cross post ..
Hi
I have question, if someone would be kind enough to answer
Is it possible to have totally open transactions with XMR (as open as BTC)....or do all transactions necessarily get obscured by ring-sig?
This was answered in this FAQ here:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.8148948It might have not been clear. This isn't something that's even similar to you comparing your transaction records with someone. This method involves using data that is constant in your wallet, the view-key, that you can use to reveal, with absolute proof, that your transaction occurred on the blockchain. With this, yes, totally open transactions are possible. They can be as open as BTC, if everyone were to share every single view-key that they use with every wallet they use and make them accessible to everyone. I don't know why people would do that though.
Well I was reading about black and white bitcoins today, and the possibility that regulators may try to identify addresses. Now if that were to happen, it may happen in some places but not others. It may happen for a while and then be abandoned. We don't know. But, in some places it may be useful to be a coin that is not
necessarily "private", but has the option for more a more open ledger.
In such a case, I would imagine the view key being part of your bitlicense in NY, or at least able to be demanded by law (ie: regulated/submissible as proof) .. similar to a court asking your credit card company for transaction records, except in this case you (or whoever you've trusted your view key with) would have to provide that. Like you said though, we don't know. Cryptonote does offer things that can be legislated - payments are not permanently obscured. The point here is that nobody can falsify the evidence, as it's permanently recorded on the blockchain and your wallet.
I see it as, in the very least, keeping the same decency I've been shown to date in that my neighbor does not know if I've bought a flat screen TV last year (short of showing them myself of course
) .. while at the same time, if I had not paid the credit card bill that I racked up from buying the TV .. the court, myself and my cc company can hash it all out successfully .. all without my neighbor knowing (or ever being able to find out without my direct intervention). The same carries through with cryptonote.
Edit: smooth's right, I'll respond in the main thread
