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"prevents hostile monetary policy" -- except this isn't true. Crypto has just taken monetary policy decisions out of the hands of the electorate, however tenuou

by Frondo 7y ago

"prevents hostile monetary policy" -- except this isn't true. Crypto has just taken monetary policy decisions out of the hands of the electorate, however tenuous a chain of authority that is (voters -> president -> Fed chair), and placed it in the hands of either "the original developers" or "whoever has 51% of network computation". That is an absolutely horrible trade-off for anyone who wants a democratically run currency. That and the irreversibility in cases of fraud make crypto a complete non-starter for me. I want to be able to reverse transactions if someone starts siphoning off my coin; and I want to be able to use the force of law to do so, if I win a lawsuit or even just don't want thieves to steal my money. What is the crypto answer to "someone stole your private key and is stealing your money"?

stanleydrew 7y ago
I'm not a crypto fan so don't take this the wrong way, but I think the crypto answer to "someone stole your private key and is stealing your money" is the same as the non-crypto answer to "someone stole your ATM PIN and is stealing your money." Namely, you ask police and prosecutors to track down the perpetrator to get your money back.
- acdha 7y ago
  ATMs have security measures like daily download limits, unusual locations triggering denials or ID checks, etc. which cryptocurrencies lack. There's a really big difference between your potential losses being capped zero to a few hundred dollars vs. “everything you own and half of the community will say it was your fault”.
  - cdiddy2 7y ago
    No reason you couldn't have some of these features in a crypto wallet. Lots of schemes are being created with with multisig, smart contracts, and social recovery methods. Here is one around freezing transfers not to a known address. https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-startups-team-to-offer-banking-grade-wallet-security https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-startups-team-to-offer-ban...
    - b1daly 7y ago
      In reality, the attack surface with crypto’s is ever expanding. There’s no free lunch, and the minimal security provided with crypto currencies is provided at a high cost.

by Frondo 7y ago

stanleydrew 7y ago

I'm not a crypto fan so don't take this the wrong way, but I think the crypto answer to "someone stole your private key and is stealing your money" is the same as the non-crypto answer to "someone stole your ATM PIN and is stealing your money." Namely, you ask police and prosecutors to track down the perpetrator to get your money back.

acdha 7y ago
ATMs have security measures like daily download limits, unusual locations triggering denials or ID checks, etc. which cryptocurrencies lack. There's a really big difference between your potential losses being capped zero to a few hundred dollars vs. “everything you own and half of the community will say it was your fault”.
- cdiddy2 7y ago
  No reason you couldn't have some of these features in a crypto wallet. Lots of schemes are being created with with multisig, smart contracts, and social recovery methods. Here is one around freezing transfers not to a known address. https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-startups-team-to-offer-banking-grade-wallet-security https://www.coindesk.com/ethereum-startups-team-to-offer-ban...
  - b1daly 7y ago
    In reality, the attack surface with crypto’s is ever expanding. There’s no free lunch, and the minimal security provided with crypto currencies is provided at a high cost.