...and THIS is why I prefer to use Bitcoin.

[commandrix]

Wendy's was just hacked and the hackers made off with an unknown number of credit cards. But noooo, Bitcoin is the preferred currency of criminal financial activity, amirite?

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[Wapinter]

Wendy's was just hacked and the hackers made off with an unknown number of credit cards. But noooo, Bitcoin is the preferred currency of criminal financial activity, amirite?

Due to anonymity of bitcoin transaction,it can be used for illegal activities but blaming bitcoin for this is like blaming fire if someone got burnt.It is the use that you put something to that is wrong or right

[chennan]

Wendy's was just hacked and the hackers made off with an unknown number of credit cards. But noooo, Bitcoin is the preferred currency of criminal financial activity, amirite?

Due to anonymity of bitcoin transaction,it can be used for illegal activities but blaming bitcoin for this is like blaming fire if someone got burnt.It is the use that you put something to that is wrong or right

Bitcoin isn't actually that anonymous... You can track and trace where bitcoins go and how much, also you can possibly trace and identify who bought those bitcoins, and even scarier, could possibly get your CC info and personal info if you bought it from an exchange site like coinbase and coinbase ended up getting hacked.

Bitcoin is primarily pseudonymous, but it's a hell of a lot better than using debit cards/credit cards.

[NorrisK]

Wendy's was just hacked and the hackers made off with an unknown number of credit cards. But noooo, Bitcoin is the preferred currency of criminal financial activity, amirite?

That is one of the biggest problem about credit cards indeed. Bitcoin is a good way to get around this shortcoming, but as long as the credit card fraud is covered by banks and insurances, and the people themselves do not get burned and keep getting their money back, people will be hesitant to change to bitcoin.

Wendy's was just hacked and the hackers made off with an unknown number of credit cards. But noooo, Bitcoin is the preferred currency of criminal financial activity, amirite?

Due to anonymity of bitcoin transaction,it can be used for illegal activities but blaming bitcoin for this is like blaming fire if someone got burnt.It is the use that you put something to that is wrong or right

The anonimity thing is a completely different issue. Stolen credit cards can be used in the same way for illegal activities. The theives don't get burned and the ones who get their card stolen may suffer briefly before getting reimbursed.

[commandrix]

Bitcoin isn't actually that anonymous... You can track and trace where bitcoins go and how much, also you can possibly trace and identify who bought those bitcoins, and even scarier, could possibly get your CC info and personal info if you bought it from an exchange site like coinbase and coinbase ended up getting hacked.

Bitcoin is primarily pseudonymous, but it's a hell of a lot better than using debit cards/credit cards.

Well, what do you think of Monero or DASH? Do you think their "improved" anonymity tools actually work?

[chennan]

Bitcoin isn't actually that anonymous... You can track and trace where bitcoins go and how much, also you can possibly trace and identify who bought those bitcoins, and even scarier, could possibly get your CC info and personal info if you bought it from an exchange site like coinbase and coinbase ended up getting hacked.

Bitcoin is primarily pseudonymous, but it's a hell of a lot better than using debit cards/credit cards.

Well, what do you think of Monero or DASH? Do you think their "improved" anonymity tools actually work?

Yeah, I really do think they work.  I hesitate bringing up alt coins on the "bitcoin discussion" section of the forum, because usually it brings out some anger towards my way.  Both do a very good job, as well as aeon... don't know much about boolberry though.  The reason why I own XMR only, though, is because it was fairly launched and wasn't ninjamined from the beginning.

The amount of sophistication and dedication of the core team is unreal.  They use ring signatures along with ring CT, that it is essentially pointless to try and find out who sent what, how much was sent, etc.  Here's the white paper for those who would like to read it (some of the stuff goes wayyyyy over my head though):

http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/bitcoin/Ring%20CT%20for%20Monero.pdf

Getting back on point though..

The anonimity thing is a completely different issue. Stolen credit cards can be used in the same way for illegal activities. The theives don't get burned and the ones who get their card stolen may suffer briefly before getting reimbursed.

You've got a point... hiding your identity is not the point here, it's all about security.  And the fact of the matter is, is that Bitcoin has a real chance of being rendered less secure after the halving and people are forced to shut down their miners due to costs and not being able to afford the bills.

[unamis76]

I don't really get it what happened after reading the article, did they have an exploit on their POS systems? Chip readers? Or do their equipments store sensitive information and were hacked?

And yes, Bitcoin would definitely solve this issue...

[chennan]

I don't really get it what happened after reading the article, did they have an exploit on their POS systems? Chip readers? Or do their equipments store sensitive information and were hacked?

And yes, Bitcoin would definitely solve this issue...

Theoretically, Bitcoin would be capable of solving the issue, but the fact of the matter is is that Bitcoin is not functionally capable of handling "fast"food transactions at all.  Think about it for a second.  There's been a constant debate about the block size and whether it should be bigger because blocks are being maxed out with more and more transactions going into each block, and that's just with us nerds.  Think about what would happen to the blocks if just one Wendy's location started accepting Bitcoin for payments during a lunch rush.  NO ONE would be able to get their transactions confirmed and it would take forever for Wendy's to be able to verify if the transaction went through or not... which would absolutely hurt their business.

