A thought experiment: PROVE you own a bitcoin - page 2.

nc50lc

legendary

Activity: 2394

Merit: 5531

Self-proclaimed Genius

Quote from: Karartma1 on May 16, 2018, 02:53:58 AM

I don't have bitcoins. I am simply able to control and use the private keys associated to my UTXOs that give me the opportunity to transfer thouse outputs onto other addresses that will become new UTXOs for the next guy on the blockchain.
Again, I have NO bitcoins. I HOLD keys Wink

"my UTXOs"; UTXOs contains Bitcoins, "my" means yours: You have Bitcoins, In other words. Tongue

Alright, you're trying to say that there are no bitcoin addresses in the network which most of us are claiming as "in their possession" and the private keys are the only "controller" of the funds.

Karartma1

legendary

Activity: 2310

Merit: 1422

I don't have bitcoins. I am simply able to control and use the private keys associated to my UTXOs that give me the opportunity to transfer thouse outputs onto other addresses that will become new UTXOs for the next guy on the blockchain.
Again, I have NO bitcoins. I HOLD keys Wink

nc50lc

legendary

Activity: 2394

Merit: 5531

Self-proclaimed Genius

Paper Wallet? Show an edited picture of the printed paper wallet with covered private key and prvkey's QR code.
There are too many workaround to fake this like printing a bitcoin-loaded address paired with a random prv key but,
Paper Wallets' private keys are meant to be hidden and offline, the user didn't want to tell others that he own a bitcoin in the first place.

With this, leave Paper Wallets out of the available options.

Quote from: Spendulus on May 15, 2018, 07:49:34 PM

LOL - on the last two....

No, LOL to this:

Quote from: Spendulus

E. Show the requestor your private key and it's value therein.

Other wallets? achow101 already replied with the best answer.

achow101

staff

Activity: 3374

Merit: 6530

Just writing some code

Quote from: Spendulus on May 15, 2018, 09:00:15 PM

C does not require trust, does it?

A person verifies a public address, then he sees that one bitcoin has moved to a new address, that was previously specified by you.

There is no way he could know whether you were the sole owner of the old address.

Now, how could a proof be devised that you owned the new address?

Just send back to the same address. No need for a new address and it proves that you have the private key for that address and can move coins associated with it.

Spendulus

legendary

Activity: 2898

Merit: 1386

Quote from: ranochigo on May 15, 2018, 08:10:34 PM

Its inherently difficult to prove the sole ownership of your Bitcoins. A,B,C,E,F,G requires trust on either or both of the party and D just won't be sufficient.

The most accurate way is to sign a message with the address and the message must contain relevant information. However, this would just prove that you could have control of the address and the BTC associated with it. It is of course, possible for them to get someone else to sign a message using their address.

C does not require trust, does it?

A person verifies a public address, then he sees that one bitcoin has moved to a new address, that was previously specified by you.

There is no way he could know whether you were the sole owner of the old address.

Now, how could a proof be devised that you owned the new address?

achow101

staff

Activity: 3374

Merit: 6530

Just writing some code

If you want proof of "I can spend coins associated with this address", you can sign a message with the address (or specifically with the private key whose public key hashes to the hash encoded by an address).

ranochigo

legendary

Activity: 2954

Merit: 4158

Its inherently difficult to prove the sole ownership of your Bitcoins. A,B,C,E,F,G requires trust on either or both of the party and D just won't be sufficient.

The most accurate way is to sign a message with the address and the message must contain relevant information. However, this would just prove that you could have control of the address and the BTC associated with it. It is of course, possible for them to get someone else to sign a message using their address.

Spendulus

legendary

Activity: 2898

Merit: 1386

How would you prove it?

The bitcoin might be in an online wallet, a hardware wallet, a software wallet, or a paper wallet. You pick.

Here are some ideas to start.

A. Show a public key that has the bitcoin.
B. Show a public key that has the bitcoin, and show that you can move a token amount to and from this address.
C. Show a public key that has the bitcoin, and you move 1 bitcoin to a new address.
D. Transfer the bitcoin to a wallet that is multi-key, the person that wants to know has part of the key.
E. Show the requestor your private key and it's value therein.
F. Transfer to bitcoin to a Reputable and Esteemed Holder of Assets, such as a Swiss Bank, who would then Vouch for Your Bitcoin.
G. The person asking for proof is required to have Faith that you have correctly stated you have a bitcoin.

LOL - on the last two....

Now if you have difficulty, don't despair. You are certain to have LESS DIFFICULTY than a nation has proving they have value in their paper money.

Hint: The correct answer is not listed above.

Topic: A thought experiment: PROVE you own a bitcoin - page 2. (Read 377 times)