Please look further into the project I referred to as it absolutely does have the execution layer (its point is to emulate CPUs) with associated tools being supported (via LLVM). Instrumentation is a fundamental requirement here and that is what the project I was referring to provides.

Being able to emulate "real" CPUs means that existing tools can be used (not possible with the approach that Ethereum has taken which is why they have had to spend so much time and money re-inventing the wheel).

It would also make executing such smart contracts possible using real CPUs (assuming the instrumentation part can be efficiently worked out to do this) which is going to be much more realistically achieved by using current hardware rather than hoping for some new future 256 bit register hardware (which I'm not really sure would be of benefit as most non-crypto operations are not going to need 256 bits and future crypto operations would require 512 bits or more).

No doubt this topic is going to get derailed so I will just lock it - for those that are interested I suggest you look into the tech mentioned in the OP.

The key thing that is needed in order to have smart contracts that run only a limited number of steps is what is often known as "instrumentation" which is also the thing needed for being able to debug programs step by step.

This is something that Keystone provides - and as LLVM is a well known compiler architecture it would mean you wouldn't need to be using some exotic new language for smart contracts but existing ones (like say C++).

Ethereum's approach is not actually simple at all - instead they have created a Java-like VM for which no tool-base was available and so they have been recreating tools that have been developed for many, many years (re-inventing the wheel).

There is simply no need to be creating new high-level programming languages for smart contracts - the large number of existing high-level languages can do the job perfectly fine (and don't need a whole new set of tools).

If you've read much about Ethereum (other than the hype) then you would know that they (or let's just say Vitalik) invented a VM somewhat similar to Java.

Such JV's were popular back in the 1990's (when I first worked with one) but actually have not been popular in recent times because they are not efficient (hence the rise of VM Ware that is perhaps confused with the other so not surprisingly most people don't know the difference).

What works most efficiently is virtual CPU's (the reason I designed AT the way that it was designed) and the most interesting discovery that I made recently was this: http://www.keystone-engine.org/

This technology could mean that we could use LLVM (a compiler platform that can do C++ and other high-level languages) to do smart contracts (rather than inventing entire new toolsets and high-level languages like Ethereum are doing).

Yes - people could be writing their smart contracts in C++ or even in BASIC - and it wouldn't require a lot of effort.

If you are seriously interested in the tech then I'd suggest you really look into this stuff rather than drink the "koolaid".

A worst case scenario would be the forced takeover of mining farms by the Chinese state. Of course if such a thing were to occur then the price of BTC would plummet (so such a move would be politically rather than economically driven).

It is hard to see any way around Chinese domination in one way or another as the vast majority of computing devices in the world are manufactured in China (and western corporations can only blame their own greed for creating this situation in the first place).

Even if you had a coin that could be mined with smart phones (i.e. requiring very little electricity) in all likelihood China would control the majority of such nodes as well (as nearly every Chinese that I see on a daily basis has a smart phone - and I mean even cleaners and construction workers).

In some ways perhaps it could make sense that more localised block-chains might serve a useful purpose (although one of Bitcoin's biggest selling points is it being global and not under the whim of any government).

Also in places such as Iceland where electricity is virtually free and temperatures are low enough to require little (or maybe even no) cooling there will always be a potential for growth so we might find that hashing power ends up concentrated in such locations over time (I guess then it is a matter of how many such locations there are and in how many different countries).

There was a list put together of ten ways that Chinese use to move RMB (CNY) out of the country and Bitcoin was at the very bottom (accounting for considerably less than even 1% of said currency movement) so I don't think it is going to be focused on for that reason (any time soon at least).


As long as mining farms are set up in as many different places as they can be then Bitcoin will be fine (there isn't really anything much that can be coded to help this).

I would guess as the majority of hash power is located in China that its government could be the biggest such potential threat, however, unlike Russia we have not seen any negative reports about Bitcoin in the Chinese media so for now I think Bitcoin is looking fairly safe from a >50% attack.

Certainly spreading the hash rate across more countries would be a good thing to strengthen Bitcoin from any such potential threat (and mining farms in places like Iceland are already helping with this).

Which makes absolutely zero sense (like most of your posts so no real surprise there).

*any word* = *whatever you want to say it means* is not a valid way to answer a question.

Huh?

Moron?

Care to try and explain yourself in English?

(you think that if no-one validates a block then invalid blocks get mined?)

