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If there's a centralized government blacklist of certain bitcoins that everyone has to follow, doesn't that defeat the point of cryptocurrency? Also a hacker c
by lucasmullens 6y ago
If there's a centralized government blacklist of certain bitcoins that everyone has to follow, doesn't that defeat the point of cryptocurrency?
Also a hacker could just buy something with the coins between the time the victim sends the money and the time the government is notified.
- pinkybanana 6y agoThere are already blacklists and sanctioned bitcoin addresses. It might defeat your point of bitcoin, whatever that is, but not mine... There is no universally agreed "point of BTC".
- bradleyjg 6y agoDepends on what you think the point of cryptocurrency is. I’ve heard a lot of different explanations over the years. I believe the most popular one currently is an inflation resistant store of value, which should be compatible with blacklists. As for timing, either blocking spending or tracing the transaction back to a person is equally valuable as a deterrent.
- GauntletWizard 6y agoHere’s how blacklists destroy your “store of value” argument: Transactions don’t require the receiver’s consent. It’s easy to find large wallets (wallet balance is public record), and then once you’ve carried out your ransomeware attack and gotten paid, your black wallet sends to whatever poor schmuck you want to destroy. Because sends blacken anything they touch, you’ve just turned a lot of money into nothing, at the cost of whatever action it took to get that wallet blacklisted in the first place.
- bradleyjg 6y agoThe blacken anything it touches wasn’t my argument. Investigate everything it touches, yes, but if it turns out to be no connection you just confiscate the proceeds of a crime and move on.
- Jommi 6y agoDestroy? All the wallet needs to do is send it back. Or not use it. Simple and probable.