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What caused me to get out of Bitcoin was that in reality, the level of trust Bitcoin required from me was much too high compared to traditional banking. I had a

What caused me to get out of Bitcoin was that in reality, the level of trust Bitcoin required from me was much too high compared to traditional banking. I had a few thousand dollars worth and I became quite paranoid that my coins could be exfiltrated at any time due to: * The Bitcoin client software I downloaded (I didn't build from source, and even if I did, I wouldn't have read the entire source first, and even if I did, I could get Ken Thompson'd) * A computer virus delivered in a game I install, or hardware drivers I update, that would be virtually undetectable until it's too late * A fire that destroys my home / somebody compromising off-site backup of my private key (pick one or the other risk) * An untrustworthy exchange or an exchange that is unfortunately compromised at the moment I choose to transform them into Real Money(tm) -- while I kept my coins in a wallet off an exchange, I would still need to turn them into USD someday since the dream of paying for ordinary things directly with Bitcoin is wheezing on life support Some of those concerns can be mitigated with a hardware wallet, but not all, and you still must have faith in the people who designed the hardware wallet and the manufacturer who actually built it. At least with traditional banking, if my trust is violated I usually have some recourse by which I can recover my money. E.g. if my PC is hacked and the hacker transfers money from my bank account, as long as I see that happen within a few days I can probably have the bank stop it and get my money back. With crypto one false move and you lose your stuff, do not pass go. In short, the "trustlessness" protects me from a pretty low-risk problem -- I would say practically a hypothetical problem at least in the U.S. -- but exposes me to a high-risk problem.

jdmichal 6y ago
This right here is IMO the fundamental heart of the argument. Things like reversible transactions and such are features that were built into the banking system, not bugs. It really comes down to a question of which feature set is valued more by an individual. The attempt to frame this in moralistic terms is just typical tech holy wars.
- rspeele 6y ago
  On a philosophical basis I do like the idea that no one person, nation, or corporation has control over the currency. And the irreversable nature of transactions is something I could accept, if I felt it was possible for me to have complete confidence in the security of my wallet. But just the software-based ways that I could potentially be stolen from are too plausible to ignore. I have never felt that I could say with total certainty that my system is not compromised or vulnerable to compromise. Even a bug written with no malice could be my undoing. Working in the software industry has given me very little faith in the infallibility of software, both open and closed source. Of course many people hold large quantities of crypto and are fine. But a few have it lost or stolen. Even super simple attacks sometimes work, like the malware that would poll the system clipboard waiting for it to contain for a BTC public key, and if found, swap it with one owned by the virus-writer -- so that you inadvertently paste the thief's key in as the destination for the transfer you're about to initiate. When I first heard about that attack, I thought it was clever and had to really think: hmm, would I have fallen for that? Usually I double check, but if they were smart enough to generate a large set of wallet public keys so they could replace the destination with one that starts with the same few characters, I probably could've been duped at some moment of carelessness.
epx 6y ago
Bitcoin was very useful to me - it taught me the services the bank and the justice system offer are worth their cost.
theresa45 6y ago
I lost a great deal of investement in bitcoin a few weeks back when I was trying to take a bold step in the bitcon market. I was partnering witha poopular bitcoin investement website who have been able to convince me through third parties. at first didnt think there was something to worry about as my first $100 investement made me $150 within 24hours. To me that was very impresssive and I then when ahead to invest 2BTC which was about $23,600 at the time. One thin I learn it that I didnt lose my money due to bitcoin volatility< I lost it becaus eof some unscrupulous element across the internet that targeted a single mother like me, for their personal gain. Thanks to my friend who recommended the services of a Data retriever hacker who could recover lost/sent bitcoin using advanced methods which I can testify to based on first hand experience. If there is anyone out tere in a similar situation and wants a fast solutuon then contact emai ... CYBERSPYEXPERT22 @ gmail com Thank me later
- chipcyberdog999 6y ago
  It is not so typical of me to refer professionals online but I feel like I owe a lot to leonard the certifed hacker who helped me track my cheating fiance when he was having an affair, I got to find out that he has been lying to me for the past 5 months and seeing two other women. I was able to get direct access to his text messages, phone conversations and all social media accounts on his phone: what was most amazing was that his recently deleted messages were retrieved by James. If you are getting less than you deserve in your relationship and want to be sure Contact : chipcyberdog999 at gmail dot com or whatsapp +18035702316.

jdmichal 6y ago

This right here is IMO the fundamental heart of the argument. Things like reversible transactions and such are features that were built into the banking system, not bugs. It really comes down to a question of which feature set is valued more by an individual. The attempt to frame this in moralistic terms is just typical tech holy wars.

rspeele 6y ago
On a philosophical basis I do like the idea that no one person, nation, or corporation has control over the currency. And the irreversable nature of transactions is something I could accept, if I felt it was possible for me to have complete confidence in the security of my wallet. But just the software-based ways that I could potentially be stolen from are too plausible to ignore. I have never felt that I could say with total certainty that my system is not compromised or vulnerable to compromise. Even a bug written with no malice could be my undoing. Working in the software industry has given me very little faith in the infallibility of software, both open and closed source. Of course many people hold large quantities of crypto and are fine. But a few have it lost or stolen. Even super simple attacks sometimes work, like the malware that would poll the system clipboard waiting for it to contain for a BTC public key, and if found, swap it with one owned by the virus-writer -- so that you inadvertently paste the thief's key in as the destination for the transfer you're about to initiate. When I first heard about that attack, I thought it was clever and had to really think: hmm, would I have fallen for that? Usually I double check, but if they were smart enough to generate a large set of wallet public keys so they could replace the destination with one that starts with the same few characters, I probably could've been duped at some moment of carelessness.

epx 6y ago

Bitcoin was very useful to me - it taught me the services the bank and the justice system offer are worth their cost.

theresa45 6y ago

I lost a great deal of investement in bitcoin a few weeks back when I was trying to take a bold step in the bitcon market. I was partnering witha poopular bitcoin investement website who have been able to convince me through third parties. at first didnt think there was something to worry about as my first $100 investement made me $150 within 24hours. To me that was very impresssive and I then when ahead to invest 2BTC which was about $23,600 at the time. One thin I learn it that I didnt lose my money due to bitcoin volatility< I lost it becaus eof some unscrupulous element across the internet that targeted a single mother like me, for their personal gain. Thanks to my friend who recommended the services of a Data retriever hacker who could recover lost/sent bitcoin using advanced methods which I can testify to based on first hand experience. If there is anyone out tere in a similar situation and wants a fast solutuon then contact emai ... CYBERSPYEXPERT22 @ gmail com Thank me later

chipcyberdog999 6y ago
It is not so typical of me to refer professionals online but I feel like I owe a lot to leonard the certifed hacker who helped me track my cheating fiance when he was having an affair, I got to find out that he has been lying to me for the past 5 months and seeing two other women. I was able to get direct access to his text messages, phone conversations and all social media accounts on his phone: what was most amazing was that his recently deleted messages were retrieved by James. If you are getting less than you deserve in your relationship and want to be sure Contact : chipcyberdog999 at gmail dot com or whatsapp +18035702316.