Myth #1: The blockchain is a giant, distributed computer
The redundancy that is critized in this section is actually what allows Bitcoin to be censorship resistant and permissionless. You don't have to trust, you can verify. And for that one requires utmost transparency. Additionally, the more copies there are, the harder it is to take down.
You may know rendundancy from another, perhaps more familiar concept: Making backups.
Myth #2: The blockchain is everlasting. Everything that is recorded into a blockchain will remain there forever
There's no debunking of the headline "myth"? Just further critique on the redundancy of blockchains. See above.
Myth #3: The blockchain is effective and scalable. Conventional money will soon disappear
I agree that both claims are a myth, but I still wonder what he means by that:
it is standard practice to wait 50 minutes more after each new record appears because the records regularly roll back.
I'm not sure which blockchain he's talking about that "regularly rolls back" but it's definitely not Bitcoin. There are orphan blocks, sure, but they are rather rare and usually don't go further than 1-2 blocks deep.
It is also worth noting that while blockchains themselves are very bad at scaling, the technologies being built on top of them are not.
Myth #4: Miners provide network security
They do though.
the problem is that miners are protecting Bitcoin from other miners.
In theory yes, in practice no, due to mining incentives (ie. block subsidies and transaction fees) keeping forces in check.
If only one-thousandth of the current number of miners existed, and thus one-thousandth of the electric power was consumed, then Bitcoin would be just as good as it is now.
In theory yes, in practice no, due to the cost of attacking the network now being a thousand times cheaper.
Traditional payment systems are immune to such an attack.
Not really though:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-cyber/thieves-suck-millions-out-of-mexican-banks-in-transfer-heist-idUSKCN1IF1X7https://www.reuters.com/article/us-city-union-bank-swift/indias-city-union-bank-ceo-says-suffered-cyber-hack-via-swift-system-idUSKCN1G20AFMyth #5: The blockchain is decentralized, therefore it is indestructible
Centralization is obviously something to keep an eye on, however:
Gaining access to just four controlling computers would gain someone the ability to double spend bitcoins. This, as you can imagine, would depreciate bitcoins somewhat, and doing it is actually quite feasible.
I doubt it's "just four controlling computers" that someone would need to gain access to. I also doubt it's "actually quite feasible" because that would leave me wondering why double spends aren't happening on a regular basis.
But the threat is even more serious than the above might imply, because the majority of pools, along with their computing powers, are located inside one country, which makes it much easier to capture them and gain control over Bitcoin.
...eradicating billions of dollars worth of investment in hardware, infrastructure and developing knowledge. Sure thing.
Myth #6: The anonymous and open character of the blockchain is a good thing
Rather misinformed.
How much money I have at any given time.
Not possible without knowing all other address that are under the target's control.
How much I spent and, more important, what I spent it on.
Not possible without knowing all other address that are under the target's control
and every counterparty they have been interacting with.
Unless the mother or friend of the author's example happens to have a knack for big data and machine learning I doubt they'll find out all that much about any financial history.
Also...
Some disclosure may be tolerable for individuals, but it is deadly for companies. All of their contracting parties, sales, customers, account amounts, and every other little, petty detail would all become public.
Oh the humanity! Companies being forced to act transparently and therefore potentially being liable for misconduct, embezzlement and tax evasion! Just imagine if one could see how money flows from companies to shell companies to lobbyists to politicians! Oh geez!
smh.
That being said, some of the scaling solutions that are heading for Bitcoin will improve Bitcoin's privacy (or come at the cost of transparency, depending on how you want to look at things); most notably Lightning Network.
