I can't believe anyone would be leaving their Wallet on a WinXP box or on a Mircosoft OS for more than 5 minutes while it takes to copy it to a few thumb drives and then delete it off your computer.
Topic: Bitcoin's catch-22 - page 2. (Read 2727 times)
I feel that it should have been thought through a bit more before it was opened up to speculation.
What would you have done differently if you'd been the creator behind a new currency and what would you have kept the same?
What would you have done differently if you'd been the creator behind a new currency and what would you have kept the same?
It wasn't "opened up to speculation". It simply came into existence as something with the properties of a currency, and people started to exchange it as such. Gavin Andresen is constantly counselling caution, saying there's a rocky road ahead.
I do think that adequate security is the next major hurdle to overcome for Bitcoin to make headway.
Bitcoin needs to have properly secure clients by default (and by that, I mean something that secures bitcoins as well as some of the other threads have described), and properly secure online storage.
People need confidence that bitcoins are as secure as conventional bank accounts, cash in you wallet and gold coins in a bolted down safe.
As long as Bitcoin has value, there will always be someone out there trying to steal it. And they will find ways. Keep that in mind. This isn't a flaw specific to Bitcoin though.
I think people get lax on the protection of their Bitcoins because it isn't tangible. Someone who would never consider leaving $500,000 dollars worth of gold sit in the corner of their bedroom might leave their wallet on a computer connected to the internet. Protect yourselves people!
Bitcoin would receive negative press if it was perfect, and of course it isn't. People will screw up and the public will hear about it. The public eats up stories like this. Ever see how traffic slows down on the opposite side of a highway when there is an accident? Anyway, encrypt the wallet and some guy is going to forget the password to access his 25,000 Bitcoins and it will be all over the net.
There is a market for Bitcoin security, and someone will build a layer on top of Bitcoin to make it more secure for the average user, and they will get rich doing it. Think insurance companies and banks.
I think people get lax on the protection of their Bitcoins because it isn't tangible. Someone who would never consider leaving $500,000 dollars worth of gold sit in the corner of their bedroom might leave their wallet on a computer connected to the internet. Protect yourselves people!
Bitcoin would receive negative press if it was perfect, and of course it isn't. People will screw up and the public will hear about it. The public eats up stories like this. Ever see how traffic slows down on the opposite side of a highway when there is an accident? Anyway, encrypt the wallet and some guy is going to forget the password to access his 25,000 Bitcoins and it will be all over the net.
There is a market for Bitcoin security, and someone will build a layer on top of Bitcoin to make it more secure for the average user, and they will get rich doing it. Think insurance companies and banks.
These are changes they are making now. Encryption will be in the next release of the bitcoin client. No need to restart.
Would you mind giving a link to where a developer said encryption would be in the next release? or is this more just you hope it will be in the next release?
https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=16553.0
And I quote:
"Priority for next version: wallet encryption"
You can see the progress on this issue here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/232
These are changes they are making now. Encryption will be in the next release of the bitcoin client. No need to restart.
Would you mind giving a link to where a developer said encryption would be in the next release? or is this more just you hope it will be in the next release?
Wallets need to be encrypted by default. I think the client needs to provide a "savings" wallet with a different password that you are instructed not to use often -- for extra security.
These are changes they are making now. Encryption will be in the next release of the bitcoin client. No need to restart.
These are changes they are making now. Encryption will be in the next release of the bitcoin client. No need to restart.
With all the scamming and thefts going on, it seems like Bitcoins are only proving why an anonymous currency is a bad idea. If transactions are tracked, it kind of defeats the purpose. If they're not, anyone can make a profit from shoddy security and/or gullible users. It seems like the people benefiting the most from Bitcoins are speculators and scammers at the moment. It's an interesting experiment, but I think more people need to treat it as such and not put their life savings into it right off the bat. There are obviously a lot of wrinkles to iron out, and before that happens I think Bitcoins are going to suffer from a lot of negative publicity when people get hundreds or even thousands of dollars stolen from them. I feel that it should have been thought through a bit more before it was opened up to speculation.
What would you have done differently if you'd been the creator behind a new currency and what would you have kept the same?
What would you have done differently if you'd been the creator behind a new currency and what would you have kept the same?
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