Timeline for Can Bitcoin software be used to create a private currency (single issuer)
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
7 events
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| Oct 11, 2011 at 0:01 | comment | added | David Perry | True enough, perhaps it's not an ideal solution but it could be used. Also, the blockchain mechanism isn't just a method of reducing/eliminating centralization, it also outsources the cost of securing and operating the transaction database. Still, @ChrisAcheson is probably correct in stating that Open Transactions might be the better solution. | |
| Oct 10, 2011 at 20:21 | comment | added | David Schwartz | That assumes the currency can amass sufficient hashing power to secure itself. A lot of currencies have failed to do so. If you have a central authority, it seems both much harder and much less necessary to secure with hashing power. Bitcoins are secured with hash only because they have no central authority. | |
| Oct 10, 2011 at 19:54 | comment | added | David Perry | You don't necessarily need the central authority to sign anything. Just view the central authority as the "issuing bank" and let other clients handle other transactions independently. The Bitcoin protocol will work just fine once the coins are in the wild, the coins simply enter the economy from a non-distributed source. | |
| Oct 10, 2011 at 18:16 | comment | added | David Schwartz | You would at least want to change the model so that instead of piling hashes onto blocks, the central authority simply signs them. (The central authority could cheat, of course, but the victims would have proof and could sue them.) | |
| Oct 10, 2011 at 18:11 | comment | added | David Perry | Remember that Bitcoin will eventually stop paying block rewards and will switch over to fee-subsidized mining. The same model could support a privately-issued network. Since the fees come from users sending coins to one another, they wouldn't be "double issued" or such. I the central issuer simply control how many coins are in circulation, the Bitcoin protocol would allow the circulation to take care of itself. | |
| Oct 7, 2011 at 21:42 | history | edited | David Schwartz | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 48 characters in body
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| Oct 7, 2011 at 20:26 | history | answered | David Schwartz | CC BY-SA 3.0 |