
Downside of Bitcoin: A Ledger That Can’t Be Corrected - petethomas
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/10/business/dealbook/downside-of-virtual-currencies-a-ledger-that-cant-be-corrected.html
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twblalock
This is a pretty big downside if you want to use the blockchain in commercial
banking, where laws require that the ledger be redacted in certain situations,
but I think it exemplifies a more general problem with blockchain-based
concepts like Bitcoin and Ethereum -- they make assumptions about ledgers and
contracts that are too "pure" to mesh with real-life financial regulations and
contract law.

Examples of such assumptions: Bitcoin transactions in the blockchain can never
be annulled, removed, or hidden from view; Ethereum contracts cannot be
modified or voided by third parties (e.g. a judge).

Unfortunately, removing immutability from the blockchain turns it into
something that isn't more trustworthy than any other kind of ledger -- so
what's the point of using it? So, I don't expect this kind of technology to be
viable for mainstream banking, or any other use case where the real-life legal
system gets involved.

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CyberDildonics
Typically banks already use immutable ledgers. If they need to change
something they put append that correction onto the ledger too.

> removing immutability from the blockchain turns it into something that isn't
> more trustworthy than any other kind of ledger

How is that in any way true? Immutability means you have a record of the real
data and when it occurred. Other applications can be layered on top.

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abrkn
An amendable distributed ledger is called a database

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eiriklv
Downside of Secure Crypto: No Backdoors /s

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VOYD
haha.

