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Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

schneier.com

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Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#31

Post by sneak »

sithadmin wrote: post #27
sneak wrote: post #2

> It’s that adding a cryptocurrency to an end-to-end encrypted app muddies the morality of the product, and invites all sorts of government investigative and regulatory meddling: by the IRS, the SEC, FinCEN, and probably the FBI. We need to fight against the idea that private payments are any less moral than private conversations. We also need to actively reject the status quo in the USA of a complete and total lack…

Cryptocurrency != speech; it is not at its core some vehicle for transmission of information, or at least, no more so than conventional currency is. Currency, crypto or not, is no more than a marker of value established by a popular consensus. If any sort of currency supports the transmission of information, it’s a secondary effect where the act of transmitting that information is riding on the coat tails of the mone…

The act of "sending" a cryptocurrency payment is actually the publication of a cryptographic signature.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#33

Post by detaro »

yoelo wrote: post #22
detaro wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What "Signal community"?

Good point. My main point is perhaps that this shouldn't be up to one dude that loves crypto assets – that there should be a signal community making decisions.

Being a centrally-guided product over a community project has been an intentional core characteristic of how Signal is run from the start though, so that's pretty much against the principle for it. (outside of the level that companies listen to user community feedback)

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#34

Post by henearkr »

yoelo wrote: post #22
detaro wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What "Signal community"?

Good point. My main point is perhaps that this shouldn't be up to one dude that loves crypto assets – that there should be a signal community making decisions.

It's already a Free Software.

Huge fork in 10... 9... 8...

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#35

Post by agd »

I think there are 3 attitudes towards Signal:

1. Anger from purists who care about the fact it's not decentralised, and that Moxie runs the show, and that it uses phone numbers etc etc...

2. Indifference from those who have never heard of it

3. Joy from those who are extremely happy a decent, private, alternative to Facebook/Whatsapp exists

My worry is that group 1) try and ruin it for the rest of us.

Signal is literally the only product I can get my family to use which provides E2E messaging and prevents mass surveillance. But Signal needs to keep core feature parity to remain competitive with WhatsApp, Telegram etc. And that includes a payment mechanism.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#38

Post by bildung »

sneak wrote: post #31
sithadmin wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cryptocurrency != speech; it is not at its core some vehicle for transmission of information, or at least, no more so than conventional currency is. Currency, crypto or not, is no more than a marker of value established by a popular consensus. If any sort of currency supports the transmission of information, it’s a secondary effect where the act of transmitting that information is riding on the coat tails of the mone…

The act of "sending" a cryptocurrency payment is actually the publication of a cryptographic signature.

Sure, but law and regulation doesn't work that way. It's about the intent, not the technicality. That's e.g. the difference between gross negligence, manslaughter and murder, even if someone died in all these situations.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#40

Post by kreetx »

Could somebody elaborate the animosity towards being able to pay in Signal, or and perhaps also the animosity towards Signal itself?

I use it, seems like an e2ee and uncluttered messaging app that just works.

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