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Programmable money means that I can download a bitcoin contract that functions as a will without having to pay a lawyer or live in a country with a robust legal

Programmable money means that I can download a bitcoin contract that functions as a will without having to pay a lawyer or live in a country with a robust legal system to ensure that: after 180 days of me not moving my funds, my heirs get it, etc See https://bitcointechtalk.com/what-is-a-bitcoin-merklized-abstract-syntax-tree-mast-33fdf2da5e2f https://bitcointechtalk.com/what-is-a-bitcoin-merklized-abst...

lmm 8y ago
Programmers capable of auditing such a contract to the same level of reliability a lawyer would get you are vastly more expensive than said lawyer.
- npongratz 8y ago
  Now, perhaps, because it's a highly specialized skill. Maybe it will become commoditized in the future.
  - lmm 8y ago
    Auditing a contract that will be applied by a human judge with common sense and written in more-or-less English seems inherently easier than auditing a contract that will be applied strictly literally by a machine and is written in, well, code.
- DINKDINK 8y ago
  Maybe I’m in my own bubble but do you really think the following contract is so complex that you need to hire auditors?: OP_IF <Alice’s pubkey> OP_Checksig OP_ELSE “3 months” OP_CSV OP_DROP <Heir’s pubkey> OP_Checksig OP_ENDIF Would you say that you need expensive programmers to audit/create an escrow contract on Bitcoin? Multisig contracts are simple, battletested and deployed in the blockchain.
  - lmm 8y ago
    > Would you say that you need expensive programmers to audit/create an escrow contract on Bitcoin? Multisig contracts are simple, battletested and deployed in the blockchain. Given the number of high-profile smart-contract hacks we've seen, yes, you do need expensive programmers. (At least, to a greater extent than you need expensive lawyers. It's perfectly possible to write your own will without a lawyer, and frankly I'd have a lot more confidence in that than in my own smart contract, even as a programmer).
    - DINKDINK 8y ago
      >Given the number of high-profile smart-contract hacks we've seen, yes, you do need expensive programmers. There have been no hacks of bitcoin multisig addresses. The hacks you're referring to are on ethereum because ethereum is a dumpster fire with a marketing team trying to con people into believing all number of unpractical solutions.
Wingman4l7 8y ago
I feel like the counter to this is unfortunately still the court system; if Bob leaves all his millions to an animal shelter in his will via a cryptocurrency smart contract, his heir Alice could still take it to a traditional court and try and get those assets seized on the grounds he was senile, etc.

lmm 8y ago

Programmers capable of auditing such a contract to the same level of reliability a lawyer would get you are vastly more expensive than said lawyer.

npongratz 8y ago
Now, perhaps, because it's a highly specialized skill. Maybe it will become commoditized in the future.
- lmm 8y ago
  Auditing a contract that will be applied by a human judge with common sense and written in more-or-less English seems inherently easier than auditing a contract that will be applied strictly literally by a machine and is written in, well, code.
DINKDINK 8y ago
Maybe I’m in my own bubble but do you really think the following contract is so complex that you need to hire auditors?: OP_IF <Alice’s pubkey> OP_Checksig OP_ELSE “3 months” OP_CSV OP_DROP <Heir’s pubkey> OP_Checksig OP_ENDIF Would you say that you need expensive programmers to audit/create an escrow contract on Bitcoin? Multisig contracts are simple, battletested and deployed in the blockchain.
- lmm 8y ago
  > Would you say that you need expensive programmers to audit/create an escrow contract on Bitcoin? Multisig contracts are simple, battletested and deployed in the blockchain. Given the number of high-profile smart-contract hacks we've seen, yes, you do need expensive programmers. (At least, to a greater extent than you need expensive lawyers. It's perfectly possible to write your own will without a lawyer, and frankly I'd have a lot more confidence in that than in my own smart contract, even as a programmer).
  - DINKDINK 8y ago
    >Given the number of high-profile smart-contract hacks we've seen, yes, you do need expensive programmers. There have been no hacks of bitcoin multisig addresses. The hacks you're referring to are on ethereum because ethereum is a dumpster fire with a marketing team trying to con people into believing all number of unpractical solutions.

Wingman4l7 8y ago

I feel like the counter to this is unfortunately still the court system; if Bob leaves all his millions to an animal shelter in his will via a cryptocurrency smart contract, his heir Alice could still take it to a traditional court and try and get those assets seized on the grounds he was senile, etc.