• Programmer Belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 months ago

    Blockchain will never be a good system of private transactions as it takes too many resources to run it and you have to fork it all of the time because the chains get too heavy. That much I know and agree with.

    I want an alternative and currently after the grift made because of crypto, no one wants to innovate in a private and decentralized currency. In truth, I haven’t searched that much for an alternative.

    • rook@awful.systems
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      3 months ago

      The problem isn’t just the nature of blockchains, the problem is the uses to which such systems will be put. The explosion in ransomware fuelled by bitcoin et al isn’t something that can be replicated with physical cash at the same scale, for example (consider why you want electronic cash in the first place). Similarly, the need to “be your own bank” will always expose you to a greater risk of fraud and theft and loss, because being a bank is harder than people seem to think.

      The technology involved is (almost) irrelevant.

      • Programmer Belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 months ago

        I wanted this “electronic cash” to make it easier to carry cash without ending with lots of coins in my wallet. The point of being your own bank seems dangerous and too convoluted to make it more convenient.

        I guess I will keep trying to use cash whenever I can and call it a day.

        • rook@awful.systems
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          3 months ago

          So I realise that this is very euro-centric and the majority of people on earth don’t get this sort of convenience, but… fast and easy interbank transfers and contactless debit and credit card payments just do all the stuff that most people want out of electronic cash, and transaction logs are a small price to pay for a substantial reduction in risk.

            • rook@awful.systems
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              3 months ago

              You realise that all electronic currencies will necessarily involve transaction logs stored in someone else’s computer? Even Zcash and monero, which have clever anonymous transactions, allow selective disclosure of the details of those transactions if you ever find yourself at the wrong end of a criminal investigation or tax audit. Moreover, their anonymity guarantees are not perfect (the IRS has certainly paid big bucks to chainalysis for de-anonymisation, for what that’s worth).

              Unless someone magically invents a software artefact that can’t be duplicated (don’t hold your breath, I’m serious about the magic) there’s no escape from this fundamental requirement.

              • Programmer Belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                3 months ago

                Using that logic, the US government has enough computing power to decrypt your internet traffic even if you use a VPN. I only want more protection, not complete anonymity.

                And for what it’s worth, I think that the protection an internet service can provide is only “trust that we are doing it right”, every data leak that is happening is proof of this.

                • rook@awful.systems
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                  3 months ago

                  the US government has enough computing power to decrypt your internet traffic even if you use a VPN

                  No. Not even slightly.

                  I see you are completely unfamiliar with any of the issues here. I appreciate they are complex, but I don’t have the time or patience to educate you right now, even assuming you’re willing to learn.

                  • Programmer Belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                    3 months ago

                    Can you leave me with some reading material regarding the problems of trying to get privacy in electronic currency?

                    Something like the de-anonymisation of monero, I think it’s interesting and will try to read more about it.