This is one of the main reasons that major business and restaurants won't accept Bitcoin (at least the ones who have heard about Bitcoin and relatively understand the concepts behind it).

[unamis76]

I don't really get it what happened after reading the article, did they have an exploit on their POS systems? Chip readers? Or do their equipments store sensitive information and were hacked?

And yes, Bitcoin would definitely solve this issue...

Theoretically, Bitcoin would be capable of solving the issue, but the fact of the matter is is that Bitcoin is not functionally capable of handling "fast"food transactions at all.  Think about it for a second.  There's been a constant debate about the block size and whether it should be bigger because blocks are being maxed out with more and more transactions going into each block, and that's just with us nerds.  Think about what would happen to the blocks if just one Wendy's location started accepting Bitcoin for payments during a lunch rush.  NO ONE would be able to get their transactions confirmed and it would take forever for Wendy's to be able to verify if the transaction went through or not... which would absolutely hurt their business.

This is one of the main reasons that major business and restaurants won't accept Bitcoin (at least the ones who have heard about Bitcoin and relatively understand the concepts behind it).

I was referring only to the aspect of private keys on the restaurant's side. That's not possible unless you explicitly give them the private key. However, ATM cards can be copied and passcodes retrieved.

As for the rest, yes, Bitcoin is not ready for prime time like that (not ready for Visa-like amount of TPS).

Despite that it would require some effort to double spend a transaction

[AliceWonderMiscreations]

Wendy's was just hacked and the hackers made off with an unknown number of credit cards. But noooo, Bitcoin is the preferred currency of criminal financial activity, amirite?

Due to anonymity of bitcoin transaction,it can be used for illegal activities but blaming bitcoin for this is like blaming fire if someone got burnt.It is the use that you put something to that is wrong or right

Bitcoin isn't actually that anonymous... You can track and trace where bitcoins go and how much, also you can possibly trace and identify who bought those bitcoins, and even scarier, could possibly get your CC info and personal info if you bought it from an exchange site like coinbase and coinbase ended up getting hacked.

Bitcoin is primarily pseudonymous, but it's a hell of a lot better than using debit cards/credit cards.

That's why coinbase doesn't have my credit card info. Takes longer to buy coins but that's okay, they lock the rate when I click buy and start the bank transfer.

[Rizky Aditya]

Wendy's was just hacked and the hackers made off with an unknown number of credit cards. But noooo, Bitcoin is the preferred currency of criminal financial activity, amirite?

Due to anonymity of bitcoin transaction,it can be used for illegal activities but blaming bitcoin for this is like blaming fire if someone got burnt.It is the use that you put something to that is wrong or right

Bitcoin isn't actually that anonymous... You can track and trace where bitcoins go and how much, also you can possibly trace and identify who bought those bitcoins, and even scarier, could possibly get your CC info and personal info if you bought it from an exchange site like coinbase and coinbase ended up getting hacked.

Bitcoin is primarily pseudonymous, but it's a hell of a lot better than using debit cards/credit cards.

That is the thing that I hate about exchanges. You have to put all your details and ID just to buy some Bitcoin. But it is safe.

[chennan]

Bitcoin isn't actually that anonymous... You can track and trace where bitcoins go and how much, also you can possibly trace and identify who bought those bitcoins, and even scarier, could possibly get your CC info and personal info if you bought it from an exchange site like coinbase and coinbase ended up getting hacked.

Bitcoin is primarily pseudonymous, but it's a hell of a lot better than using debit cards/credit cards.

That is the thing that I hate about exchanges. You have to put all your details and ID just to buy some Bitcoin. But it is safe.

Well I mean, that's the thing though, it's hard to be able to buy bitcoins without having to use your debit/credit card on the site, which in turn is easy access to all of your personal info through the banks.  The only way to get around this fact is to use Bitcoin ATM's, which they are hardly enough of... Or you could go through localbitcoins, which to me is a little bit sketchy tactic of obtaining bitcoins.  The only bitcoin atms around where I'm at are only in big time major cities.  I think the closest one to me is about 5 or 4 hours away from me, which is very discouraging.

[ajun96]

I think bitcoin remain anonymous, although many exchanges which require verification of identity, I think the exchange did not get into the room of bitcoin, you can still buy and sell bitcoin in someone

[AliceWonderMiscreations]

Bitcoin isn't actually that anonymous... You can track and trace where bitcoins go and how much, also you can possibly trace and identify who bought those bitcoins, and even scarier, could possibly get your CC info and personal info if you bought it from an exchange site like coinbase and coinbase ended up getting hacked.

Bitcoin is primarily pseudonymous, but it's a hell of a lot better than using debit cards/credit cards.

That is the thing that I hate about exchanges. You have to put all your details and ID just to buy some Bitcoin. But it is safe.

