Like DNS for your wallet address - wantsBTC.com

[kotarius]

I recently made a website that lets you tie a name to your bitcoin address.

Please check it out at http://wantsBTC.com

Basically, you register a name and sign that name to your wallet address, and then you can give out the url like "kotarius.wantsbtc.com" to people, put it on your business card without the nasty QR code, say it over the phone, etc etc.

I also provide an API like below, which means developers can do cool things, like OCR on the smartphone, verify signed message, and send money.

http://kotarius.wantsbtc.com/api.php

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

I thought people wanted more privacy not tying their name to their wallet address.

[shorena]

I thought people wanted more privacy not tying their name to their wallet address.

Apparently there are different views on the subject.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=754785.0

[Eliovp]

I thought people wanted more privacy not tying their name to their wallet address.

True, "Some people".. others will like this idea, as do i.

Don't we all want to make Bitcoin even more popular then it already is?
So for those who like this idea, and want an easy to remember address, then this is a great idea!

For those who want to keep their anonymity, then don't create a "BTCdns".. it's not that it's mandatory..

Anyway, i like the idea.. if i could invest in this, i would.

Keep up the great work!

[commandrix]

I thought people wanted more privacy not tying their name to their wallet address.

With DNS and things like DNS, it doesn't have to be YOUR name. Really the point of DNS is to make things easy for people who would never remember 98.139.183.24 but would remember Yahoo.com. Plugging 98.139.183.24 into the address bar of my browser will still get me to Yahoo.com so the name really isn't all that necessary. The point is to have a unique name for your IP address or, in this case, your Bitcoin address that is easier to remember than a long string of random letters and numbers.

[shorena]

I thought people wanted more privacy not tying their name to their wallet address.

With DNS and things like DNS, it doesn't have to be YOUR name. Really the point of DNS is to make things easy for people who would never remember 98.139.183.24 but would remember Yahoo.com. Plugging 98.139.183.24 into the address bar of my browser will still get me to Yahoo.com so the name really isn't all that necessary. The point is to have a unique name for your IP address or, in this case, your Bitcoin address that is easier to remember than a long string of random letters and numbers.

Yeah but you can put yahoo.com directly into your browser and end up where you want to end up. In this case you have to take the "address" to a page to get another address. Id wildly guess that only ~0.001% will ever check the signature and even if you check it there is no way to know if those offering the server didnt replace the information by something else. Its also easy for malware to change the data, etc. etc. I see more risks than rewards.

[CozyLife]

That's a smart idea. I was wondering when someone would do that. Not every address you own needs to top secret and this makes things a bit easier on everyone.

[BurtW]

That is a clever web site and a clever idea.

But, it is a very bad idea because it encourages address reuse, reduces privacy of the entire Bitcoin system, will eventually damage the fungibility of Bitcoin and damages the long term viability of the entire Bitcoin idea.  Here is why:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=750951.msg8483881#msg8483881

(And also note that publishing a signature like this also publishes your public key reducing security the same amount as sending a transaction does.)

If you care about the long term viability of the entire Bitcoin project/concept then please read my previous posts on this subject.  For example:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=744300.msg8418328#msg8418328

This thread:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=731384.0

Specifically:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=731384.msg8265615#msg8265615
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=731384.msg8265712#msg8265712
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=731384.msg8266003#msg8266003
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=731384.msg8266163#msg8266163

Everyone should be using a different Bitcoin address every single time they receive BTC including periodic payments such as mining income.  Everyone should be asking for a brand new address every time they send BTC to someone else.  If the site/vendor/organization wants your BTC then giving you a unique address every time you send them BTC is not too much to ask.  This is just the baseline good Bitcoin citizen behaviour.  If you really want to go above this baseline "good manners" and help correct the issues caused by those with lax privacy standards then mix your coins whenevery you get the chance.

If you are going to do this (reuse a public address) then never spend coins directly from your public reused address.  Mix them first.

[kotarius]

More discussion here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ej2y9/dns_for_your_bitcoin_address/

[BurtW]

More discussion here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ej2y9/dns_for_your_bitcoin_address/

Well you know my opinion already.  I know I am an idealist when it comes to fungibility, privacy and address reuse.  People are going to reuse addresses so just do the following when dealing with static addresses:

- If you are sending BTC to a static address then mix your coins on the way there.  One of the easiest and least expensive way to do this is to send them from your wallet to the static address using a coinjoin transaction.  I use the "shared send" on Blockchain which is their implementation of coinjoin transactions.  Do a few rounds to be sure.  Or use a mixer or mix them through any deposit account (localbitcoins, exchanges, etc.)

- If you are receiving BTC from a static address then of course you should receive them into a privacy and fungibility suportive single use address if possible.  When it comes time to spend your coins run them through a mixer, mixing deposit account, or a coinjoin transaction on the way out.

Thanks.

[kotarius]

I now crosspost the user's credentails to a third party site (pastee.co) and instruct users to match the timestamp. This will make it considerably harder for me, or hackers, to spoof a user's credentails:

Here is an example: http://jr.wantsbtc.com/