[Cryptography] Bitcoin theft and the future of cryptocurrencies

[Thierry Moreau]

On 13/12/17 06:06 PM, John Levine wrote:
> 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.

FYI, Canada LVTS (Large Value Transfer System) is a system where 
payments are "immediately final and irrevocable."

A procedural protection is to precede a large payment with one of say 
14.87 $ to the intended recipient (with an off-line confirmation) before 
the large payment is made. Sophisticated cryptography is not always needed.

Bitcoin does not qualify as a currency, its volatility disqualifies it 
(if nothing else, e.g. scalability).

- Thierry

>
>> 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
>