Well I mean, that's the thing though, it's hard to be able to buy bitcoins without having to use your debit/credit card on the site, which in turn is easy access to all of your personal info through the banks.  The only way to get around this fact is to use Bitcoin ATM's, which they are hardly enough of... Or you could go through localbitcoins, which to me is a little bit sketchy tactic of obtaining bitcoins.  The only bitcoin atms around where I'm at are only in big time major cities.  I think the closest one to me is about 5 or 4 hours away from me, which is very discouraging.

There was some talk about the USPS getting into bitcoin - I'm not sure if that is going to happen.

[AliceWonderMiscreations]

I think bitcoin remain anonymous, although many exchanges which require verification of identity, I think the exchange did not get into the room of bitcoin, you can still buy and sell bitcoin in someone

In the United States they have to because of money laundering issues but it is not a big deal for me. I don't use it because of the anonymity features, I use it because it puts me in control of my liquid assets.

[Dabs]

You could buy bitcoins without giving identities on many exchanges, but maybe not on the big US based ones. I know of at least one fairly large exchange, where you could create an unverified account, and still be able to fund it with a bank draft or money order, and the way you buy that bank draft or money order can be almost anonymous. (Or at least, unverified.)

Once you have your coins, it's a simple matter of "tumbling" it, going through a bunch of other exchanges or alt-coins, or even having a little fun at satoshidice (or 64blocks.com, hehe, just had to plug my own.) Or you could do coin-join, coin-shuffle, or join-market, or something similar along those lines.

You may not have perfect anonymity, but it's pretty darned good enough. Coins remain fungible and secure. Once every few weeks, if you're not actively using them, just move your coins to different addresses.

[chennan]

You could buy bitcoins without giving identities on many exchanges, but maybe not on the big US based ones. I know of at least one fairly large exchange, where you could create an unverified account, and still be able to fund it with a bank draft or money order, and the way you buy that bank draft or money order can be almost anonymous. (Or at least, unverified.)

Once you have your coins, it's a simple matter of "tumbling" it, going through a bunch of other exchanges or alt-coins, or even having a little fun at satoshidice (or 64blocks.com, hehe, just had to plug my own.) Or you could do coin-join, coin-shuffle, or join-market, or something similar along those lines.

You may not have perfect anonymity, but it's pretty darned good enough. Coins remain fungible and secure. Once every few weeks, if you're not actively using them, just move your coins to different addresses.

I'm confused.. what's the exchange site that you're speaking of?  And I would think that even though you just submit a money order/bank draft or whatever, it would still link the exchange to your bank account, and thus your personal info.  I might be thinking about it in the wrong way though... I've never personally used a money order anywhere, because I've never needed to do so.

[Dabs]

I'm confused.. what's the exchange site that you're speaking of?  And I would think that even though you just submit a money order/bank draft or whatever, it would still link the exchange to your bank account, and thus your personal info.  I might be thinking about it in the wrong way though... I've never personally used a money order anywhere, because I've never needed to do so.

The ones in Europe and in Canada, and a few of them in Asia. At least the ones I've tried. Not going to mention which ones specifically. (Maybe I was just lucky?) I fly around a bit, but I'm mostly based in the Philippines, which have at least 3 or 4 exchanges you can almost anonymously buy coins from too.

I opened an account. Funded it using a draft / money order. Send it by mail. (Wait about a week.) You don't even need an account with some banks.

Then I tried coinbase. That also took a week, but needed a full identify. (Notice I did not say it needed *my* identity, just an identity.)

Yes, you could possibly be linked if you are careless, but since drafts / money orders are as good as cash, these exchanges did not need verified accounts, just an email address (which is a dime a dozen.) Using an old android phone you bought cash from some flea market type, and free public wifi in a library or fast food chain, you can create a free gmail account that does not need to be "phone verified". (And if they do need to verify, it's a matter of acquiring a sim card.)

At the same time, even if you don't buy coins anonymously, you can anonymize them very effectively in a short amount of time. For example, you don't need any account at all in order to play at some game sites, and you don't need an account to use shapeshift and bitin, and a lot of the alt-coin exchanges just need an email address. Not to mention the services which are specifically designed to mix coins. (Some give you newly mined coins in exchange for your old coins, less a fee.)

If you happen to hold more than 1000 BTC, that might be a problem, but it can still be done.

[MedaR]

Bitcoin is perfect so far, as relatively anonymous payment system.
If you need more anonymity you can use other coins like Monaro Dash Cloak..
You can go to exchange and buy coin you want and transfer it fast..and again you can go back to Bitcoin that is power!
Bitcoin + Alts = Perfect system!

[AliceWonderMiscreations]

Bitcoin is perfect so far, as relatively anonymous payment system.
If you need more anonymity you can use other coins like Monaro Dash Cloak..
You can go to exchange and buy coin you want and transfer it fast..and again you can go back to Bitcoin that is power!
Bitcoin + Alts = Perfect system!

Yeah, if I wanted to truly hide the source of my coins, I would sell them for an altcoin at one exchange, and then sell the altcoin for bitcoin at a different exchange.

Right now I just buy from coin base and send them to cold addresses in 0.5 BTC increments that I import into bitcoin core when I need to use them. Easy for the feds or whoever to track my spending that way but I don't really care.