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My main problems with Bitcoin: 1. I don't deeply understand the maths behind it. 2. I don't know how vulnerable the entire Bitcoin infrastructure is to hackin

by SeanDav 14y ago

My main problems with Bitcoin: 1. I don't deeply understand the maths behind it. 2. I don't know how vulnerable the entire Bitcoin infrastructure is to hacking, allowing someone to generate fake Bitcoins. 3. There seems to be no way to securely store BC's. 4. There is no governing body to resolve disputes or to enforce rules. (Yes I realize that to some extent this is also a strength) 5. It is the Wild West. There is no rule of law and the value of the Bitcoins are purely subjective. Better be wearing your Titanium Super Pants when "investing" in BC's.

ch0wn 14y ago
> 3. There seems to be no way to securely store BC's. There is. You can print out the private key and lock it away in a safe.
- weavejester 14y ago
  And ideally the private key would be generated from an permanently offline machine.
weavejester 14y ago
There are effectively three potential sources of vulnerability in the Bitcoin network: 1. A flaw is discovered in the Bitcoin client. 2. A flaw is discovered in the public key cryptography algorithms the network uses. 3. An attacker has control of more than 50% of the processing power of the whole network. The first two vulnerabilities are common to any system dealing with finances. The third vulnerability is particular to Bitcoin, and would allow an attacker to "double-spend". This is because Bitcoin relies on a CPU-majority to determine which transaction came first, rather than a central authority such as a bank. Another point to note is that normal bank transactions can be reversed if fraud is detected, but bitcoins are like physical cash in that there's no automatic mechanism to void a transaction. There are ways of securely storing bitcoins, but the organisations and high-profile individuals who have been hacked have not had security even close to the level you'd want for storing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

by SeanDav 14y ago

ch0wn 14y ago

> 3. There seems to be no way to securely store BC's. There is. You can print out the private key and lock it away in a safe.

weavejester 14y ago
And ideally the private key would be generated from an permanently offline machine.

weavejester 14y ago

There are effectively three potential sources of vulnerability in the Bitcoin network: 1. A flaw is discovered in the Bitcoin client. 2. A flaw is discovered in the public key cryptography algorithms the network uses. 3. An attacker has control of more than 50% of the processing power of the whole network. The first two vulnerabilities are common to any system dealing with finances. The third vulnerability is particular to Bitcoin, and would allow an attacker to "double-spend". This is because Bitcoin relies on a CPU-majority to determine which transaction came first, rather than a central authority such as a bank. Another point to note is that normal bank transactions can be reversed if fraud is detected, but bitcoins are like physical cash in that there's no automatic mechanism to void a transaction. There are ways of securely storing bitcoins, but the organisations and high-profile individuals who have been hacked have not had security even close to the level you'd want for storing hundreds of thousands of dollars.