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There's no way to prove whether the owner was a victim of hacking, or whether they intentionally set it up to steal people's money. And since the law won't cat

There's no way to prove whether the owner was a victim of hacking, or whether they intentionally set it up to steal people's money. And since the law won't catch up with bitcoin for many years, consumers will bear the risk in the meantime.

mikeash 13y ago
Why does the law have to catch up with bitcoin? It's just a cash transaction that happens to use an unusual currency. Fundamentally, it's no different than a pump that takes cash, which has the same potential for ripoffs. Gas pumps that take cash aren't common, but vending machines for other stuff are, so it's not an unprecedented thing. Bitcoin enables some novel and difficult situations, but this isn't one of them.
- sillysaurus3 13y ago
  It's a currency with irreversible transactions, meaning there isn't any fraud protection. With cash, the consumer would get their money back. With bitcoin, they won't.
  - mikeash 13y ago
    That doesn't make any sense. Cash transactions are irreversible too. The consumer gets their money back not by reversing the transaction, but by calling in the law and getting large men with guns to force the person to return the money. This works equally well with bitcoin as it does with US dollar bills.
    - sillysaurus3 13y ago
      The consumer gets their money back not by reversing the transaction, but by calling in the law and getting large men with guns to force the person to return the money. Actually, consumers get their money back by calling up their credit card company, saying "I didn't make this transaction," and then the credit card company issues a refund and a new card. I've done it. Anyone can be a bitcoin payment processor, meaning anyone can set up a fake system to steal your money. The best you can do with dollars is to steal a credit card number, which gets you prison time and no money.
      - mikeash 13y ago
        We're not talking about credit cards, we're talking about cash, as in small green pieces of paper. The law adequately handles cash fraud and bitcoin is no different. There is nothing for the law to "catch up to" as you previously stated.

mikeash 13y ago

Why does the law have to catch up with bitcoin? It's just a cash transaction that happens to use an unusual currency. Fundamentally, it's no different than a pump that takes cash, which has the same potential for ripoffs. Gas pumps that take cash aren't common, but vending machines for other stuff are, so it's not an unprecedented thing. Bitcoin enables some novel and difficult situations, but this isn't one of them.

sillysaurus3 13y ago
It's a currency with irreversible transactions, meaning there isn't any fraud protection. With cash, the consumer would get their money back. With bitcoin, they won't.
- mikeash 13y ago
  That doesn't make any sense. Cash transactions are irreversible too. The consumer gets their money back not by reversing the transaction, but by calling in the law and getting large men with guns to force the person to return the money. This works equally well with bitcoin as it does with US dollar bills.
  - sillysaurus3 13y ago
    The consumer gets their money back not by reversing the transaction, but by calling in the law and getting large men with guns to force the person to return the money. Actually, consumers get their money back by calling up their credit card company, saying "I didn't make this transaction," and then the credit card company issues a refund and a new card. I've done it. Anyone can be a bitcoin payment processor, meaning anyone can set up a fake system to steal your money. The best you can do with dollars is to steal a credit card number, which gets you prison time and no money.
    - mikeash 13y ago
      We're not talking about credit cards, we're talking about cash, as in small green pieces of paper. The law adequately handles cash fraud and bitcoin is no different. There is nothing for the law to "catch up to" as you previously stated.