3 ms·

This could have an interesting effect on incentives for hackers. Now, any hacker should be able to cash their winnings out instantly and anonymously.

jameslevy 9y ago
The post claims "the addition of the zk-SNARK technology does not by itself provide privacy protection for Ethereum users. There is a new tool in the toolbox, but for now Ethereum transactions are no more private than before." Does this just mean that Byzantium does not contain the ability to somehow convert Ether into Zcash? That would seem to be the feature that would enable existing ethereum balances to become anonymized.
- RoboTeddy 9y ago
  ether and zcash live on separate chains. there's work underway that could allow for trustless cross chain exchange between ether and zcash (https://z.cash/blog/project-alchemy.html https://z.cash/blog/project-alchemy.html). This new crypto primitive in Byzantium is one of the things required for that project. with Byzantium, it's now possible to create a zcash-like token on top of ethereum (it would however be wholly separate from zcash). since it lives inside of ethereum, it would be easy to exchange for ether. however, its value would float separately. it might look something like this: https://github.com/zcash-hackworks/babyzoe https://github.com/zcash-hackworks/babyzoe. Byzantium also makes it possible to create an ethereum contract into which you can deposit ether (locking it up), transact around privately with others, and then later withdraw back out into ether.
ChrisClark 9y ago
They already can. They could convert the tokens they steal into zCash or Monero (or zCoin, Dash, Particl, PIVX, etc) and transfer anonymously. Adding this feature to Ethereum just means one less step.
- mtgx 9y ago
  The only anonymous cryptocurrency we know we can trust right now is Monero. Zcash has a way to proof itself.

jameslevy 9y ago

The post claims "the addition of the zk-SNARK technology does not by itself provide privacy protection for Ethereum users. There is a new tool in the toolbox, but for now Ethereum transactions are no more private than before." Does this just mean that Byzantium does not contain the ability to somehow convert Ether into Zcash? That would seem to be the feature that would enable existing ethereum balances to become anonymized.

RoboTeddy 9y ago
ether and zcash live on separate chains. there's work underway that could allow for trustless cross chain exchange between ether and zcash (https://z.cash/blog/project-alchemy.html https://z.cash/blog/project-alchemy.html). This new crypto primitive in Byzantium is one of the things required for that project. with Byzantium, it's now possible to create a zcash-like token on top of ethereum (it would however be wholly separate from zcash). since it lives inside of ethereum, it would be easy to exchange for ether. however, its value would float separately. it might look something like this: https://github.com/zcash-hackworks/babyzoe https://github.com/zcash-hackworks/babyzoe. Byzantium also makes it possible to create an ethereum contract into which you can deposit ether (locking it up), transact around privately with others, and then later withdraw back out into ether.

ChrisClark 9y ago

They already can. They could convert the tokens they steal into zCash or Monero (or zCoin, Dash, Particl, PIVX, etc) and transfer anonymously. Adding this feature to Ethereum just means one less step.

mtgx 9y ago
The only anonymous cryptocurrency we know we can trust right now is Monero. Zcash has a way to proof itself.