I truly believe that blockchain is amazing and will change the world for the better, I just can't see how Bitcoin, and others like it can be a viable mainstream solution. I have been doing research on many blockchain technologies for a little over a month now, and I am really hoping that by posting this I may get some clarity on how I might be wrong.
My issue is that the transaction history is completely transparent. To paraphrase a Reddit comment I read some time ago:
"Say I pay Mr. Pizza Delivery Guy with Bitcoin, and he then goes back to the car and enters my bitcoin address into an explorer and sees that I have $80k sitting in that address; pretty strong incentive for Mr. Pizza Delivery Guy to come back and ask for a tip".
The Mr. Pizza Delivery Guy scenario is certainly possible, but who else would benefit from free and open access to everyone's account balances and transaction histories? Perhaps Governments, and Major Corporations? Bitcoin has market share now and who knows if it will maintain that position, but I believe that eventually people will come around to not liking the idea of having their account balances and transaction histories so openly available making room for more private currency options. This is why I believe governments and major corporations should be jumping on this Bitcoin train ASAP to ensure Bitcoin is pushed mainstream, thus making it harder for a private option to gain that market share.
"But Bitcoin addresses are not tied to personal identifiers", I would consider that statement naive and perhaps in a general sense that is true today, but if Bitcoin was to go mainstream it would not take very long before those dots are connected. Examples being:
- An Amazon payment via Bitcoin automatically linking my address to my Amazon account,
- Using a loyalty card at the local Banana Republic, or
- Paying a parking fine.
All which would directly tie your bitcoin address to your personal identification. Considering how valuable this information is there is a good chance these corporations and governments would sell, buy, and trade this information to further connect the dots.
I would personally trust current banks to protect my account balances and transaction history more than trusting that Governments and Major Corporations wouldn't take advantage of what Bitcoin is handing them over on a silver platter.
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