4 ms·

Brings up an interesting point: Is it possible and how would you freeze bitcoins owned by a person(or a specific wallet).

_ikke_ 13y ago
You can't, and this isn't about freezing bitcoins. They try to prevent people from freezing their non-bitcoin assets.
brazzy 13y ago
Hm... would it be possible to have a blacklist of bitcoin addresses and get a majority of miners to ignore transactions that involve these addresses?
- danielweber 13y ago
  You could have a blacklist. You couldn't, as a practical matter, get the miners to agree on a blacklist. A partial attempt would segment the bitcoin protocol and so the miners would just avoid it completely.
Jtsummers 13y ago
The only way, per the system's design, would be a network wide whitelist or blacklist of accounts. Either explicitly permitting (which wouldn't work) or explicitly blocking addresses from participating in transactions. And, if enough computers disregarded it, the transactions would still go into valid blocks. The blacklist/whitelist nodes would have to accept those blocks or you'd end up with a forked blockchain or serious accounting issues because some nodes would disregard certain transactions.
icebraining 13y ago
Raid their place, copy their wallet, move the bitcoins to yours.
jccooper 13y ago
A court could simply order them frozen, and expect the holder to comply. If the court deems that too dangerous, they would order them transferred to a third party guardian (usually the local sheriff or similar, but they might make a different arrangement for something unusual like bitcoin). Possibly "without notice", if "dissipation" seems likely if the holder knows it's coming. Pretty much the same as you'd do with cash or other physical assets. (Transfer is necessary; seizing the private key isn't secure against copies. The FBI is known to have moved the Silk Road money to their own wallet: http://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX http://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GN... )

_ikke_ 13y ago

You can't, and this isn't about freezing bitcoins. They try to prevent people from freezing their non-bitcoin assets.

brazzy 13y ago

Hm... would it be possible to have a blacklist of bitcoin addresses and get a majority of miners to ignore transactions that involve these addresses?

danielweber 13y ago
You could have a blacklist. You couldn't, as a practical matter, get the miners to agree on a blacklist. A partial attempt would segment the bitcoin protocol and so the miners would just avoid it completely.

Jtsummers 13y ago

The only way, per the system's design, would be a network wide whitelist or blacklist of accounts. Either explicitly permitting (which wouldn't work) or explicitly blocking addresses from participating in transactions. And, if enough computers disregarded it, the transactions would still go into valid blocks. The blacklist/whitelist nodes would have to accept those blocks or you'd end up with a forked blockchain or serious accounting issues because some nodes would disregard certain transactions.

icebraining 13y ago

Raid their place, copy their wallet, move the bitcoins to yours.

jccooper 13y ago

A court could simply order them frozen, and expect the holder to comply. If the court deems that too dangerous, they would order them transferred to a third party guardian (usually the local sheriff or similar, but they might make a different arrangement for something unusual like bitcoin). Possibly "without notice", if "dissipation" seems likely if the holder knows it's coming. Pretty much the same as you'd do with cash or other physical assets. (Transfer is necessary; seizing the private key isn't secure against copies. The FBI is known to have moved the Silk Road money to their own wallet: http://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GNn4xqX http://blockchain.info/address/1F1tAaz5x1HUXrCNLbtMDqcw6o5GN... )