Can Bitcoin wallets be trusted?

[Anders]

I wonder if Bitcoin could be updated to use public user IDs on the block chain. For example Twitter usernames. Then the need for private Bitcoin addresses is removed and the bitcoins always securely stored on the block chain with the unencrypted usernames.

As for anonymity, simply choose a Twitter username like @AnonBitcoinUser.

[acs267]

Yes. It depends more on if you make rational decesions or not.

[meowdea]

Yes. It depends more on if you make rational decesions or not.

What rational decision is? Because I can't imagine one if we are talking about bitcoins.

[jonald_fyookball]

I wonder if Bitcoin could be updated to use public user IDs on the block chain. For example Twitter usernames. Then the need for private Bitcoin addresses is removed and the bitcoins always securely stored on the block chain with the unencrypted usernames.

As for anonymity, simply choose a Twitter username like @AnonBitcoinUser.

A)  not going to happen.
B)  would be bad for anonymity because now you have 1 username for many addresses
C)  for what purpose/benefit?

[DannyElfman]

I wonder if Bitcoin could be updated to use public user IDs on the block chain. For example Twitter usernames. Then the need for private Bitcoin addresses is removed and the bitcoins always securely stored on the block chain with the unencrypted usernames.

As for anonymity, simply choose a Twitter username like @AnonBitcoinUser.

A)  not going to happen.
B)  would be bad for anonymity because now you have 1 username for many addresses
C)  for what purpose/benefit?

I agree that this would make no sense. It would also make it so that the block chain would not be secured cryptographically but rather with some central authority that houses all of the passwords.

[nahtnam]

If your wallet.dat is password protected, the software would have to wait until you typed in your password before it can do anything.

[nahtnam]

I wonder if Bitcoin could be updated to use public user IDs on the block chain. For example Twitter usernames. Then the need for private Bitcoin addresses is removed and the bitcoins always securely stored on the block chain with the unencrypted usernames.

As for anonymity, simply choose a Twitter username like @AnonBitcoinUser.

A)  not going to happen.
B)  would be bad for anonymity because now you have 1 username for many addresses
C)  for what purpose/benefit?

I agree that this would make no sense. It would also make it so that the block chain would not be secured cryptographically but rather with some central authority that houses all of the passwords.

If you want to be public, register at http://keybase.io and add your face to the BTC address.

[minerpumpkin]

I wonder if Bitcoin could be updated to use public user IDs on the block chain. For example Twitter usernames. Then the need for private Bitcoin addresses is removed and the bitcoins always securely stored on the block chain with the unencrypted usernames.

As for anonymity, simply choose a Twitter username like @AnonBitcoinUser.

A)  not going to happen.
B)  would be bad for anonymity because now you have 1 username for many addresses
C)  for what purpose/benefit?

Yeah, one of the main aspects of Bitcoin is, after all, that there are effectively no accounts. The addresses are one part of a crypto pair and that's it. Extending the whole system with changeable names or something is another application and may or may not be implemented on top of the system we're currently employing. Namecoin?