Honestly exactly what went on with your account is probably not going to be determined (but it could well have been hacked and that does seem to be the most likely thing).

The person now in control of the account has basically admitted that they did not do any due diligence about said account and have realised that they have screwed up (although they are yet to admit it entirely).

Unfortunately if you don't have a way to prove prior ownership of the account then there is really no solution here so perhaps you'll need to accept your new forum name (or create another one).

It is understandable to be upset over losing a name but also you need to realise that your password must not have been very good (otherwise your account would not have been hacked).

That does not imply "mining invalid blocks" or are you so stupid that you can't understand the difference?

(my guess is the latter)

I think it is interesting to see this kind of asshole at work.

He must have many such other accounts - perhaps some research should be done about those.

(yes - you stupid fucker I am going to ruin all of your bought accounts - so if you want to keep on attacking me then bring it on)

You paid someone who only provided a staked address that was very recent (for an account that was very old).

Either you are just stupid or what?

Do you seriously think that the forum should support people as stupid as you?

(I don't)

Again *idiot* why did you not just create a new account?

(yes - you have failed to answer that question at least 3 times already)

You aren't going to get anything back from this account as I am going to make sure it has zero value (try as hard as you like but I am going to make sure that you can't make one cent from this account).

Sorry but don't do this shit in the future (i.e. don't buy accounts).

This is not about opinions but about assholes (which you have shown that you are).

If you don't want to look like an asshole then don't buy accounts.

But the person you paid was not the OP was it?

So where is the person that you paid for this account?

The only person that might owe you anything is the asshole that you bought the account from (but you knew that you were buying a hacked account anyway so really I don't think anyone cares much about your loss - your lesson is one that needs to be learned by others here to stop this kind of rubbish from repeating).

Obviously you are *not sorry* but just *sorry that you got caught* and people like you are why the human race is basically a disgrace.

The only person you should be asking for a refund from is the asshole that you bought this account from.

To expect that the hacked original owner of the account to refund you is just mind boggling to say the least.

How you can sleep at night is a mystery to me as you think it is fine to just screw people and demand that victims should pay you money for trying to screw them.

You really are a piece of shit (and now that it has been noticed don't expect that you'll get away with buying any other accounts here).

Incorrect - you should have realised that the "staking" was only done very recently and her account was years old (it took me all of 1 minute to work that out).

You still proceeded with buying the account despite the fact that you should have known that it was very likely that it had been hacked (my guess is you thought that she had left and would not find that her account had been stolen).

You have no moral ground on which to walk upon as I have shown.

Just give up and give her back her account would be the right thing to do (for sure you can call out the asshole that sold you the account to make sure that they can't do that under the same name again).

You lost some BTC but the reason you lost it is because you didn't want to just create a new account and wait like everyone else (so you actually deserve to have lost some BTC for doing so).

Just look at that date and when the account was first created.

Are you fucking stupid?

(either you are or you are just not admitting how much you screwed up in not doing your research)

No - I don't have time for assholes such as yourself. Create a new fucking account and stop trying to buy other accounts - is it that fucking hard for you to understand?

You are proven to be an asshole who just bought an obviously hacked account in order to try and make money. So stop trying to say that anyone should pity you (you are not only an asshole but now showing yourself to be a stupid asshole).

@OP - I am fairly convinced that an asshole bought your hacked account from another asshole and I think you should simply forget about the two assholes (for a start no-one is now going to now believe that the account belongs to a female).

Continue with your new account and don't worry about the assholes would be my advice (it is going to take a few such incidents to put a dent in the account purchasing scams on this forum IMO).

Why on earth does she need to repay you for the scammed account?

Don't you think that the asshole that sold you this account should be the one repaying funds rather than the victim whose account was stolen?

(if you don't accept that then you really are a piece of shit and deserve to lose)

You seem to have some sort of mental problem that you think it is okay for someone to steal an account and sell it to you and then you think that the victim of said crime should pay for you (the idiot asshole that just tried to take advantage of the account).

Why didn't you just create a new account?

(the only reason is "greed" isn't it - you just couldn't be bothered to create a new account and mature it could you?)

If you bought a hacked account then you deserve to lose - next time create a new account rather than doing what you are doing.

No-one should give you any pity as you don't care to create a new account as most honest people do (you were just hoping to get quick returns from ad-sig posts no doubt).