Re:Ask HN: For Bitcoin to be ubiquitous, what must happen?
by IanCal on Monday November 18, 2013 @02:58PM
(#6756531)
I can't edit this now, so I'll add this as a reply:
Normal credit/debit card details are like symmetric encryption. If I give you my details you could pass them on to someone else and pretend to be me. The analogy is more apt with bank details, if I give you enough details to transfer money in you have enough details to transfer money out.
Legal protections are the only reason these systems work, and have been introduced to cover the clear problems with the approach.
Bitcoin is like asymmetric encryption. I can give you an address to send money to, and you cannot take money from it. I can transfer money to you without giving away the information required for you to take anything from my account.
Since the protections for bitcoin aren't legal but technical, international transactions (which have become more common since the introduction of debit & credit cards) become easier and much safer. I can buy something from a website for, say, $10 and risk only that $10. It doesn't matter how sketchy it is, or what their security is like, I'm fairly safe.
This introduces other problems, and I'm not going to pretend like it's some panacea but it does address real problems that exist.
Normal credit/debit card details are like symmetric encryption. If I give you my details you could pass them on to someone else and pretend to be me. The analogy is more apt with bank details, if I give you enough details to transfer money in you have enough details to transfer money out.
Legal protections are the only reason these systems work, and have been introduced to cover the clear problems with the approach.
Bitcoin is like asymmetric encryption. I can give you an address to send money to, and you cannot take money from it. I can transfer money to you without giving away the information required for you to take anything from my account.
Since the protections for bitcoin aren't legal but technical, international transactions (which have become more common since the introduction of debit & credit cards) become easier and much safer. I can buy something from a website for, say, $10 and risk only that $10. It doesn't matter how sketchy it is, or what their security is like, I'm fairly safe.
This introduces other problems, and I'm not going to pretend like it's some panacea but it does address real problems that exist.