[2014-01-16] CoinJar: Stealth Addresses – What are they and do I need one?

[minimalB]

"The latest project being worked on is the Stealth Address. Basically this uses the protocol to allow you to generate a public key that you can provide to multiple parties, and the parties can pay you but can’t see funds you receive from the other parties."

https://blog.coinjar.com/2014/01/16/stealth-addresses-what-are-they-and-do-i-need-one/

[bigb159]

They need to think more PR when they name these things. Privacy is a benefit, stealth is drawback. "Dear government, we want approval and regulations for this new currency, except for these 'stealth' addresses, please ignore these, they don't concern you."

[LiteCoinGuy]

If bitcoin wants to go mainstream, it should not
add more of this. 

[cr1776]

You can read more about it in the tech area if you want the details, but this is a positive, something that isn't added to the protocol or bitcoin qt.  Merely a way of using the tools to do so.

Privacy is good and doesn't need to be used for nefarious purposes.

[zeroday]

Doesn't just mixing make coins stealth ?

[LiteCoinGuy]

Zerocoin makes it stealth

[odolvlobo]

Zero coin and mixers don't provide the same benefit as this.

Using a different address for every transaction increases your privacy. It prevents people that know your address from knowing how much money you are receiving. This technique gives you the same benefit with a single address and also helps prevent fraud.

For example, if Apple sells iPhones for bitcoins and provides a single payment address, then Google can simply monitor that address to know exactly how many iPhones that Apple has sold. So, Apple would instead provide a different address for each transaction, or they use this technique with a single address. Now, Google cannot track their iPhone sales.

Furthermore, one drawback with multiple addresses is that someone could surreptitiously replace the address with his and you would never know it. If Apple has a single well-known address, then you know that by using Apple's address you are sending your money to Apple and nobody else. This technique allows both benefits at the same time.

[cr1776]

Zero coin and mixers don't provide the same benefit as this.

Using a different address for every transaction increases your privacy. It prevents people that know your address from knowing how much money you are receiving. This technique gives you the same benefit with a single address and also helps prevent fraud.

For example, if Apple sells iPhones for bitcoins and provides a single payment address, then Google can simply monitor that address to know exactly how many iPhones that Apple has sold. So, Apple would instead provides a different address for each transaction, or they use this technique with a single address. Now, Google cannot track their iPhone sales.

Furthermore, one drawback with multiple addresses is that a scammer could surreptitiously replace the address with his and you would never know it. If Apple has a single well-known address, then you know that by using this address you are sending your money to Apple and nobody else.

Exactly. Mixers, zerocoin etc used with this are important parts of a whole and used together help protect your privacy from random hackers and snoops

[marcus_of_augustus]

Tools like these help make bitcoin fungible. Most definitely an improvement.

The D-H shared secret scheme proposed looks like a winner to me (and something i've been anticipating in some guise for a while) , probably should have just called it perfect forward secrecy transaction addressing (PFSTA) or some such ... whatever it's name it will make bitcoin that much more useful and valuable. I feel like bitcoin is finally arriving to where it promised it could go towards.

[minimalB]

In depth debate can be found here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=418071.0