What no privacy means

[generalizethis]

The visibility of the transactions in the blockchain enables anyone and everyone to confirm the validity of the ledger. Cryptonote does not have this visibility, therefore the validity of the transactions cannot be confirmed, which means there is no independent way of verifying that the implementation or the protocol have not been broken.

It could be broken, we dont know and we have no way of showing that it is not being exploited right now.

That's not true. You can verify Monero's coinbase as you do in Bitcoin.

Yes, but not the rest of the chain unfortunately.

Not sure what you're talking about, even when CT is implemented, you can still validate the coin total.


"[–]fluffyponyzaXMR Core Team 3 points 2 months ago

So, having only the blockchain data, is it possible to mathematically prove that all blocks inside followed the rules?

Yes - read gmaxwell's write-up on CT and you'll see that amounts can still be verified.

To illustrate it as simply as I can: imagine if every transaction input was 1000 XMR. But, using ring signatures, you mix your real input of 55 XMR with a bunch of other ones that adds up to 1000 XMR. Analysing the blockchain we can still verify that it adds up to 1000 XMR, but we can't tell which value is yours."

[evergrow]

So should I be buying this Monero?

[vincentvincent]

don't

[prettybuds]

So should I be buying this Monero?

well... not an easy decision ........
no! don't 

[generalizethis]

So should I be buying this Monero?

well... not an easy decision ........
no! don't 

I agree. If your asking someone other than your wife or financial advisor, then you probably haven't researched it enough.

[ArticMine]

Cash is private.  I pay for sex toys with $50 bills and no one has any idea who bought 'em.  And the local sex shop doesn't take monero.  

Cash works fine for in person transactions. What Monero does is bring privacy and more importantly fungibility to electronic transactions online, where cash is not an option.

[Nxtblg]

So should I be buying this Monero?

well... not an easy decision ........
no! don't 

I agree. If your asking someone other than your wife or financial advisor, then you probably haven't researched it enough.

And that was exactly the point behind that upthread-posted quote from smooth:

It dangerous experimental technology. Unless you are an expert capable of evaluating everything carefully and an extreme speculator, and in all cases capable of securing your crypto coins properly, you shouldn't buy it. If you have a short term use, well you still need to be able to secure your crypto coins properly, and no that doesn't mean GUI.

I interpreted his words as a strongly-worded disclaimer. In bland form, "Don't buy any Monero unless you're very sure you know what you're buying. Unless you have technical chops or a desire to learn techy stuff, there's a good chance you will not know what you're buying."

[generalizethis]

So should I be buying this Monero?

well... not an easy decision ........
no! don't  

I agree. If your asking someone other than your wife or financial advisor, then you probably haven't researched it enough.

And that was exactly the point behind that upthread-posted quote from smooth:

It dangerous experimental technology. Unless you are an expert capable of evaluating everything carefully and an extreme speculator, and in all cases capable of securing your crypto coins properly, you shouldn't buy it. If you have a short term use, well you still need to be able to secure your crypto coins properly, and no that doesn't mean GUI.

I interpreted his words as a strongly-worded disclaimer. In bland form, "Don't buy any Monero unless you're very sure you know what you're buying. Unless you have technical chops or a desire to learn techy stuff, there's a good chance you will not know what you're buying."

I'd offer the same advice for anyone buying any coin. This is supposed to be early adopter friendly, not rope greater fools with promises of moon.

[Nxtblg]

I'd offer the same advice for anyone buying any coin. This is supposed to be early adopter friendly, not rope greater fools with promises of moon.

Got it: there's a reason why speculative investments are labeled "High Risk."

The saddening - or sobering - part of it all is that folks who treat altcoins as penny stocks fall naturally into the habit of expecting "management" (the devs) into doing all the work. I have to confess that I'm struggling with this bad habit myself. It just goes to show you that "decentralized, peer-to-peer, permissionless" are not mere buzzwords: they're a new standard that's so disruptive that they require us to actually break a lot of habits - some of which we didn't even know we had.

[owm123]

Without Privacy (security of self) this is where we are heading: https://infowars.wikia.com/wiki/Society_of_Control.   A cryptocurrency should be private by default and public voluntarily, not vice versa: https://github.com/monero-project/bitmonero. The internet got privacy wrong, we should learn from that mistake.

Isn't Bitcoin private enough anyway?

Its private, but not anonymous: http://www.bitcoinisnotanonymous.com/