Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support • Hacker News Board

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#191

Post by PragmaticPulp » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:30 PM UTC

root_axis wrote: post #159

I'm a big cryptocurrency skeptic, but if they had used a more reputable coin instead of a pre-mined coin distributed in such a fashion as to enrich the founders, they could have avoided most of this backlash. People who aren't enthusiasts already understand that the raison d'etre of the cryptocurrency landscape is to get rich quick, but these guys got so greedy they've even pissed off the enthusiast community. Unfort…

Agreed. Monero or ZCash would have gotten the job done, but it wouldn’t have enriched the founders.

Pre-mined altcoin scams have been around so long that everyone in the crypto world knows to avoid them. Building up a dedicated following of people using an encrypted messenger app was a genius way of submarining a pre-mined crypto scam into an unsuspecting userbase.

I suspect a lot of us are going back to all of the people we recommended Signal to and revising our recommendations to avoid the cryptocurrency portion of the app.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#192

Post by RIMR » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:30 PM UTC

nix0n wrote: post #83

Among people I know, most individuals send money to each other via Venmo. This presents two problems: how to be sure you're sending money to the right person, and, the transaction is data-mined by Paypal. So, having payments inside of Signal actually would solve both those problems (if both people are using Signal). It could also be, that Signal is trying to turn their app into a platform, like WeChat.

1. Do most people actually care enough about PayPal knowing about their Venmo transactions to sacrifice ease-of-use and use a cryptocurrency instead? Is it worth having to endure volatility and have to deal with exchanges just to hide that split restaurant bill?

2. How does using a Cryptocurrency connected to Signal ensure greater confidence that you are transacting with the correct person than using Venmo connected to PayPal?

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#193

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:35 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#194

Post by eurasiantiger » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:37 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #117

agd wrote: post #35

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 liter…

> there are 3 attitudes towards Signal I am in group 4. I didn’t care that Moxie calls the shots and requires a phone number. And I was thrilled to have a secure communication app, from when Signal was TextSecure. I hate this to the point that I’m dropping Signal. The only reason to choose MobileCoin is Moxie’s personal affiliation to it. Meanwhile, this integration massively increases Signal’s regulatory cross secti…

That may be the intent.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#195

Post by timbit42 » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:38 PM UTC

45ure wrote: post #87

I am suffering from messaging app fatigue, using WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and iMessage on Android and/or iOS. No sooner than witnessing a significant portion of my contact list migrating to Signal from WhatsApp, after the ToC/privacy debacle, now there is another spanner in the works. Telegram failed with the TON project, trying to mix oil with water, in their attempt at cryptofying their platform. Signal should fo…

Remember 20 years ago when everyone was fatigued from running ICQ, MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messesnger, and Yahoo! Messenger? At least we had Trillian which let us pretend they were all one app.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#196

Post by RIMR » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:39 PM UTC

cuillevel3 wrote: post #95

kache_ wrote: post #61

PGP doesn't have this problem

Ugh, I hate PGP so much. It's keeping people from interacting securely for over two decades The UI is bad, integration is hard, the chain of trust (it never was a web) is broken, the CLI tools are annoying... but hey let's do crypto parties with other nerds and exchange passports.

What do you mean the UI is bad? Which one? https://www.openpgp.org/software/

Sounds to me like you used a specific piece of PGP software you didn't like or understand.

How can you folks care so much about your privacy, but absolutely refuse to understand the tools you are provided that ensure your privacy? You're never going to get it if you demand it be provided in a blackbox app you don't have to think about.

ProtonMail uses the PGP standard. Its UI is simple and easy. There's still one issue: You're trusting someone else to do your encryption for you.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#197

Post by Evan__ » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:40 PM UTC

progx wrote: post #99

jayp1418 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it won't be problematic as if someone doesn't want to create wallet they dont have to. So this payment option will be for only those who wants to enable it.

More code, more possible bugs, more updates needed. All that things are not necessary, they could create a separate app "Signal Pay" and everybody who wants it can use that. It made no sense to implement everything in one app.

Maybe not from a security perspective, but WeChat has been extremely successful by virtue of implementing everything in one app.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#198

Post by wasmitnetzen » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:40 PM UTC

agd wrote: post #47

gerikson wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no need to implement a payment mechanism via cryptocurrency. Signal can just create a "pro" version and sell that.

AFAIK crypto is the only way to get private and secure payments. Any other payment mechanism wouldn't fit the ethos of Signal.

The question is more whether it needs to support private and secure payments in the first place. That is, legally and ethically, a whole different beast than private communication.

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#199

Post by cdelsolar » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:42 PM UTC

sascha_sl wrote: post #71

kreetx wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with Keybase is that its UI should be a lot more polished. Other than that, how does using cryptocurrencies interfere with chat?

Keybase was a passion project that always had very limited development time. They churned out a lot of proof-of-concept grade features, but never really polished any of them. And then some of the features only would be really useful if they either were backed by a proper commitment or had a selfhostable plan B. The wallet is just one of many parts of keybases focus thrashing.

I just remembered that Keybase sent me random Lumens a while ago that I never touched, and when I just checked back right now, they're actually worth a significant amount? I am sort of shocked. How do I spend this?

Re: Signal Adds Cryptocurrency Support

#200

Post by jeroenhd » Wed, Apr 07, 2021, 2:43 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #157

progx wrote: post #106

I need a secure way to control my smart home, please integrate everything that is needed! Oh and i need a secure key for my car. If you had time, i need password manager within my messenger too. A secure todo list would be great. Not everything you can include into ONE app should be included.

Won't be complete until it can send mail though.

The chat app is already end to end encrypted, might as well make it implement GPG and send/receive email to truly complete the Signal project.