there aren’t some bugs in the system that will make it possible to deanonymize transactions or create coins out of thin air. Sure, that's technically true of all crypto-currencies.

plasticmachine 10y ago
You can't be serious. It's using libsodium in one part of the code, so therefore ALL cryptography uses libsodium? You do know that Bitcoin has already switched most of the secp256k1 stuff away from OpenSSL and to libsecp256k1, and ZCash will follow suit? But more importantly than that it uses libsnark for the actual clever bits, which has already been critically broken[1] precisely because it is so new and poorly tested. Even the cryptography in ZeroCash/ZeroCoin is too new to be trusted with a financial system. That is not alarmist, that is practical. Relying on old, established cryptography is precisely why Bitcoin hasn't been trivially broken, and the zk-snarks cryptography will need to go through the same peer-review and refinement process over the next decade or two. [1] https://leastauthority.com/blog/a_bug_in_libsnark.html https://leastauthority.com/blog/a_bug_in_libsnark.html
__jal 10y ago
Not to pile on (the other response is dead on), but you also seem to be assuming that libsodium is magic crypto dust, offering strong security anywhere you sprinkle it. It isn't. To be sure, libsodium is shiny and nifty and wonderful, but the root cause of a large number of crypto insecurities is in key management. A bunch of others can be regarded as subtle mistakes in using an otherwise solid algorithm. Assuming that using a trusted implementation of a trusted algorithm means your crypto is solid is roughly like saying, "my car as airbags, so it is safe."
NobleSir 10y ago
> It's using libsodium. This is an alarmist and false statement. Really? Does libsodium support pairing base cryptography? https://github.com/zcash/zcash/issues/714#issuecomment-216910906 https://github.com/zcash/zcash/issues/714#issuecomment-21691...

plasticmachine 10y ago

You can't be serious. It's using libsodium in one part of the code, so therefore ALL cryptography uses libsodium? You do know that Bitcoin has already switched most of the secp256k1 stuff away from OpenSSL and to libsecp256k1, and ZCash will follow suit? But more importantly than that it uses libsnark for the actual clever bits, which has already been critically broken[1] precisely because it is so new and poorly tested. Even the cryptography in ZeroCash/ZeroCoin is too new to be trusted with a financial system. That is not alarmist, that is practical. Relying on old, established cryptography is precisely why Bitcoin hasn't been trivially broken, and the zk-snarks cryptography will need to go through the same peer-review and refinement process over the next decade or two. [1] https://leastauthority.com/blog/a_bug_in_libsnark.html https://leastauthority.com/blog/a_bug_in_libsnark.html

__jal 10y ago

Not to pile on (the other response is dead on), but you also seem to be assuming that libsodium is magic crypto dust, offering strong security anywhere you sprinkle it. It isn't. To be sure, libsodium is shiny and nifty and wonderful, but the root cause of a large number of crypto insecurities is in key management. A bunch of others can be regarded as subtle mistakes in using an otherwise solid algorithm. Assuming that using a trusted implementation of a trusted algorithm means your crypto is solid is roughly like saying, "my car as airbags, so it is safe."

NobleSir 10y ago

> It's using libsodium. This is an alarmist and false statement. Really? Does libsodium support pairing base cryptography? https://github.com/zcash/zcash/issues/714#issuecomment-216910906 https://github.com/zcash/zcash/issues/714#issuecomment-21691...