I thought their answer was very clear: facilitates illegal transactions
this is a good thing because tyrannical governments make all kinds of things illegal, and blockchain removes some of this absolute power to prevent various transactions
this is a good thing because tyrannical governments make all kinds of things illegal, and blockchain removes some of this absolute power to prevent various transactions
Specifically, the "product" is they've assembled a criminal conspiracy to launder money and hide fraud, and they're offering it as a service. When you have sophisticated scammers running them it always takes time for regulators to unravel these schemes; blockchains certainly did not invent this.
We should also ban crime too, that will surely stop it. Why not get rid of general purpose computation and global communication networks while we are torching our technological footprint.
general purpose computation though... I feel it's already on the chopping block. I think we'll see the first signs during the upcoming "cyber pandemic".
And because I can see where this is going: The takes along the lines of "it's not illegal, I was just flipping some electrons into ones and zeros" is a really bad take, you can do better than that.
Now, encryption and by extension cryptocurrency, this is truly revolutionary. They can shoot me in the head, but they cannot read my data, access my devices, or take the money. All that remains is silicon and metal. I like the idea that when I die, everything I have written privately, and every sat I have earned will rest forever, unreachably.
That's not why we should deny cryptocurrency. We should deny it because it is fundamentally bad, it serves no purpose besides scamming and fraud. The technology is broken and can't ever achieve its stated goals except by pure luck, at which point it is no better than any other solutions.
>they cannot read my data, access my devices, or take the money
Yes, they can. A dedicated aggressor (i.e. a nation state actor) will just torture and blackmail you until you give that up. Of course it gets harder for them if they kill you, then they would have to brute force your data. But then why would they need access to your devices, if you were the target they were trying to get rid of? If your private correspondence was with another party, they can also just blackmail the other party into giving up dirt on you. Cryptography can't actually do anything about these classic "meatspace" techniques.
I know your opinion re usefulness, noted. It contrasts greatly with my experiences.
Some of us dream up ways to keep the State out, you keep dreaming up ways the State will defeat it. It is a cat and mouse game for all eternity. I am confident we will survive.
I’ve been philosophizing on the nature of Bitcoin for a long time. You haven’t given me an attack that would defeat this system yet. If you have a valid attack, I would encourage you to circulate it where technical folks can deal with it.
All you are doing is throwing your opinion that it is useless, the state will defeat it, etc. I mean cool, but coiners will not agree with you. There are many others here that have told you their experiences, threat models and uses.
Ransomware is primarily enabled by encrypting your files. How they take payment is irrelevant. No encryption (eg: a universe where AES, RSA, ECEIS is broken), no ransomware.
My position is the fallout of ransomware is enabled by people failing to take backups.
Is your problem with the network enabling crime? (Internet?)
One very important distinction is that Liberty Reserve doesn't exist anymore, because they didn't bother to design a technology that enabled them to dodge prosecution.
> "as a victim of ransomware, it is very much not a good thing"
Blatantly fallacious argument, the point isn't to defend ransomware, but to defend other examples of illegality that are justified.
I don't know how you can argue that facilitating illegal transactions is on balance a good thing, unless you also argue that the world would be better off if all currently-illegal transactions were instead legal.
I’d say a government that outlaws abortion is a tyrannical overlord with no legitimacy. And yet here we are.