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Could putting it on the blockchain helps prevent the theft? Discuss.

BruiseLee 6y ago
Only if the chain in the blockchain is made from copper.
missedthecue 6y ago
Don't really see how. It was physical product that was stolen in the night, not a digital product that was stolen/duplicated. It's analogous to how your bitcoin is safe on a secure network until someone forces you at gunpoint to hand over your private key.
snarf21 6y ago
Corrolary: Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use regular expressions.” Now they have two problems. /regular expressions/blockchain/g
- jfim 6y ago
  You're missing a s there: s@/regular expressions/blockchain/g@s&@
rPlayer6554 6y ago
I think he should have flown the product in a plane rather than shipped them. That way he would have the power of the cloud to help him verify the transaction.
- haltingproblem 6y ago
  Copper as a Service - CaaS!
  - rPlayer6554 6y ago
    Rock-solid reliability!
dexen 6y ago
>Could having a full trace ability for inputs and outputs of mining, smelting, and transport prevent surrepetitious theft? Yes, if indirectly: with well documented chain of custody, we would be able to find the thief. This works as a natural deterrent. Even better, if the copper block were serialized, we would be able to provide relevant information to other copper processors & vendors to avoid that particular batch of stolen goods.
- haltingproblem 6y ago
  A well documented chain of custody would not need blockchain. Blockchain is not the solution if it requires the solution to work.
Lazare 6y ago
Absolutely not. At the moment, he has some containers full of rocks with paper work that says "copper". Put it on the blockchain, and you'd have some containers full of rocks with paper work on the blockchain that says "copper". That's not really any worse, but it's sure not better... What would help is better physical security and a really thorough chain of custody. Unfortunately, those are hard; that's the solution the trader tried to use and got burned. And blockchains aren't going to be any help here. Cryptographically verifiable claims that your container is meant to contain copper don't help if someone took an angle grinder to the lock and swapped it for rocks, and a chain of cryptographically verifiable claims showing it was meant to contain copper at every step of it's journey don't tell you where the thieves struck. Or in shorter form: You can't put copper on the blockchain; all you can do is put peper work on the blockchain, which is vastly less useful.
- junon 6y ago
  I appreciate this comment, I do, but I would sincerely hope GP was cracking a joke. I really hope.
- jfengel 6y ago
  A blockchain could, I suppose, do something to guarantee the identity of the individuals, so you can track them down if something goes wrong. But they already seem to have that much, in that TFA says that over a dozen people have been arrested. As much as I'm sure the trader would rather have had the supplies, the next best thing is to ensure that they don't get to do that a second time. Stupid criminals might be worse for the economy than smart ones. Smart ones are limited in the damage they can cause by restricting themselves to harms that don't also harm them. Stupid ones can do any damage at all, with no limits.

Only if the chain in the blockchain is made from copper.

Don't really see how. It was physical product that was stolen in the night, not a digital product that was stolen/duplicated. It's analogous to how your bitcoin is safe on a secure network until someone forces you at gunpoint to hand over your private key.

snarf21 6y ago

Corrolary: Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use regular expressions.” Now they have two problems. /regular expressions/blockchain/g

jfim 6y ago
You're missing a s there: s@/regular expressions/blockchain/g@s&@

rPlayer6554 6y ago

I think he should have flown the product in a plane rather than shipped them. That way he would have the power of the cloud to help him verify the transaction.

haltingproblem 6y ago
Copper as a Service - CaaS!
- rPlayer6554 6y ago
  Rock-solid reliability!

dexen 6y ago

>Could having a full trace ability for inputs and outputs of mining, smelting, and transport prevent surrepetitious theft? Yes, if indirectly: with well documented chain of custody, we would be able to find the thief. This works as a natural deterrent. Even better, if the copper block were serialized, we would be able to provide relevant information to other copper processors & vendors to avoid that particular batch of stolen goods.

haltingproblem 6y ago
A well documented chain of custody would not need blockchain. Blockchain is not the solution if it requires the solution to work.

Lazare 6y ago

Absolutely not. At the moment, he has some containers full of rocks with paper work that says "copper". Put it on the blockchain, and you'd have some containers full of rocks with paper work on the blockchain that says "copper". That's not really any worse, but it's sure not better... What would help is better physical security and a really thorough chain of custody. Unfortunately, those are hard; that's the solution the trader tried to use and got burned. And blockchains aren't going to be any help here. Cryptographically verifiable claims that your container is meant to contain copper don't help if someone took an angle grinder to the lock and swapped it for rocks, and a chain of cryptographically verifiable claims showing it was meant to contain copper at every step of it's journey don't tell you where the thieves struck. Or in shorter form: You can't put copper on the blockchain; all you can do is put peper work on the blockchain, which is vastly less useful.

junon 6y ago
I appreciate this comment, I do, but I would sincerely hope GP was cracking a joke. I really hope.
jfengel 6y ago
A blockchain could, I suppose, do something to guarantee the identity of the individuals, so you can track them down if something goes wrong. But they already seem to have that much, in that TFA says that over a dozen people have been arrested. As much as I'm sure the trader would rather have had the supplies, the next best thing is to ensure that they don't get to do that a second time. Stupid criminals might be worse for the economy than smart ones. Smart ones are limited in the damage they can cause by restricting themselves to harms that don't also harm them. Stupid ones can do any damage at all, with no limits.