Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is no guarantee that there will be late adopters. So yes, there is risk.
Not when you know beforehand that it will be implemented into signal :)
True, but in general.
Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
561–570 of 665 posts
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#562Earlier quoted context omitted.
If anything, Threema is the best alternative.
No, it really is not. Matrix or XMPP.
XMPP has issues on Android and iOS: the app needs to be running and connected to the server at all times to fetch new messages. iOS explicitly disallows this from what I understand, and on Android you are at the mercy of your OEM's battery optimizations unless you specifically keep the app running by pinning it or if the app has persistent notifications. Either way, not something that is easy to explain to normal users, meaning pain points arise very soon.
Matrix is a little more promising, but Element (at least on matrix.org servers) is slow, especially at scale.
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#563Earlier quoted context omitted.
>You also had to provide a phone number to get a Google or Apple account to install Signal because anonymous signed install methods are not supported, which moxie says is intentional to collect analytics. Signal distributes a standalone APK for android, which does function without google play services. https://signal.org/android/apk/
Functions != secure. You must turn on Untrusted Sources which disables meaningful signature verification. Now you must hope you don't get MITMed every time you update. It is a joke they seriously expect people to sideload. They need to provide a deterministic and easily auditable F-Deoid repo or let the F-Droid team compile/sign it for them. Neither will happen though because moxie has been very open about the fact h…
Not entirely true. On recent versions of Android, you are asked to give "install untrusted apps" permission on a per-source basis (e.g. I downloaded an apk from Chrome, now I have to allow Chrome to be a source of installable apks).
Also, it doesn't disable signature verification at all -- it just changes to what is essentially a TOFU model. You can verify this by installing, say, NewPipe from vanilla Fdroid, then adding the NewPipe repo and installing a build from there. It will fail unless you completely remove the original app (from all the profiles on the device!) and install the new one afterwards. This is due to different signatures between repos.
In any case, I agree with your wider point about Signal's rather concerning distribution strategy. I would like to see inclusion in Fdroid, or at least a custom third-party repository. Unlikely though.
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#564There are 250 million units of mobilecoin, and majority of them are owned by the founders. Only 37.5 million have been distributed. With current price ($65), they're worth $14B already. This makes the project a scam and impossible for it to work as a reliable money that holds value. Bitcoin had no pre-mine and has been fairly distributed from the start.
look at the chart: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/mobilecoin/ the integration with signal made the valuation of mobilecoint jump from around zero to 65$. I hope the signal team got some mobilecoins in return for the favor.
Wtf is that dip to $33 ?
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#565Earlier quoted context omitted.
This kind of anti-feature is not what I signed up for. I just wanted a secure messenger normal users could understand! It seems like a simple enough problem that Signal solved well (apart from the phone number requirement). Sadly, now it feels like Signal was just a long game trojan for Marlinspike to onboard users to a cryptocurrency pyramid scheme. This has nothing to do with its core functionality and it makes me…
> I've wasted my influence with my non-technical friends convincing them to adopt Signal, and I don't forsee convincing them to switch yet again to something different. This has bitten me before. Now I'm thinking that every recommendation and suggestion to adopt must come with a "for now this is the best way to do it, but it will probably change again". And somehow try to prepare the non-technical people for that.
> Now I'm thinking that every recommendation and suggestion to adopt must come with a "for now this is the best way to do it, but it will probably change again"
Except for Matrix, because it is decentralized.
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#566Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, it really is not. Matrix or XMPP.
XMPP has issues on Android and iOS: the app needs to be running and connected to the server at all times to fetch new messages. iOS explicitly disallows this from what I understand, and on Android you are at the mercy of your OEM's battery optimizations unless you specifically keep the app running by pinning it or if the app has persistent notifications. Either way, not something that is easy to explain to normal use…
Any chat app would have issues with battery optimizations. Solution is usually to use the mobile OS vendors push notification infrastructure. Work on that in XMPP started around 2015 and most popular clients and servers should have some support by now. It's tricky to make something nice while the platform is working against you tho, especially while those push notification systems use/d XMPP themselves.
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#567With Signal not releasing their server code and now this, I regret using and asking a good chunk of my base to move to Signal.
I haven't made up my mind regarding the payments feature yet but yeah, what's up with the server code? Why hasn't it been updated in over a year?[0] Also, why do the Signal developers trust SGX so much and have stayed completely silent about SGX vulnerabilities – even when the cryptographers whose quotes they used to put on the signal.org home page[1] are increasingly critical?[2] Finally, why is there no open commun…
the usage of SGX here is to protect against a fairly benign adversary: Signal themselves. The alternative to using SGX in these situations is to hand over the data in the clear to Signal servers.
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#568So when Keybase added Stellar support for payments, this was met with lots of hostility and disappointment, such as 'cryptocoin bullshit' [0] or 'Yeah, I am not going to use any product associated with anything cryptocurrency. Just smells bad. [1] Now the same thing has happened on Signal; HN's favourite messaging app. So why is this met with warm welcoming arms especially when they are also going into cryptocurrenci…
Maybe because people trust the signal project more than keybase (which sold out to zoom, of all companies)
If Keybase is as secure as they claim it to be then it doesn't matter who they sold out to.
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#569Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Value is lost to existing shareholders who have the value of their shares diluted. You're confusing percentage dilution with absolute diluation. The shares represent the value of the company. The value of the company has increased by the amount of money raised. Each share represents a lower percentage of the company, but this is offset by the fact that the value of the company has increased by the amount of money r…
I don't really care about how much of the balance sheet I could lay claim to during a liquidation. That's going to be pennies on the dollar, or nothing. I care how much of future profits will be returned to be, which does depends on the percentage I end up owning. A round needs to enable a bigger gain than the fraction it dilutes everyone.
That would very much depend on what you're buying stock in. Holding companies and investment companies are mostly valued to what your "share" of their holdings is worth. Real estate too.
Re: Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
#570Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Wired article that the CEO of Mobilecoin is implicitly endorsing in this thread specifically categorizes Mobilecoin as a cryptocurrency. At least, it doesn’t seem to be a distinction worth splitting hairs about (yet).
I don't give a shit about Wired categorization. MobileCoin is a company. It has a fucking CEO. Cryptocurrency is by definition decentralized.
That particular ship has sailed. Much like people calling cryptocurrency "crypto", it's windmills all the way.