ObCrypto: sorry, got nothing.
This crisis has a lot to do with the fact that Bitcoin is doing well, and suggests demand for other cryptographic solutions. As orthodox places to put your money and perform transactions are increasingly suspect, people are now willing to consider unorthodox places to put their money and unorthodox means to transact, when formerly there was really no demand. Now there is demand. And that the crisis was caused by regulators is a major reason for that demand. If crypto's mission is to enable people to sign on to their banks without being phished, then this discussion is wholly irrelevant. If crypto's mission is to enable people to do transactions without being scammed, then existing scams not employing cryptography are wholly relevant. If government regulation was ineffectual or actively damaging, then we need cryptographic solutions that provide security in ways that bypass the government and regulators - hence the demand for bitcoin. If the crisis was lack of wise regulation, then we need a solution in which all transactions are, like paypal transactions and the various cell phone money schemes, rendered visible to authority and traceable. If the crisis was immoral and corrupt regulation, with politicians directing money to voting blocks and regulators spinning in the revolving door between government and banks, and often changing their hats without even changing their offices, wearing a regulator hat at the same desk where a short time before they had worn a banker hat, then we need a more cypherpunkish solution - such as bitcoin, and there is customer demand for a more cypherpunkish solution. _______________________________________________ cryptography mailing list cryptography@randombit.net http://lists.randombit.net/mailman/listinfo/cryptography ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a> http://leitl.org ______________________________________________________________ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE