Topic: The Future of Bitcoin is Biometric authentication and identification - page 2. (Read 7798 times)

The camera on your phone is a biometric device. A high-res image of your face can be used to generate a biometric guid. This is already being done right now. Finger-print scanners are 15 dollars.

Consumer protection comes with identity and authentication. That is what biometrics is all about. This is happening already. Google biometric shopping, biometric passport, biometric credit cards. The technology exists and is being used without your full understanding already. Look at the biometric effort in india that is used to successfully identify 1 billion people.

With a high-resolution image a private key can be generated and related to your wallet, identity. When you want to authorize a transaction a picture is taken, enter a pin as an extra measure and voila. Want to receive money? The buyer takes a pic of your face and has your wallet id. Easy.

This is going to happen sooner than you think. It's going to be interesting to see if a company like blockchain.info brings it to market first for bitcoin.

Biometrics devices are expensive toys so far. There hasn't been a serious easy of use device made yet that uses biometrics for authorization. Especially something that you carry around with you at all times, like when you're out at the bar scene, in a concert venue, or a freezing night.

The real hurdle to mass option is consumer protection. That is what made paypal big and until the average joe has confidence they can reclaim funds from an entity who didn't perform their side of the deal cryptocurriences will be backroom currency.

Forget about the financial 'geniuses' trying to figure out the true value of BTC. And don't worry about how and why bitcoin may or may not fail.

Digital crypto currencies are the future and simply an evolution of the current credit and debit card networks we are using right now.

One the hurdles bitcoin has to overcome before it will ever become adopted by the mainstream is one of ease of use.

It's pretty hard to fuck up using a credit or debit card.. and even if you do the bank and credit card companies will generally cover you as a consumer. Merchants get the shaft of course.

Bitcoin's semi anonymity is great except it's as insecure on a social level as paper money. I don't want to be in a dark alley making a 10k transaction with someone i don't know for a physical item i can't test or return.

Wallet addresses need to be bound to an identity so reputation and trust can be established thereby building a framework of security and accountability.

The semi-anonymous nature of bitcoin also lends to it's lack of user friendliness. Most people simply don't have the understanding or knowledge required to secure and use their wallets. It's to fricking hard and stressful when you have a large number of BTC. Bare minimum we can agree it's a lot harder and more stressful than it is to use a debit or credit card backed by 'money' in a bank.

I understand there is a lack of trust in banks and financial institutions and that is the appeal of bitcoin. but bitcoin doesn't become mainstream without being EASIER to use.

This is where biometric wallets will come into play. If bitcoin is not the first to adopt this it will fail. And if it is the first to adopt it then we know we have pioneered the beast system where buying and selling cannot be done without the mark.

Your biometric information generates a key tied to your wallet. QRcode is replaced or exists alongside your biometrics. This is coming. A company like blockchain.info is surely looking at this. Adoption rate will soar through the roof when wallets are inexplicably tied to identity. Everything falls into place.