Bitcoin Forum

Found this today: http://www.bitlotto.com/

Looks fine, except for one thing. I thought it was impossible to figure out how to send money back to someone who sent you some, unless they also specify a return address.

However, BitLotto claims that all you have to do is send a payment, and if you win the money "will just show up in [your] account". Is this possible?

The data is available on the network. See:
http://blockexplorer.com/address/18dts6fXXA7jVKfYMBpsFqx7iZCELCfDpk

This is only safe if the senders all use standalone clients, though. EWallet users will not send from their own addresses.

What he said.  ;)

I try to warn people to only send coins from software on their computer. The reason I set it up this way is that it is WAY more transparent. The amount received and who sent it can't be faked. I'll just send the winnings to the person and everyone will know the right person got it. (I'll post the transaction of the winnings going to the account)

Ah cool, I was just confused because I don't know how I personally would send money back to someone who paid me :)

Also, this 1 year old post http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=73.0 confused me too.

I'm in then!

I think the client doesn't say who it's from because too many people would think they can send money back all the time. If the original person sent it using mybitcoin and you then sent money back, who knows where it would go. The blocks themselves though contain the addresses and that's where I get them. (ok, I like to use blockexplorer.com to see them. It's a great website!)

Anyways, GOOD LUCK ;D

There are other reasons, too. For one, there could be several "From" addresses. In fact, there are several examples of this in the lotto account. Which address will you send the money to? (Currently, it doesn't really matter, but it's a valid question) The other reason the "From" address isn't displayed is because they might actually be temporary addresses that were used for change in a previous transaction. Although these addresses are currently not treated any differently than normal addresses in the client, it's possible that future clients will purge these addresses once they've been emptied. If too many people became dependent on the "From" addresses, this will become impossible to implement.

That being said, there is no immediate concern in using the "From" address.

If it changes. BitLotto will change. As it is now, it will work. If someone wins and if came from multiple addresses in the same transaction, I'll look and see what one is used the most and/or has a balance. (Even though any would work).

What would be the reason for adding such a feature? Addresses are pretty much unlimited and take very little room in the persons wallet.