4 ms·

This is untrue, where did you learn this?

ucaetano 9y ago
What is untrue? That bitcoin has a single central ledger? Duh, it does. If the ledger is processed in a distributed way across many peers doesn't change the fact that there is a single central ledger. If a transaction isn't in the ledger, it doesn't exist. If I give you $10 and we don't tell anyone about it, do you still have the money? Yes. If I give you BTC10 and we don't tell anyone about it, do you still have the BTC? No.
- jameskegel 9y ago
  If I give you a paper wallet or something like openDime? You now have BTC and nobody knows about it.
  - viraptor 9y ago
    If you give someone a paper wallet, then both of you have access to it and both of you know about it. (You can't prove you don't have a copy) If you do it on opendime, then everyone with access to opendime know about it. (Potentially - depends how much you trust opendime)
    - jameskegel 9y ago
      Regarding OpenDime, I found these two relevant exerpts browsing the site, which were easy to find. >How do I know the manufacturer doesn't know the private key? >When you first plug in a new Opendime, it has no private key. It shows up as a writable drive and the user must copy files onto the drive. They are immediately forgotten, but the the file contents are hashed (SHA256). It's the hashed output of that which forms the private key (along with the unit serial number and entropy we derive from the environment). That happens as soon as 256k worth of bytes have been written to the drive. The private key is created and the drive "ejects itself" and comes back read-only and in "normal" mode... only the public key is shown until unsealed. >Is the private key unique and secret? >Yes. Opendime is delivered without any private key. You must give it entropy (random numbers) the first time you use it. Once it's gotten enough numbers, it will hash them all together and use that to pick a random number to use as the private key. At that point, the payment address is generated and set in stone. >This whole process is very easy: just copy some files into the USB drive. When it's got enough bits (256k bytes) it will eject itself and come back with its final payment address.
- flignats 9y ago
  I believe you're thinking of the ledger as a distributed ledger and applying 'centralized' as a description, which it is not. Bitcoin is a decentralized ledger.
  - ucaetano 9y ago
    No, it is a centralized ledger (there is only one unique, central ledger that can't be partitioned) which is processed in a peer to peer way. Compare this to actual currencies, that have millions (or even billions) of independent, parallel, distributed, ledgers. Or compare this to DNS. There isn't a single, unique, central DNS record, it is a system of distributed records across he entire internet.
    - flignats 9y ago
      You would benefit from broadening your understanding of centralized and decentralized as it applies to the blockchain and ledgers.

What is untrue? That bitcoin has a single central ledger? Duh, it does. If the ledger is processed in a distributed way across many peers doesn't change the fact that there is a single central ledger. If a transaction isn't in the ledger, it doesn't exist. If I give you $10 and we don't tell anyone about it, do you still have the money? Yes. If I give you BTC10 and we don't tell anyone about it, do you still have the BTC? No.

jameskegel 9y ago
If I give you a paper wallet or something like openDime? You now have BTC and nobody knows about it.
- viraptor 9y ago
  If you give someone a paper wallet, then both of you have access to it and both of you know about it. (You can't prove you don't have a copy) If you do it on opendime, then everyone with access to opendime know about it. (Potentially - depends how much you trust opendime)
  - jameskegel 9y ago
    Regarding OpenDime, I found these two relevant exerpts browsing the site, which were easy to find. >How do I know the manufacturer doesn't know the private key? >When you first plug in a new Opendime, it has no private key. It shows up as a writable drive and the user must copy files onto the drive. They are immediately forgotten, but the the file contents are hashed (SHA256). It's the hashed output of that which forms the private key (along with the unit serial number and entropy we derive from the environment). That happens as soon as 256k worth of bytes have been written to the drive. The private key is created and the drive "ejects itself" and comes back read-only and in "normal" mode... only the public key is shown until unsealed. >Is the private key unique and secret? >Yes. Opendime is delivered without any private key. You must give it entropy (random numbers) the first time you use it. Once it's gotten enough numbers, it will hash them all together and use that to pick a random number to use as the private key. At that point, the payment address is generated and set in stone. >This whole process is very easy: just copy some files into the USB drive. When it's got enough bits (256k bytes) it will eject itself and come back with its final payment address.
flignats 9y ago
I believe you're thinking of the ledger as a distributed ledger and applying 'centralized' as a description, which it is not. Bitcoin is a decentralized ledger.
- ucaetano 9y ago
  No, it is a centralized ledger (there is only one unique, central ledger that can't be partitioned) which is processed in a peer to peer way. Compare this to actual currencies, that have millions (or even billions) of independent, parallel, distributed, ledgers. Or compare this to DNS. There isn't a single, unique, central DNS record, it is a system of distributed records across he entire internet.
  - flignats 9y ago
    You would benefit from broadening your understanding of centralized and decentralized as it applies to the blockchain and ledgers.