[kictanet] World's biggest ever digital currency 'theft'

Mon Jan 29 12:28:05 EAT 2018

On electricity, This group is slowly missing the problem blockchain is
trying to solve - TRUST.

Country X does not trust that their voting platform will not be compromised
when results start trickling in, so the results better be written real time
on Ethereum blockhain where a transaction cannot be modified once written
on a block.

University X does not trust their employees to maintain a genuine database
of graduates, and therefore they write the list of graduates on a public
blockchain.

The nodes on public blockchains have to be decentralised and run by
multiple entities, to approve transactions, to validate other nodes, and
above all to avoid 50%+1 attack.

There are centralised blockchain solutions with zero mining like Ripple
network. It's controlled by one organisation, and all their tokens are
pretty mined. Those too solve some problems in their niche market.

@Ali, @Victor, it's not a design flow that transactions cannot be reversed.
It is by design, because that is what is trying to be achieved in the first
place. But reversal is actually possible, and that is what some soft and
hard forks have done. A popular reversal was the DAO hack in 2017, Ethereum
did a fork and reversed the hack. Only that the reversals are costly
because there is not supposed to be any.

On Jan 29, 2018 11:45 AM, "Adam Lane via kictanet" <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> That energy has a purpose, and provides value to a consumer somewhere. The
> energy used in “mining a currency” provides no value at all, but is
> calculating sums for no reason other than to control supply of such
> currencies. It’s not to say that banks, data centers or ATMs should not be
> more energy efficient, but it is important to question why a process is
> designed to waste resources.
>
>
>
> *Senior Director, Public Affairs*
>
> *Huawei Southern Africa*
>
> Mobile: +254-7909-85886
>
>
>
> *From:* Sidney Ochieng [mailto:sidney.ochieng at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Monday, January 29, 2018 10:37 AM
> *To:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *Cc:* Adam Lane <adam.lane at huawei.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] World's biggest ever digital currency 'theft'
>
>
>
> I find numbers like this thrown around without context mean nothing. How
> much of the worlds current energy is used on other financial transactions,
> running banks, credit cards, atms etc? Would anyone say that energy is
> wasted?
>
>
>
> On 29 January 2018 at 09:41, Adam Lane via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
> Let’s not forget the biggest flaw of all with crypto currencies is that
> they depend on basically wasting energy (Which may or may not be
> sustainably produced, even so it could be better used than on crunching
> pointless numbers):
>
>
>
> ·        *In 2017:*
>
>    - *42.67 TWh: The annual energy consumption of Bitcoin and Ethereum
>       combined*
>       - *0.19%: The percentage of the world’s electricity used by Bitcoin
>       and Ethereum*
>       - *8.49: The number of U.S. households that could be powered for a
>       full day with the same energy as single bitcoin transaction*
>
>
>
>
>
> *Senior Director, Public Affairs*
>
> *Huawei Southern Africa*
>
> Mobile: +254-7909-85886
>
>
>
> *From:* kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+adam.lane=huawei.com at lists.
> kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Admin CampusCiti via kictanet
> *Sent:* Sunday, January 28, 2018 6:12 PM
> *To:* Adam Lane <adam.lane at huawei.com>
> *Cc:* Admin CampusCiti <info at campusciti.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] World's biggest ever digital currency 'theft'
>
>
>
> Lesson:-
>
>
>
> That we are not safe anywhere from thieves? :-)
>
>
>
> Seriously though one of the fundamental flaws of cryptocurrencies is that
> once you have been liberated from your cryptos you have no recourse. This
> is a design flaw that we are all hoping will be resolved. Sooner rather
> than later.
>
> *Ali Hussein*
>
> *Hussein & Associates*
>
> +254 0713 601113
>
>
>
> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>
> Skype: abu-jomo
>
> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>
> Blog: www.alyhussein.com
>
>
>
> "Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking
> what no one else has thought".  ~ Albert Szent-Györgyi
>
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>
> On 27 Jan 2018, at 8:53 PM, Victor Kapiyo via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
> Dear Listers,
>
>
>
> One of Japan's largest digital currency exchanges says it has lost some
> $534m (£380m) worth of virtual money in a hacking attack on its network.
>
>
>
> Coincheck suspended deposits and withdrawals for all crypto-currencies
> except Bitcoin as it assessed its losses in NEM, a lesser-known coin. If
> the theft is confirmed, it will be the largest involving digital
> currency. Another Tokyo exchange, MtGox, collapsed in 2014 after admitting
> that $400m had been stolen from its network.
>
>
>
> Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42845505#
> <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42845505>
>
>
>
> What lessons can we learn from this?
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
>
>
> *Victor Kapiyo*
>
> Partner | *Lawmark Partners LLP*
>
> Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Commissioner for Oaths & Notary Public
>
> *Suite No. 8, Centro House, Westlands, Nairobi | **Web: www.lawmark.co.ke
> <http://www.lawmark.co.ke> *
>
> ====================================================
> *“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude” Zig
> Ziglar*
>
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> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
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> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
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> --
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> Regards,
>
> Sidney
>
>
> * Twitter:* @princelySid <https://twitter.com/princelySid> | *Web: *s
> idneyochieng.co.ke
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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