Trust No One

[khalilhimura]

Hi bitcoiners -- first poster here.

Since we're talking trust here, I wanted to recount my brief experience purchasing BTC via USD through Localbitcoins.com about a week ago (my first foray into the currency).  I found a seller with a stellar reputation, did a cash deposit to their bank account, and, *presto*, the Localbitcoins escrow system worked flawlessly!  This seemed so much easier and safer than doing an in-person transaction, which some people may have had issues with (based upon what I've read in other forums).  I was not unhappy to pay their 1% fee for this service.

I'm not here to plug the site, only to let people know that I had a good experience.  YMMV, of course.

Cheerio.

Agree 100% Got my first fraction of BTC through a local seller via localbitcoins.com

Followed the service step-by-step (i.e. instructions were clear & at the right place). Worked flawlessly for me

[1713592200]

1713592200

[1713592200]

1713592200

[jsgayo]

i trust only my walled secured by truecrypt

[Ski72]

What's the point of bitcoin if you have to be so paranoid?

I put this post in the Newbies area for a reason

I believe that bitcoin will someday be orders of magnitude more secure (and more valuable). If you buy bitcoins now, you are an early adopter getting in while prices are cheap and betting that security and utility will improve.

In the meantime, yes, you must be absurdly paranoid. These websites cannot be trusted any more than you absolutely have to. To actually hold onto your coins long enough for your investment to pay off, you need to push the paranoia up to the tinfoil-hat level. This is the price of being an early bitcoin adopter.

it has definitely become more valuable, but secure not so much IMHO ... it's still very easy for someone who is too trusting to be scammed by someone who is too good at doing so.

[Harley997]

Bitcoin is designed to be a trust-less system.

Even if you know someone's identity it would be very difficult to enforce any agreement that you have with them.

[sofire]

You have to wonder, if mass adoption of bitcoin is even possible with this level of paranoia. It takes a lot of reading just to even get started using bitcoin.
There's got to be an easier way.

[vokain]

You have to wonder, if mass adoption of bitcoin is even possible with this level of paranoia. It takes a lot of reading just to even get started using bitcoin.
There's got to be an easier way.

It used to be harder

[mjdelima]

What about the newbies like me, how could we marked as trusted if no one is willing to transact with the newbies

[Fatanut]

What about the newbies like me, how could we marked as trusted if no one is willing to transact with the newbies

No chance of dealing with newbies unless they insist that they will go first. Many people avoid having deals with newbies as it is very easy to make another newbie account.

[XodhvdjI]

One trustworthy wallet would definitely be circle. I have been using their wallet service for some time now and it's wonderful. Most of the time, all of my transactions work perfectly.

[allegedwhiz31]

Trust No One? Ok. We discuss about people... But what about our governments, parliaments committee and laws? They are able to change rules and bitcoin may lose credibility. Is it possible or not?

[CoinCidental]

Trust No One? Ok. We discuss about people... But what about our governments, parliaments committee and laws? They are able to change rules and bitcoin may lose credibility. Is it possible or not?

Especially, don't trust them either....!   

[JohnnyBrown]

We are forced to trust the wallets without it bitcoin is nothing  we cant use bitcoins

[thirdchance57]

When it comes to BTC and all, it is not the question of trust as much as it is the question as to what you are willing to take a chance with.  There are so many scams out there, it is hard to trust.

[fllipperr]

why we shouldnt trust them? if they continue their services we should trust them after all we are here on the net  .. where everyone is anonymous

[maltize]

I accepeted the fact that everyone here is anonymous  and Im aware that they might scammed us but theres nothing we can do than to trust them

[Vaccomundus]

i'm not trusting anyone here, not even escrow

[hermanhs09]

Seriously. Don't trust the exchanges, don't trust online wallet services, don't trust your anti-virus software, and don't trust anybody online.

If you absolutely must trust someone with your bitcoins, for the love, choose carefully!

• Do you know their full name?
• Do you know where they are located?
• Have they demonstrated trustworthiness in the past?
• Are they asking you to trust them? (red flag)
• Do they have insurance?

Insurance? Impossible, you say. Not so!

When I needed people to trust me to hold bitcoins for a contest, I deposited 50 bitcoins as a bond with a well-respected forum member, so that even if I did something stupid and lost people's money, they would still be reimbursed. You can read about it here: http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=10008.0

Consider carefully who you will trust. With bitcoins, elaborate scams may be profitable. For instance, someone may develop trust for their user name over many months with small transactions on this forum, then take advantage of that trust to make off with a lot of money. Such a scam would only be worth doing on this forum. No other forum in the world would be worth the effort.

If you want someone to hold your bitcoins for you, there are NO online services that have the transparency and security to make me comfortable using them for storing bitcoins for more than a short time in small amounts. The only way to do it is like I did - choose someone whom you believe to be trustworthy, and approach them. If they approach you, or in any way say or insinuate that they are a trustworthy person to hold your coins, STAY AWAY.

If you are thinking that I might not be trustworthy, since I am writing this post about the issue, you are approaching the appropriate level of paranoia.

If you want to store your bitcoins with maximum security, there are lots of resources about how to do it, such as this: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Securing_your_wallet

Here's my summary:

1. Put all your coins in a new wallet that has never connected to the network
2. Encrypt that wallet with the maximum security you can find, using the most secure password you can keep track of
3. Delete the plaintext wallet, and distribute the encrypted wallet to every piece of physical media you own, store it online, and send it to several people you trust

Don't think you can generate and remember a secure enough password? Create a super-long password, and store clues to help you remember it. For instance, your password clue file might say:

My standard password + My throwaway password (backwards, all caps) + &#$%@ + First two sentences of first paragraph of page 19 of my favorite book (include all capitalization and punctuation) + My wife's mother's middle name + My son's favorite superhero + My favorite number times 8734 + food my wife hates (backwards, all caps) + 9-digit number stored with my paper will + 10-character password stored in my safety deposit box + . . . .

You can go on in this way to create as long a password as you want. Store this password clue file with your encrypted wallet, and optionally encrypt both with a simple standard password to keep out snoopers.

In this way, not only can you recover your coins from your "savings account" at a later date, if you get hit by a chicken truck tomorrow and die, your loved ones can probably piece together your password and recover the coins too (better make sure you trust them, and that between them they have or can get the answers to those clues).

I recommend that you practice your wallet encryption and recovery a few times with a small number of coins, until you are very comfortable with the process before you try it with the bulk of your savings.

And remember, this is how most bitcoins services get started:



Comic from: http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=13903.0

My biggest enemy is me, i've lost 6.2 Btc due to trusting in my capability of remembering my own wallet password, and writing down the passphrase etc.. when that time came, I waved my coins farewell. off they went as orphan coins. Luckily Im not James Howell though, he lost 7,500 Btc by throwing away his HDD and realized afterwards what error he made 

[outatime1]

I agree that you can't fully trust any exchange. Don't put all of your coins on one exchange because you never know when they will shut down (like Cryptsy and MtGox) and take your money with them.

[SteinsMadScientist]

There a lot of great points on this post.  I was looking for a suitable and secure password for my wallet and now I have one.  Thanks.

[jamids]

We should always be vigilant whenever we make transaction to someone. Even our most trusted relative or friend may turn us down when the time comes that they have to choose between your trust and the amount they can make when they lie to you and broke your trust. You always need some kind of security when you are dealing with someone especially nowadays that money is crucial.