undefined | Better HN

0 pointscookiecaper6y ago0 comments

> It is pretty bad for privacy as the whole idea is that the entire transaction history is public and permanent.

Yeah, I get that there aren't a lot of options besides Bitcoin for unbanked transactions, but there are a lot of potential ramifications around the radical publicity inherent in blockchain-based currency.

If whoever held the coins 3 transactions ago ends up getting in big-time hot water, should I expect the feds to try to confiscate them? I would at least be under additional scrutiny in order to determine what association I had with the illegal enterprise, being so close in the chain. Bitcoin tumblers and mixers only do so much to prevent this, especially as people have started discriminating against "tumbled" btc.

0 comments

1 comments · 1 top-level

null0pointer6y ago

Minor correction: Radical publicity is not inherent to all blockchain-based currencies. Take Monero as a counter-example. AFAIK in Monero no one can query the balance of any address except the key holder for that address, and no one can see the sender, recipient, or value of a transaction except those party to it.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse