Will Bitcoin get the ability to implement reversible transactions?

[iv4n]

I hope bitcoin will never have reversible transactions, people who make mistake ( and with btc address is very hard to make mistake ) need to pay for mistakes. Also I don't wish to see coins in my wallet and in next second to see empty wallet cause someone did it!!! What that means, I sell something and other guy report it and make reversible transaction and I stay without coins?
This is here with a reason, and I wouldn't like something like this to be implemented into bitcoin network.

[Edwardard]

the thing which makes bitcoin out of the crowd is its non reversible payment nature. if bitcoin is made reversible then it will be just like others like paypal and all those companies. if you are afraid of getting scammed in the future because of btc's non reversible nature then i suggest you to use paypal as a transaction method. there are too many options to go for. and every currency has its own pros. so i dont think that your thoughts should be implemented. just my 2 cents!.

[ranochigo]

Definitely not. Bitcoin is not designed to be reversible and it should never be. Since Bitcoin is designed to be trustless, there is no way for them to decide which transactions to reverse and if confirmed transaction can be reversed easily, there is no reason to be using Bitcoin. For most cases, using 2-of-3 multisig is good enough; one for the buyer, one for the seller and one for the middleman. Funds can be released after the transaction is successful.

[TheGodFather]

As of now, (and it has always been) Bitcoin transactions are irreversible meaning that there is no way to get them back (in case of a scam) unless the recipient decides to send those coins back to its original owner. (sort of like refunds)

But, I was thinking of the possibility that Bitcoin may get reversible transactions in the future, in order to prevent scams, fraud, etc. Do you think that such thing will ever exist or what would be the consequences? 

There is no way to add the reversible transactions. Because that's why they want to use Bitcoin because of the reversible transaction. For example, they want the payment first before the item. Then if they see the transaction is now processing, then they will have to send the item then. It's more faster than sending cash exclusively. And bitcoin is also light and easy to use. There is no problem on transaction except accidental or wrong sending of bitcoin.

[pooya87]

this is the introduction part of the satoshi bitcoin paper explaining the problems of reversible transactions in the non-reversible services other than bitcoin.it may help you understand why reversible transactions will not be implemented in bitcoin.

Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments. While the system works well enough for most transactions, it still suffers from the inherent weaknesses of the trust based model. Completely non-reversible transactions are not really possible, since financial institutions cannot avoid mediating disputes. The cost of mediation increases transaction costs, limiting the minimum practical transaction size and cutting off the possibility for small casual transactions, and there is a broader cost in the loss of ability to make non-reversible payments for nonreversible services. With the possibility of reversal, the need for trust spreads. Merchants must be wary of their customers, hassling them for more information than they would otherwise need. A certain percentage of fraud is accepted as unavoidable. These costs and payment uncertainties can be avoided in person by using physical currency, but no mechanism exists to make payments over a communications channel without a trusted party.
What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party. Transactions that are computationally impractical to reverse would protect sellers from fraud, and routine escrow mechanisms could easily be implemented to protect buyers. In this paper, we propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer distributed timestamp server to generate computational proof of the chronological order of transactions. The system is secure as long as honest nodes collectively control more CPU power than any cooperating group of attacker nodes.

[sandaq]

How would you implement this? There's simply no way!
In cc or paypal you turn to the cc company or paypal support and ask them for reversal, who wouls you turn to with bitcoins? would reversal be issued by the seller him self? or course not. It's just not possible to implement.

[target]

Well I think bitcoin can get the ability to implement reversible transactions but I suggest it must be done with conditions. Well the one condition that they should consider before reversing transactions is that it must be unconfirmed and let the user check the btc address they have sent btc for 10 mins to check if they send the btc to the correct address and that's it.

There will be more scams in the future if this will be implemented actually.  We're now used to see that if the transaction is being sent and that it will be confirmed later even with the minimum fee. If a sender part can cancel just become its going to be confirmed, there would be hours to wait before the recipient will respond to process after the confirmation. And we don't like this.

[Harsh32]

The best feature of bitcoin  is its like cash.Ones given it can't be taken back. if transactions were reversible nobody will use it as there will be no guarantee that people will not take back their transactions.

example : if A sends 1 btc to B for an iPhone and after getting the iPhone reverses his transaction B will be in loss .

Therefore I don't think bitcoin  transactions will ever become reversible.

[rphk]

it is good there is no reversible transaction because of it prevents scam etc . and it is an secured feature of the bitcoin.but only thing is we need to almost take care that during transaction sent bitcoin to the proper  bitcoin address.

[severaldetails]

I can see no reason why reversible transactions should happen.
If so, everybody could use paypal or just his bank account instead.
That would be the end of the bitcoin, and nobody relatet to this project could ever want that to happen.

[romero121]

No need for the reversible option because there occurs transaction time delay as well increased transaction fee. But important factor is that implementation of reversible option will help getting more adoption.

