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Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

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Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#41

Post by crazypython »

josh2600 wrote: post #4
leifg wrote: post #3

What's the consensus function you use on the mobile coin blockchain. Couldn't see if it's proof of work or proof of stake.

We use a modified version of the Stellar Consensus Protocol that we reimplemented from scratch using Rust. https://github.com/UkoeHB/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin/blob/maste... << Page 81 is where you want to go.

How does Stellar Consensus prevent double-spends?

Imagine I have a private key to an address with 10 coins. Imagine I spend the same amount of money (10 coins) on Mars and Earth at the same time. There is a 10-lightminute gap between Mars and Earth. Assume Mars and Earth have a similar number of Stellar nodes. What happens in Stellar Consensus?

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#42

Post by fastball »

RL_Quine wrote: post #37
fastball wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you want Signal to monetize?

> Signal Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit. We’re proud of that designation and we’re out to prove that a nonprofit can innovate and scale as well as any business driven by a profit motive. https://signalfoundation.org/

Unsurprisingly money is still needed to pay for development and hosting costs, and Brian Acton's loan won't last forever.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#43

Post by RL_Quine »

josh2600 wrote: post #33
RL_Quine wrote: post #19

How much did MobileCoin pay for inclusion in Signal?

MobileCoin has not yet paid Signal anything for integrating MobileCoin. We intend to donate a great deal of money to Signal over the coming years. We believe in Signal's mission and we think that the world is a better place with Signal in it.

Moxie Marlinspike is listed as an advisor for MobileCoin, was this not a paid position?

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#45

Post by seany »

kasey_junk wrote: post #23
rcMgD2BwE72F wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does KYC apply to all transactions or only to purchase of currency? Because I can get bank notes from an ATM and pay anyone in cash without having an intermediary verify my identity when money changes hands.

Not over certain spending limits you can’t.

In practice, sure you can. You have to be careful about getting it back into the normal banking system if you want to do that; but you aren't going to be raided by the secret service for handing someone 30k in a parking lot (something I have done before)

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#46

Post by RL_Quine »

devwastaken wrote: post #29
RL_Quine wrote: post #12

This is garbage, and shouldn't be part of Signal. Everything on the internet is being corrupted with adding cryptocurrency scams where they absolutely don't belong, it turns Signal from an obvious recommendation into something that makes me hesitate. There's something to be said for focusing on doing one thing well, and that doesn't mean turning a communication platform into a kitchen sink.

If they didn't use some random 'coin' no one has heard of I'd be on board. They're trying to compete in a bad way. They should simply just use Stripe and be done with it. People want an alternative to facebook messaging and PayPal. They don't want superfluous cryptos.

Moxie Marlinspike is listed as an advisor of MobileCoin, so there's some obvious financial connections between the two.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#47

Post by BlueMatt »

RL_Quine wrote: post #19

How much did MobileCoin pay for inclusion in Signal?

According to coinmarketcap, MobileCoin's "Fully Diluted Market Cap is $15,638,578,369.65". If we take a conservative assumption of a 1% advisor grant (which would be very conservative for a system that has been pitching signal integration as its primary feature for years), then that would put the value of the integration at around $150 million today (or tens of millions a few weeks ago).

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#48

Post by candiddevmike »

fooqux wrote: post #22
RL_Quine wrote: post #12

This is garbage, and shouldn't be part of Signal. Everything on the internet is being corrupted with adding cryptocurrency scams where they absolutely don't belong, it turns Signal from an obvious recommendation into something that makes me hesitate. There's something to be said for focusing on doing one thing well, and that doesn't mean turning a communication platform into a kitchen sink.

Signal is competing against some big players in the messaging space, at least some of which have money transfers. As long as they abide by their principles and none of these features impact privacy, I don't see how it wouldn't be viewed as a win. A case could be made for it being bloat, but most consumers don't care, and for Signal (or any messaging app) to be successful, it needs to appeal to the common denominator.…

If you're that concerned about third party processors, most banks and credit unions provide their customers a way to send money between people fairly simply.

Signal providing this functionality is scope creep.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#49

Post by fourstar »

lvs wrote: post #21

Why this particular coin that nobody uses? This seems weird. Is this a monetisation scheme we should be worried about?

IMO Signal/Moxie "advises" this project, so to me this seems like their way of cashing out (I'm assuming they hold the majority of coins), given that Signal itself is a not-for-profit organization. At least that's what I'd do if I were Moxie.

Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

#50

Post by josh2600 »

RL_Quine wrote: post #12

This is garbage, and shouldn't be part of Signal. Everything on the internet is being corrupted with adding cryptocurrency scams where they absolutely don't belong, it turns Signal from an obvious recommendation into something that makes me hesitate. There's something to be said for focusing on doing one thing well, and that doesn't mean turning a communication platform into a kitchen sink.

Hi,

Before you label MobileCoin a scam, I would encourage you to take a look at the Github. I think you'll see that we've made a lot of very carefully considered choices on how to deliver a great payments experience without many of the compromises other cryptocurrencies have chosen. Of note, the speed of transactions, much greener energy design, privacy-protections, and mobile-first UX are differentiators. Many cryptocurrencies have some of these features, but I don't know of any other that has all of them.

Believe me, I have a lot of feelings about how absurd cryptocurrency has become in the last decade. At its core, I still believe that there is something beautiful in decentralized ledgers and I think that this is the way that the world will settle debts over the next hundred years. Signal chose MobileCoin because nothing else met their performance and privacy standards. In order to meet those goals we wrote a lot of new technology that is fundamentally different from how other cryptocurrencies are architected today (check out our oblivious RAM implementation, for example: https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/fog).

I love Signal and I started MobileCoin to help fund their work. For me, a world with Signal in it is a better place.

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