4 ms·

How is it incredibly easy to steal Bitcoin from someone?

by rubicon33 6y ago

lgessler 6y ago
i assume gp's talking about double spending
- iso1210 6y ago
  I didn't get that, but it's a legitimate problem. There's a chance that at some point some organization (say the Chinese government) will have enough resources to takeover the blockchain, at which point you're at the mercy of them, with no recourse.
CorpOverreach 6y ago
Maybe "incredibly easy" isn't the right term for _stealing_ it - but once it's stolen it's easy to get away with it. This is especially true if you're managing your own wallet/private keys/etc. If you're not careful with your machine, all it takes is some piece of malware lurking in the background to keylog your password, decrypt your wallet's private key, get the funds transferred from your wallet to the hacker's, and poof all your crypto is gone. That's game over. It's gone. No court or government can get it back for you unless they send a SWAT team to go steal the private key from the people who stole it from you. If you're relying on Coinbase or another exchange to host your wallet for you, that's a different story, but at that point they're fulfilling a similar role that a bank does for you.. which to some is entirely what they're trying to get away from by using Bitcoin and such.
iso1210 6y ago
$5 wrench* Far easier with bitcoin than in the olden days when you had to physically transfer cash (and then have the issue of laundering it) * https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
igammarays 6y ago
The amount thieves have gotten away with (several $100m+ crypto heists) is comparable to the total amount that has been legitimately spent using crypto for actual goods and services (not counting “investing”) in the entire crypto economy. https://mobile.twitter.com/patio11/status/1229579962774016000 https://mobile.twitter.com/patio11/status/122957996277401600...
jedberg 6y ago
Remember that stealing isn’t just one person taking it from another. It’s also institutional theft. See Mt. Gox as a prime example. Lots of people lost a lot of bitcoins. If that were a regulated bank, the government would make them whole.

How is it incredibly easy to steal Bitcoin from someone?

lgessler 6y ago

i assume gp's talking about double spending

iso1210 6y ago
I didn't get that, but it's a legitimate problem. There's a chance that at some point some organization (say the Chinese government) will have enough resources to takeover the blockchain, at which point you're at the mercy of them, with no recourse.

CorpOverreach 6y ago

Maybe "incredibly easy" isn't the right term for _stealing_ it - but once it's stolen it's easy to get away with it. This is especially true if you're managing your own wallet/private keys/etc. If you're not careful with your machine, all it takes is some piece of malware lurking in the background to keylog your password, decrypt your wallet's private key, get the funds transferred from your wallet to the hacker's, and poof all your crypto is gone. That's game over. It's gone. No court or government can get it back for you unless they send a SWAT team to go steal the private key from the people who stole it from you. If you're relying on Coinbase or another exchange to host your wallet for you, that's a different story, but at that point they're fulfilling a similar role that a bank does for you.. which to some is entirely what they're trying to get away from by using Bitcoin and such.

iso1210 6y ago

$5 wrench* Far easier with bitcoin than in the olden days when you had to physically transfer cash (and then have the issue of laundering it) * https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/

igammarays 6y ago

The amount thieves have gotten away with (several $100m+ crypto heists) is comparable to the total amount that has been legitimately spent using crypto for actual goods and services (not counting “investing”) in the entire crypto economy. https://mobile.twitter.com/patio11/status/1229579962774016000 https://mobile.twitter.com/patio11/status/122957996277401600...

jedberg 6y ago

Remember that stealing isn’t just one person taking it from another. It’s also institutional theft. See Mt. Gox as a prime example. Lots of people lost a lot of bitcoins. If that were a regulated bank, the government would make them whole.