Initially, at least, I'll only use a sidechain which can recognize an attack and freeze peg operations until the attacker gets tired of wasting his effort and goes away. If it even takes that to protect the sub-system. In the mean time I'll expect many designs to be able to operate just fine but just cannot inflate or deflate while an attack is underway.
In my conception of the world one of the marvelous things about sidechains is that they are much more free to adapt to various kinds of threats (and service more types of needs.) Indeed, that is one of the ways that sidechains support Bitcoin...by creating an endless whack-a-mole for entities trying to attack crypto-currencies more generally. only totally critical thing is that native Bitcoin itself remains solid and well defended.
You sure are putting a lot of faith in side chains.
This is in no small part due to the people who are behind them. Also, as I've said, I've been thinking about them for some time and the advantage/dis-advantage ratio is huge as I see it. Lastly, the theory is simple which usually means that it is practical.
The only totally critical thing is that native Bitcoin itself remains solid and well defended.
Greed is the only thing needed for that. Engineers will sort out the details.
As I've said before, I'm open to a conversation about blocksize as long as there is a well defined problem and proposed solution regarding scaling.
How magnanimous of you to allow others to define the problem and solution for you to criticize. Where's your well defined problem and solution?
I'm cool with things as they are. The only valid argument I see is that mainstream VCs won't fork over any more money for us early adopters to put into our pockets unless they can have some assurance that they can subvert the system. Boo-hoo as far as I'm concerened. I've pocketed enough of their money already and am willing to try for the best of both worlds. That is, to shoot for a Bitcoin that is worth having as well as a pocket full of green.
I've made no bones about the fact that I myself have serious concerns about 4-7 tps even when most native Bitcoin transactions are sidechains balancings and user 'safe deposit box' style transactions if/when crypto-currencies are more than a tiny tiny part of the world's financial activity.
You have an interesting prediction on the future of transactions. In fact, the goal is for Bitcoin proper to scale as needed for the types of payments it best serves. It will be much higher than 4-7 tps. Bitcoin only needs to serve where cash would best serve because Bitcoin is cash.
As I've said, Bitcoin means different things to different people. Bitcoin is much more like gold bricks to me. Most useful when never touched. Unlike gold, BTC can be inventoried, split, and moved with relative safety.
None of you pro-fork people have given anything to hint at where you want to stop with your simplistic 'increase block size to scale' scheme, or where you want to draw the line with exclusions.
That's like asking scientists when they will be done discovering stuff.
It would be cool if Hawking figured out the secrets of the universe before he kicks the bucket, but it won't make a difference one way or another to my financial statement.
All I hear is 'faith based' assertions that market forces will make everything work out. Start talking numbers and we'll start analyzing.
You contradict yourself. Market forces use numbers by definition. Besides, you are the one with faith based in side chains that will make everything work out.
It's always been a no-brainer to me. I'm no where near certain that they will solve some of the economic problems necessary for infrastructure support, but it's by far the best hope. The alternative is to start over from scratch on Bitcoin. No alt I've seen seems to be targetting the role I see as important (to my amazement.) I'm for trying Bitcoin first and seeing if it can be made to work in spite of the resistance from within (be it ignorance or malice.)
In the mean time, we have one chance to stay within the constraints of what is achievable behind TOR and realistically likewise hardening methods. I'm not interested in throwing it away... especially when there is no need and a very promising solution is around the corner.
TOR has nothing to do with the Bitcoin protocol. TOR was compromised recently. If it was used, it would be in very limited fashion.
I've never trusted TOR as many of my posts here in trolltalk make clear. That's why I phrased things as I did. Onion routing generally is adds overhead that can dwarf a small payload such as a Bitcoin transaction and other kinds of cloaking (specifically steganography) can add much more.
I think it more likely than not that at some point there will be the long promised 'cyber 9/11' and some big changes to the global internet even here in the 'free world'. I've no intention of walking away from my stash just because some douche-bag government administrator and media echo-chamber says that a peer-2-peer internet fosters terrorism or whatever. If it never happens then that is fine and great, but it means that crypto-currencies are just toys and never did become indispensable tools for wealth protection. If it does then I want to be prepared and have my wealth protected by the most robust solution available.