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Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

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Re: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

#51
post #5

What I don't get about the Snap store is why there's no verified link back to a website? If you have the technical ability to create an app, you probably have the ability to upload something to /.well-known/ or to add a DNS TXT record. That way the Snap store could say "This app came from this website." OK, it doesn't help if someone goes to the trouble of registering a homograph address, but it would at least give n…

Off topic, but I wish /.well-known/ was used more often.

Right now, the only real usage for apis is in oauth2.

There are dozens of tiny use cases we could use a standard uri for ease of use in corporate environments…

.well-known/documentation - redirects to the docs

.well-known/health - health check

.well-known/specificiation - api contracts

Etc…

Re: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

#52
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The claim is that some day innovations, and checks, and some other technologies will fix this and do all of this automatically, somehow. That's why it's still early days.

Early days… 15 years later. To quote spaceballs, When exactly will “then” be “now”?

In 1980 packet switching had existed for 20 years already. The public Internet wouldn’t emerge for more than a decade after that—and it would take yet another 20 years for the true power of packet-switched networks to be realized, in the form of mobile Internet.

In 2000 neural networks had existed for more than 50 years. More than 20 years later their full potential is finally being realized, and many would say it is still early days.

It’s naive to think that you can predict the future course of a technology simply based on the fact that it has already existed for a certain amount of time.

Re: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

#53
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Early days… 15 years later. To quote spaceballs, When exactly will “then” be “now”?

In 1980 packet switching had existed for 20 years already. The public Internet wouldn’t emerge for more than a decade after that—and it would take yet another 20 years for the true power of packet-switched networks to be realized, in the form of mobile Internet. In 2000 neural networks had existed for more than 50 years. More than 20 years later their full potential is finally being realized, and many would say it is…

[flagged]

Re: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

#54
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 1980 packet switching had existed for 20 years already. The public Internet wouldn’t emerge for more than a decade after that—and it would take yet another 20 years for the true power of packet-switched networks to be realized, in the form of mobile Internet. In 2000 neural networks had existed for more than 50 years. More than 20 years later their full potential is finally being realized, and many would say it is…

[flagged]

It’s happening right now.

Re: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The claim is that some day innovations, and checks, and some other technologies will fix this and do all of this automatically, somehow. That's why it's still early days.

[flagged]

Banks are great, and they will exist in the bitcoin world. The central bank is the problem.

Re: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

#56
post #42

On a tangent, my neighbor came to me about a month ago and asked if I was a "hacker"? He's around 75 and has known me for maybe 20 years, we're not close friends but we run into each other every now and then and he knows I work with IT; I'm about half his age. Long story short, I find out he needs help to retrieve his bitcoin wallet because he's lost $300k. I spend an hour looking around his devices and find out he's…

who the fuck told this poor guy about bitcoin, tell him to invest his money in some stocks, he will be taxed but wont be fucked.

Re: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

#57
post #41
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cryptocurrency is the only place where regular people use cryptography that they control in a way that matters enough for someone to attack it. Of course we will see mistakes being made. Covering your ears and singing "lalala crypto bad" instead of trying to learn how to make cryptography easier to use is boring.

Far more regular people use other cryptography tools and protocols like full disk encryption, TLS, end-to-end encrypted messaging, etc. All of those are secure and easy to use.

Regular people don’t need to manage private keys for those, but there are a lot of weaknesses around the Trusted Platform Module managing said key for disk encryption. The “end-to-end” encrypted messaging also hides the fact that the keys are accessible by the platform operator in most cases, whether through iCloud Backup or otherwise. This is a decent middle ground if you can completely trust your provider, but obfuscating the real mechanics of the private key is how people are fooled into believing their communication is truly private.

Re: Exodus Bitcoin Wallet: $490k swindle

#58
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading this, it is bonkers to me that people think cryptocurrencies are ready or appropriate for mainstream use, either as a currency or as an investment. Line could go up, but if you aren’t extremely careful with processes that most people don’t and won’t comprehend—and don’t even realize are something you need to do—you can just straight up lose everything.

The claim is that some day innovations, and checks, and some other technologies will fix this and do all of this automatically, somehow. That's why it's still early days.

No, this is usually (apologies if not in your case) a straw man, and representative of the usual HN blind spot for cryptocurrency. Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets do protect against this class of attack. We are rapidly approaching a world in which those with significant assets or job responsibilities should be carrying physical 2FA tokens, which can allow use of private keys while protecting them (a hardware wallet).

This is more of the same. The base rule in crypto has always been “not your keys, not your coins” and to keep your recovery seed offline and only enter it with the utmost of caution.

The history of scams is long, requiring periods of societal learning and transition as e.g. credit card, identity fraud, and wire fraud have taken center stage.

Private keys will be something that a certain amount of the population will eventually be required to understand in my estimation, even if simplified as much as can be. The alternative is more middle ground solutions putting ultimate trust in a separate party managing the keys.

There isn’t much use for most first world citizens in maintaining direct control over their digital wealth, so they are best served by staying away or dollar cost averaging a small percentage of their portfolio into an offline wallet. Those who want to experiment with smart contracts can do so with much smaller amounts.

The ability to memorize 12 words and have direct ownership of your wealth anywhere with an Internet connection, independent of any party save those facilitating the network and the one accepting your payment, and the ability to cross a border or transfer to the other side of the globe without seizure, is already tremendously powerful to hundreds of millions of people who lack trustworthy financial services.

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