Professional TOR network with Bitcoin fees?

[Sukrim]

What about a client that works with Mike Hearn's rapidly adjusted micropayments?

[mmeijeri]

The Open Transactions website lists funding a Tor exit node with OT as one of its business cases:

https://github.com/FellowTraveler/Open-Transactions/wiki/Business-Cases

[bytemaster]

What about a client that works with Mike Hearn's rapidly adjusted micropayments?

Anything that uses the block chain would tie your wallet to the exit node.   Unless you are VERY CARFUL (more careful than I think I could be) this would compromise the entire purpose of TOR.

[Vandroiy]

I was working on design of such a system for a bit, it is currently on hold because it turned out much too extensive as a hobby project.

Think about it: you have to deal with maximum privacy attacks AND maximum money-gaming attacks by all players, including colluding users and nodes.



For all I could figure out, you'll need eCash-type banks of some optimal scale and a protocol for floating prices and trust-establishment that cannot be gamed for profit. I think it is possible but don't have the time or resources to work on it, nor a business model to profit off it, especially without going to jail as soon as people use it to launder money, trade child porn or whatever.

Personally, I believe there's more dormant power in automated banking (with trust management) than in Bitcoin. Its anonymity, efficiency and ability to perform trades directly in the system should outweigh the trouble of sporadic losses due to failing micro-banks. Trading for traffic routing is just one example application.

[vm1990]

i like the idea but i dont see much point in it... why do you want a Professional TOR network? and making it so you have to pay for it makes it a hell of alot easier to get compromised. if the nodes are sharing ip addresses of other nodes and 1 node gets compromised then all the nodes on that nodes list risk getting compromised.
its why TOR is such a bugger to trace in the first place because so many people in so many locations have set up entry and exit nodes and theres no real link to them, but if you introduce money then you introduce a link and each node would have to go through a cleaning all the Bitcoins to stay safe
i dont know if im missing the point of it.

but if its for a good reason iv got a very high speed server id be willing to help out with

[bytemaster]

This is why you do not use bitcoin directly, but instead digital cash with blinded tokens.

[vm1990]

This is why you do not use bitcoin directly, but instead digital cash with blinded tokens.

but dosnt that then rely on the person dispensing the tokens not getting caught?

[wolverine.ks]

the purpose of a professional tor network is to maintain anonymity while allowing users to increase speeds by paying for faster servers and at the sane time avoiding a possible tragedy of the Commons. if someone donates to a foundation, that is concentrated costs and diffused benefits. if a person wants that money to only go towards the specific things they want it to go to, then there might also be more people willing to donate.

[bytemaster]

This is why you do not use bitcoin directly, but instead digital cash with blinded tokens.

but dosnt that then rely on the person dispensing the tokens not getting caught?

Assuming it is illegal to operate a bitcoin bank that issues digital cash?

Who says there has to be just one such bank or that the bank couldn't just be a single node in the network? 

You deposit a small amount that you are willing to 'lose' with an anonymous bank and then use that anonymous bank to handle transactions for all of your connections.  For this to work, the nodes on the network need to 'batch' redeem the tokens they accept AND the anonymous bank must have enough volume that redemption patterns do not reveal your channel.   All nodes on the network would have to 'trust' one or more banks to some extent and periodically withdraw actual BTC to actually collect on the value.

Nodes could operate on a basis of constantly exchanging tokens with the bank, regardless of how much traffic they have coming through and therefore prevent the bank from detecting the path.  You would have to *trust* the nodes not to collaborate, but you are already doing that with TOR. 

Nodes could be dynamically promoted to 'bank status' after a certain amount of successful business with others.   Sure, there is always some risk that someone could set up a bank and then 'walk away', but if the rules allowed the bank to 'make money' by being honest then it will be more profitable to operate the bank than to 'run with the money'.