Bitcoin Forum

Forget about the financial 'geniuses' trying to figure out the true value of BTC. And don't worry about how and why bitcoin may or may not fail.

Digital crypto currencies are the future and simply an evolution of the current credit and debit card networks we are using right now.

One the hurdles bitcoin has to overcome before it will ever become adopted by the mainstream is one of ease of use.

It's pretty hard to fuck up using a credit or debit card.. and even if you do the bank and credit card companies will generally cover you as a consumer. Merchants get the shaft of course.

Bitcoin's semi anonymity is great except it's as insecure on a social level as paper money. I don't want to be in a dark alley making a 10k transaction with someone i don't know for a physical item i can't test or return.

Wallet addresses need to be bound to an identity so reputation and trust can be established thereby building a framework of security and accountability.

The semi-anonymous nature of bitcoin also lends to it's lack of user friendliness. Most people simply don't have the understanding or knowledge required to secure and use their wallets. It's to fricking hard and stressful when you have a large number of BTC. Bare minimum we can agree it's a lot harder and more stressful than it is to use a debit or credit card backed by 'money' in a bank.

I understand there is a lack of trust in banks and financial institutions and that is the appeal of bitcoin. but bitcoin doesn't become mainstream without being EASIER to use.

This is where biometric wallets will come into play. If bitcoin is not the first to adopt this it will fail. And if it is the first to adopt it then we know we have pioneered the beast system where buying and selling cannot be done without the mark.

Your biometric information generates a key tied to your wallet. QRcode is replaced or exists alongside your biometrics. This is coming. A company like blockchain.info is surely looking at this. Adoption rate will soar through the roof when wallets are inexplicably tied to identity. Everything falls into place.

Biometrics devices are expensive toys so far. There hasn't been a serious easy of use device made yet that uses biometrics for authorization. Especially something that you carry around with you at all times, like when you're out at the bar scene, in a concert venue, or a freezing night.

The real hurdle to mass option is consumer protection. That is what made paypal big and until the average joe has confidence they can reclaim funds from an entity who didn't perform their side of the deal cryptocurriences will be backroom currency.

The camera on your phone is a biometric device. A high-res image of your face can be used to generate a biometric guid. This is already being done right now. Finger-print scanners are 15 dollars.

Consumer protection comes with identity and authentication. That is what biometrics is all about. This is happening already. Google biometric shopping, biometric passport, biometric credit cards. The technology exists and is being used without your full understanding already. Look at the biometric effort in india that is used to successfully identify 1 billion people.

With a high-resolution image a private key can be generated and related to your wallet, identity. When you want to authorize a transaction a picture is taken, enter a pin as an extra measure and voila. Want to receive money? The buyer takes a pic of your face and has your wallet id. Easy.

This is going to happen sooner than you think. It's going to be interesting to see if a company like blockchain.info brings it to market first for bitcoin.

Many ideas as to what the future or the death of bitcoin may be are being thrown around. These assurances and consumer protections of which you speak are problems with our current system, not things you want brought into the future. The old saying a fool and his money are easily parted is no less true today. If you are doing a 10k deal in a dark alley then via con Dios my friend. In the end if trusted merchants accept bitcoins then there will be no need to erase the anonymity which is one of bitcoin's strengths.

Inexplicably... indeed.

This can be achieved with an escrow service.
The downside is that you will have to pay fees and the vendor does not get the money instantaneously.
With the big flux of the exchange rate the later could be a problem.

You lost me on biometric.. Do it again.

Biometrics devices are really in nowadays as you can find it also in your gadgets as easy as that you can use and capture your fearures...so in the case of consumers security and protection thats the time Biometric is important....as me of my self not known of its real value before but in the passsing days that i've learned its really important that we have to undergo what ever we will be in the future and we need security for authentication and identification .....

No thanks, I've never heard of any banks requesting biometric info from customers so I fail to see how this would make bitcoin 'mainstream.'

Had enough of governments and corporations sticking their noses into my financial affairs :)

What a horrid vision you have here!

Giving up pseudonymity for ease-of-use? Never!

I will leave Bitcoin if this happens!

lol how do you plan to implement this?

Instead of generating private keys with our biometric information, isn't it easy to use our current method of generating private keys and use biometric information to lock and encrypt the files (like how we use our fingerprint to boot our computers, laptops or smartphones now)?

This is not good!!!bitcoin is doomed!

this is cool! bitcoin is not doomed! is is going to a higher level!!!

I think people will pay with their phones and use their fingerprints.  It'll be very easy. There will probably be account control though too. Things like purchases over a certain balance also need a password or only certain locations in the world will be approved.

Yep, we are certainly going to the moon if we can keep up this level of innovation and cutting-edge technology.

This is amazing news to read that it will be going to a new level....

having your biometrics tied into your wallet is like erasing one of the best feature of bitcoin why it makes big today.

Pseudonymity is one of the big advantages of bitcoin.
I am sure Satoshi wouldn't want to tie up his biometrics to his wallet.   ;)

It would be better to stay it like it is.

for the use of biometric technology in the bitcoin now it seems less useful for use, with the current technology for technology bitcoin I think it's very nice, with a layered security system I think biometric technology for identification has not really necessary ...  ::)

Me too!  >:(

I wouldn't want to be leaving my biometric data around either.  It's good the way it is now.