Live data from Hacker News

Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

deepdotweb.com

11–20 of 555 posts

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#11

The claim that this was caused by transaction malleability rings hollow. The reference client (github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin) does not resend transactions because of malleability. The only way you can have double transfers due to malleability is if you are manually reviewing transfers and re-sending them yourself manually. This seems like a very convenient scapegoat.

Yeah. The moment I got to " a vendor exploited a recently discovered vulnerability in the Bitcoin protocol known as “transaction malleability”" I was like "Riiiiight....".

It's not even 'recently discovered', and as far as I understand it it does not let anyone to drain other persons' wallet (if it did, that'd be a killer to entire bitcoin the moment it was discovered)

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#13

The claim that this was caused by transaction malleability rings hollow. The reference client (github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin) does not resend transactions because of malleability. The only way you can have double transfers due to malleability is if you are manually reviewing transfers and re-sending them yourself manually. This seems like a very convenient scapegoat.

It might have been scripted to automatically resend the Bitcoin. This would be a huge oversight, but it is not beyond a doubt.

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#15
Not having very much knowledge about the financial industry - is this also an issue with marketplaces that deal with fiat monies?

i.e. Dwolla, Balanced, Stripe, Venmo, all serve as intermediaries for moving money - do these companies have bank accounts that hold onto massive sums of money? What protections would go into keep those accounts secure?

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#16
post #3

Given illegal nature of Silk Road 2, I can't help but be suspicious of this explanation of the hack. If someone's sufficiently willing to flaunt laws as to operate a site devoted to selling contraband, what stops them from taking advantage of their position of power and stealing from their users?

They are not criminals, they are "freedom fighters"

Well atleast that is how they delusionaly see it.

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#17
post #3

Given illegal nature of Silk Road 2, I can't help but be suspicious of this explanation of the hack. If someone's sufficiently willing to flaunt laws as to operate a site devoted to selling contraband, what stops them from taking advantage of their position of power and stealing from their users?

The fact that they would be cutting their own revenue stream? I'm not saying its not possible but really this is just speculation. I could just as easily surmise that it was from a government or banks who feel threatened by bitcoin...

Re: Silk Road 2 Hacked, All Bitcoins Stolen

#20
post #15

Not having very much knowledge about the financial industry - is this also an issue with marketplaces that deal with fiat monies? i.e. Dwolla, Balanced, Stripe, Venmo, all serve as intermediaries for moving money - do these companies have bank accounts that hold onto massive sums of money? What protections would go into keep those accounts secure?

Dwolla uses a credit union pool account. Taken from https://www.dwolla.com/security

Dwolla, Inc. is an agent of Veridian Credit Union and all funds associated with your account in the Dwolla network are held in a pooled account at Veridian Credit Union. These funds are not eligible for individual insurance, and may not be eligible for share insurance by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. Dwolla, Inc. is the operator of a software platform that communicates user instructions for funds transfers to Veridian Credit Union.

Post reply on HN