[Cryptography] payments, Bitcoin theft and the future of cryptocurrencies

John Levine johnl at iecc.com
Wed Dec 20 14:03:43 EST 2017


In article <CAD2Ti2_gWs8t4J9S_=QHWT2dCrNu5MuTrcYaoTCPX59pvgcorA at mail.gmail.com> you write:
>Avg Joes really don't like people and corps and governments all
>up in their business. Don't believe this, ask them over beers.
>If you give them two otherwise identical coins, tell them one's
>private and the other isn't with an honest five minute explanation,
>they'll pick the private one. It's up to you to make, give, and explain.

Right, and then ask him if he uses that private coin to buy a
dishwasher and it doesn't work, should he be able to get his money
back.  

Or (obCrypto) "should the messages on your phone be safe from
government snooping?" vs. "should terrorists and drug dealers be
allowed to hide behind cryptography?"  You find similar things in
political polls, where people consistently say that their politics are
conservative, while supporting mostly liberal positions.

You can get whatever answer you want by phrasing the question, which
is why it's more informative to look at what people actually do than
what they say.  And for payments, what they do is to use plastic.

R's,
John

PS: I have a Swedish friend who uses so little cash that he says he
doesn't know what the current Swedish banknotes look like.


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