Who is running the consensus nodes? Will people choose their consensus node, and if so can you guarantee an overlap? Are the nodes maintaining a state or a full, auditable, ledger?
Stellar
331–340 of 486 posts
Re: Stellar
#332Earlier quoted context omitted.
"If so, then doesn't it have all the same problems and concerns as Ripple?" Correct. Like Ripple, Stellar requires special (and dangerous) trust in certain nodes. For example, gateways ( https://www.stellar.org/blog/introducing-stellar/#gateways ) have to be trusted by the Stellar network as they send messages like "a user deposited 100 USD via a bank wire transfer, so please accept this digital representation of 100…
Gateways actually don't have to be trusted by the network. Think of them as similar to stores issuing credit: the gateway just says "the user has a credit for 100 USD, redeemable at my store". That credit is tradable, but only to other users who trust credit from that gateway. This means there needs to emerge a good system for users to decide which gateways to trust, but a malicious gateway can only directly harm the…
"The network does not need to trust gateways, but users need to trust them" -> a subtle difference, but it does not change my point: trusting a gateway's honesty is required.
So let's say I choose to not trust any gateway and their currencies, and instead decide to transact in the native stellar currency directly. This is a strange choice: why have support for alternate currencies if the Stellar protocol in itself can do nothing to help gateways gain trust? You might as well have, say, Amazon not even bother becoming a gateway issuing their own USD_Amazon, but instead Amazon would just accept the stellar currency directly. In this case I am still required to trust the native stellar currency. I am required to trust that Stellar --the nonprofit organization-- will correctly follow their mandate (https://www.stellar.org/about/mandate/): distributing x% to X, y% to Y, etc, properly thwarting fraud attempts from people with many fake Facebook accounts, properly thwarting fraud attempts during voting (https://www.stellar.org/about/mandate/#Stellar_creation), properly thwarting fraud attempts from people building fake nonprofits to attempts to gain a share of the 25% of stellars reserved for nonprofits, etc. And Stellar trusts Facebook, so I am even required to trust that there is no malicious employee at Facebook that will exploit APIs to attempt to gain stellars. You plan to distribute stellars through SMS? Heck I now need to trust telecom carrier employees, etc. Even if you are honest and make no operational mistake, fighting all these fraud attempts will be a large uphill battle, and there is way too much trust required, way too many possibilities for mistakes to happen.
Contrast this with Bitcoin: all Bitcoin requires is trust in three cryptographic algorithms which fit in a few thousand lines of code (ECDSA w/secp256k1, SHA-256, and RIPEMD-160).
I appreciate the attempt of building a different payment technology, but Stellar should not mislead people into believing they are similar to Bitcoin ("Stellar is decentralized [...] owes a lot to Bitcoin"). Stellar threw away the most fundamental element of Bitcoin: complete decentralization (including decentralization of the issuance of units of currency.)
Re: Stellar
#333What are the key differences between Stellar and Ripple?
The name.
Re: Stellar
#334Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep, just another premined coin to the list, and as it turns out it's a fork of Ripple. Everyone here should read this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8115272
There is absolutely nothing wrong with premining, if it is done honestly and transparently and especially if your coin is using a consensus algorithm that has no need for regular mining in the first place. Let's evaluate the fairness of the distribution model on its merits. This one is quasi-centralized (relying on Facebook accounts), but I predict it will be among the most egalitarian.
Says the creator of a premined coin (Ethereum).
Re: Stellar
#335Re: Stellar
#336This is a Bitcoin-like, distributed, secure payment system WITH a federated protocol for gateways/exchanges. A federated exchange network allows anyone to participate, similar to email servers. But since trust is so much more important in this case, I think that network effects will result in a relatively small set of gateways that anyone will actually interact with.
No this is not Bitcoin-like. It's premined and requires trust. Besides, it's just a fork of Ripple, which has already failed after being dumped by its creator. http://i.imgur.com/DvyNzY3.jpg Oh but it has integration with Facebook, so I guess that changes everything! /s
Bitcoin also requires trust, specifically the trust that miners will not collude to double spend.
There is also nothing fundamental about the idea of issuing coins as a reward for mining. It's just one possibility among many, there's nothing intrinsically "fair" about it.
Re: Stellar
#337I received 4000+1000=5,000 Stellar. I sent 1,000 to another user. I have 3,999 Stellar remaining. What happened to my extra Stellar?
Take a look at https://www.stellar.org/faq/#_What_are_the_fees_for_a_transa.... The short answer is that each transaction burns 10 microstellar, and they haven't smoothed out all of the display issues in the hosted client yet, hence the surprise.
Re: Stellar
#338Earlier quoted context omitted.
The barrier to creating an unlimited number of facebook accounts is a half step above creating an unlimited number of gmail or hotmail accounts. No, the whole point of connecting with facebook is to focus on the UX of making electronic payments. Who's going to remember their coffee date's wallet is 1BeX1pVAjD94hNs6C5d2dB3TRnLx53dXg3? QR codes are cute, but haven't quite hit the mainstream. It's a lot easier to say "B…
Other discussions here are saying that Stellar scans the Facebook account to check whether it looks like a spam account set up to exploit the giveaway. It rejects accounts that are newly registered, for instance.
I'd be surprised if that's true. I signed up with my fake FB account and it worked just fine. The account is a complete spammy mess so if they are attempting that, they are not doing a very good job. I would say more likely no new accounts allowed and that's it...
Re: Stellar
#339Pretty strange how Stellar is paying people to sign up with Facebook. Facebook is very centralized. These modern currencies are very decentralized. I don't mind myself, but it seems like paying someone to sign up with the enemy...
I bailed at the first page after the registration screen when I couldn't get any further due to the facebook requirement. I don't have a facebook account, who in tech has a facebook account these days?
I just find it strange that a supposedly forward-thinking new platform would require technology most people I know abandoned last decade. You don't appeal to early-adopters by requiring they use dead-tech.
Re: Stellar
#340> We are currently using Facebook as a verification method to avoid spam but hope to add other methods soon. We will not post on your Facebook. Mandatory connect to Facebook? No, thanks.
I am one of the folks working at Stellar. Yes, FB isn't a login method that will work for everyone. Today is just day 1; we plan on adding more methods soon. Also, anyone can create an account/wallet without even registering your email. FB auth is only for the giveaway.
So when other methods are introduced will those of us that signed up on day 1 but don't have facebook accounts still be eligible for the giveaway and for the same amount?