Alternative Block Chains : be safe!

[londawzen]

thank you for the knowledge you have provided. now I would like to read more on the bitcoin forum to further expand my knowledge.

[vhoang142]

I do not know why I have not noticed this threat for so long. Probably because he is so old. Really good reading material. Amusing. And many of the postings encourage everyone to rethink everything in this hectic time.

[Philip Ruby]

You can also very much determine based on the web page if it is a total scam. Spelling mistakes etc are also very common if the project is a scam.

[Philip Ruby]

It is always good to evaluate the project behind every coin you plan to buy. There are many scams and you are the one and only responsible for making sure you invest your money wisely. There are many gems around there, but they are surrounded by a lot of dirt.

[christofyler]

Precaution is the best key...... We should be extra careful there are many scam project out there.... So it always good to take the right the steps before investing on any project.

[evolution2k444]

Very educative, big thank goes to Mr Gavin Andersen for this expository writing. You have explained important things here that we should consider.
In my opinion, nothing is permanent! Everyone at some point have lost something dear, especially in the world of digital assets transactions. It couldn't have been much different; but we're wiser now. The only thing we can do
follow rules carefully and learn form people like Mr Gavin, and also from this kind of forums.

[XCryptoFund]

I strongly agree. That's partly why I haven't messed with the alt chains. I even mentioned this on the announcement thread for another coin but it got drowned out with all the excitement about it.

[christofyler]

There are many alternatives to the blockchain and also there are many variants of the blockchain concept, some better than others.

[AirWire]

I would also add that you should evaluate the information that some of these alternatives put out. Just a simple thirty second scan can often lead you to the conclusion that it is a bunch of nonsense. If they pass the 30 second test then dig deeper and look at everything they are doing. Not just what is on the website but social media as well.

[truong.bui45]

I'm usually a lurker in crypto groups and have exercised restraint when it comes to giveaways and airdrops of new altcoins. I work for a cybersecurity company and read a lot of scam and hacking stories.

[fsn]

Thats right, im using more then one pc so i can mine easy. Not like other with one pc. Also what is important to use legit windows, not to use pirate windows. And with that you can make serious money as i do.

[andry99]

helpful information. i'm looking for something like this, thank you

[malahivet930]

try not to think everything that noticeable individuals from the Bitcoin people group need to say in regards to elective chains. Specifically, I know a few people feel that the quantity of affirmations doesn't make a difference and the only thing that is important is the aggregate expected time of the affirmations, so 1 10-minute-normal affirmation is more secure than 3-minute-normal affirmations. In the event that you read Satoshi's paper it's reasonable this isn't valid; the quantity of affirmations is in reality more essential since exchange security increments exponentially with more affirmations. (His paper has rough figures; you'll see that tolerant 1 and 2-affirmation exchanges is genuinely dangerous.

[teeshe]

I haven't seen anybody post about what would be my biggest worry if I were trying out alternative block chains. I realize this may be perceived as "Gavin is FUD'ding anything that isn't bitcoin!"  (FUD == Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt)  But I think some of you might be forgetting some basic computer security fundamentals in the excitement to be early adopters.

When I first heard about bitcoin, my questions were:

1) Can it possibly work (do the ideas for how it works make sense)?
2) Is it a scam?
3) If it is not a scam, could it open my computer up to viruses/trojans if I run it?

I answered those questions by:

1) Reading and understanding Satoshi's whitepaper.  Then thinking about it for a day or two and reading it again.
2) Finding out everything I could about the project.  I read every forum thread here (there were probably under a hundred threads back then) and read Satoshi's initial postings on the crypto mailing list.
3) Downloaded and skimmed the source code to see if it looked vulnerable to buffer overflow or other remotely exploitable attacks.

If I were going to experiment with an alternative block-chain, I'd go through the same process again. But I'm an old conservative fuddy-duddy.

If you want to take a risk on a brand-new alternative block-chain, I'd strongly suggest that you:

1) Run the software in a virtual machine or on a machine that doesn't contain anything valuable.
2) Don't invest more money or time than you can afford to lose.
3) Use a different passphrase at every exchange site.

Thanks Gavin for the above advice. Just like an old wine in a new bottle,  Very much relevant as it were seven years ago.
Just quite funny the number of posts that were on this forum back then.

[Lyndieline]

The rate at which altcoins are been produced is alarming and no doubt a lot of them are scam. Very solid advice and it will remain relevant for a long time.

[hySyn17]

All these years later, this advice is more important! So many blockchains being developed because we now have ICOs, so many tokens created by anyone with an idea. Beware is a message that we must stick with, especially with BTC at about $20,000 -> greed will overrun common sense. Thanks for such a great post,

[donskova29]

Having different and strong password on each site can be achieved by only one method: using a master password like lastpass. And master password is a huge security risk. To access a low-security site you need to put at risk all of your data.

[Syla]

True but its such a pain having a unique password on every site. whats the best password generator app to use?

[bibitao19]

I think we should first have a detail study of other alternative block chains and then select the write one.I am a Newbie, we may use different virtual machines.We should first know whether it is a scam or it is a right thing before spending money and time on it.

[Sexy_Sees]

I can only see the benefit of having multiple blockchains. Too much traffic at one would clog it all and developing better ones than the existing blockchains can only help the technology. Of course, there are too many now to uphold for adoption. Can't believe there will be more as 20 that eventually stay for mass adoption..