[Cryptography] In the latest unexpected ransomware twist ...

[Peter Fairbrother]

On 19/06/2021 17:51, Florian Weimer wrote:

> My understanding of Bitcoin is somewhat limited, but I think Bitcoin
> tokens aren't fungible.  

They are sort-of fungible - the bitcoins themselves in the wallets are 
fungible, the wallets aren't. If you mix up bitcoins from several 
sources in a single wallet then you can't tell which bitcoins are which 
- in fact bitcoins do not have an individual identity as such, just 
"there are 4.2 bitcoins in wallet x".



They are tied to the history that proves
> their validity.  Once that history is tainted, the tokens could be
> subject to forfeiture.

By mixing them up you can, maybe, disguise their history - but in 
practice that is not easy to do.


> I expect that pretty much anyone accepting Bitcoin will soon be
> required to check against lists of coins 


No such thing - lists of wallets, maybe, but there are no lists of 
coins, and there can't be any.


Peter Fairbrother