[Wendigo]

I think making Bitcoin have reversible transactions will result in an influx of even more scammers than there are now because there will be absolutely no sellers protection and it will turn out into a scammers heaven like the PayPal system. At least right now everyone with a head on their shoulders won't get scammed so easily and I do admit that there is no way of getting your money back as it is now but allowing for reversible transactions will make things even worse in my opinion.

[SmartIphone]

As of now, (and it has always been) Bitcoin transactions are irreversible meaning that there is no way to get them back (in case of a scam) unless the recipient decides to send those coins back to its original owner. (sort of like refunds)

But, I was thinking of the possibility that Bitcoin may get reversible transactions in the future, in order to prevent scams, fraud, etc. Do you think that such thing will ever exist or what would be the consequences? 

It is not needed to implement a reversible way for bitcoin transactions.
Even now if the seller is not smart he can be scammed if the buyer sends the bitcoins but the seller send the product before 1 confirmation.
This can happen if the fees are very low or zero and the transaction never gets confirmed and the money are sent back to the buyer. Another way can be if the buyer makes a double spend etc.

[Abiky]

Well I think bitcoin can get the ability to implement reversible transactions but I suggest it must be done with conditions. Well the one condition that they should consider before reversing transactions is that it must be unconfirmed and let the user check the btc address they have sent btc for 10 mins to check if they send the btc to the correct address and that's it.

Actually, I was thinking about this too. It could probably be implemented while the transaction is unconfirmed to give the user the option to choose whenever to cancel it or not. But it must be done before it gets 3 confirmations, or you'll lose the chance of doing it. Still, this would be unnecessary since Bitcoin is doing fine with irreversible transactions. Changing this might affect Bitcoin. Just my opinion. 

[Hazir]

No. Irreversible transaction are here to prevent scams too. The consequences would be people would cease to use Bitcoin. If transactions were reversible, the currency couldn't even be called Bitcoin anymore.

Well, this issue is not that simply and one sided as you might think. Some developers think that government intervention in the bitcoin is simply inevitable at this point.
The only reason why authorities are not doing anything drastic moves for now is that  bitcoin is now relatively small market.

Some authorities think that bitcoin simply must change to bring it in line with other payment systems just to be able to exist as mainstream payment method.
It is hard to say how, but I assume something like adding identity information to bitcoin transactions or making it possible to blacklist funds might be our reality in the future.

[Cuidler]

Maybe it could be a option to make the transaction reversible for x confirmations if sender chooses, but Im not sure how powerfull the Bitcoin scripting language is. But the question is whether there is even demand for reversible transactions. I mean no rational merchant deliver you non-reversible service/product as long as your transaction can be reversed. So it could be used only for reversible service/products anyway so there is no easy way to scam the merchant.

[Abiky]

Maybe it could be a option to make the transaction reversible for x confirmations if sender chooses, but Im not sure how powerfull the Bitcoin scripting language is......

Exactly. I was thinking more about this and thought that Ethereum would be very appropriate for this (if it was ever implemented) with the use of a smart contract. The smart contract would then analyse the transaction and will determine to give the user an option to reverse if the same is still unconfirmed. But still, I like the way how Bitcoin is and I think that this change would affect it more than what it could do to improve it. Just my opinion. 

[franky1]

bitcoins irreversibility makes bitcoin as a currency perfect.

human issues such as scamming should be solved by humans, not code.

in short u cant code solutions to stupid, people will still get scammed even if payments were reversible. so the solution is not about reversibility, but about sorting out the human factor.

EG escrows (automated services, middlemen or even multisig)
EG knowing your trader (dont throw funds at a stranger you know zero about, if you wouldnt hand $100 to someone u never met in the real world dont do it with bitcoin)

dont ruin the thing that makes bitcoin perfect purely for the 1% of scammers. especially when scammers would find a way around every coded attempt to remove scamming risk.

[bamboylee]

I cannot understand why you want it to be reversible. If you want your transactions to be reversible then just use Paypal or other payment methods that offers reversible transactions. Bitcoin is good as is. It is in your responsibility to protect your bitcoin and make sure that before you make transactions, everything is good.

[PhilPrime]

As of now, (and it has always been) Bitcoin transactions are irreversible meaning that there is no way to get them back (in case of a scam) unless the recipient decides to send those coins back to its original owner. (sort of like refunds)

But, I was thinking of the possibility that Bitcoin may get reversible transactions in the future, in order to prevent scams, fraud, etc. Do you think that such thing will ever exist or what would be the consequences? 

i think if this happened. it will be worse. because the possibility to scam attempt will be increased especially in trading. this is the feature of paypal that makes them down.
for example. if i buy goods on a random member here. at first we success our transaction but in the other day. he refund the btc that i gave to him.
i think this feature for bitcoin will not fit and not work properly.