[Cryptography] Bitcoin theft and the future of cryptocurrencies

[John Levine]

In article <20171213102142.GC856 at sivokote.iziade.m$>,
Georgi Guninski  <guninski at guninski.com> wrote:
>If your bitcoin wallet is compromised, all your bitcoins are gone
>forever. With a credit card, you have some chance of only minor
>damage. If your computer is owned, your wallet is at risk.
>
>This appears major problem for the widespread adoption of bitcoin
>IMHO.

Of course.  The payment systems that people use for transactions in
the real world, credit and debit cards, checks, and (outside the US)
bank transfers all have ways to reverse bogus transactions.  Bitcoin's
model is envelopes of cash, too bad if you change your mind.

>Any technical attempts at mitigating cryptocurrency theft?

It's not a technical problem.  The problem is how you tell fraud from
buyer's remorse when someone wants to reverse a transaction.

R's,
John

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