“If you don’t get privacy, what do you get?”
January 24, 2024 12:46 AM Subscribe
When she had started that process of probing the Bitcoin ecosystem, Meiklejohn had seen her work almost as anthropology: What were people doing with bitcoin? How many of them were saving the cryptocurrency versus spending it? But as her initial findings began to unfold, she had started to develop a much more specific goal, one that ran exactly counter to crypto-anarchists’ idealized notion of bitcoin as the ultimate privacy-preserving currency of the dark web: She aimed to prove, beyond any doubt, that bitcoin transactions could very often be traced. Even when the people involved thought they were anonymous. from How a 27-year-old busted the myth of Bitcoin’s anonymity
Now that we've proven there's basically no anonymity, the next obvious conclusion is that bitcoin is not GDPR compliant, since there's no forget-me option. Can we start banning it now?
posted by DreamerFi at 1:43 AM on January 24 [25 favorites]
posted by DreamerFi at 1:43 AM on January 24 [25 favorites]
It was that feeling, the drive to manually assemble tiny data points that built into a larger picture, that would give Meiklejohn a kind of déjà vu 20 years later as she studied the Bitcoin blockchain, even before she consciously knew what she was doing.
Cool.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:01 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]
Cool.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:01 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]
By that analogy, a crypto-anarchist ought to be an anarchist pretending to be a capitalist. But they're using the term here in precisely the opposite sense.
I think, in this case, a crypto-Christian would be a Christian into cryptocurrency. Maybe too much so….
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:49 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]
I think, in this case, a crypto-Christian would be a Christian into cryptocurrency. Maybe too much so….
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:49 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]
DreamerFi, you might find this study [PDF] from the European Parliament of interest. At 120 pages, it's fairly light reading.
posted by pipeski at 4:33 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
posted by pipeski at 4:33 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
Don't bitcoins have an inherent inflation built into them? Beyond the reporting of Bitcoin to US dollars and the inflation of dollars. By mining, bitcoins increase the bitcoin pool without adding "value."
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:34 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:34 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
I remember the splash this study made when it came out. Interesting to hear the story behind it.
I wonder if she's dug into Monero, which, last time I paid attention, was what drug dealers were reputedly betting their privacy on.
posted by clawsoon at 4:41 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
I wonder if she's dug into Monero, which, last time I paid attention, was what drug dealers were reputedly betting their privacy on.
posted by clawsoon at 4:41 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
Don't bitcoins have an inherent inflation built into them?
I'm no expert, but what I've gotten from reading the snark at r/Buttcoin is that 90+% of Bitcoins have already been mined, and the bigger effect now seems to be Bitcoins being lost forever by people forgetting the passwords to wallets they've put them in.
posted by clawsoon at 4:50 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]
I'm no expert, but what I've gotten from reading the snark at r/Buttcoin is that 90+% of Bitcoins have already been mined, and the bigger effect now seems to be Bitcoins being lost forever by people forgetting the passwords to wallets they've put them in.
posted by clawsoon at 4:50 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]
I can confirm that Monero is the state of the art for use on darknet markets. I wish that governments wouldn't force drug users to use cryptocurrencies that contribute to climate change. OTOH, cryptocurrencies are small potatoes when you consider all of the ways that drug prohibition is destroying the environment.
posted by The genius who rejected Anno's budget proposal. at 5:01 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]
posted by The genius who rejected Anno's budget proposal. at 5:01 AM on January 24 [4 favorites]
Bitcoin has built-in deflation, where the value of each new coin added increases (because it costs more computing power each time). So instead of wheelbarrows full of cash to pay for ordinary things, you need ever smaller fractions of a coin. I’m not an economist but I’ve seen convincing arguments that this means it is irreparably doomed as a currency and was from the start.
posted by dbx at 5:43 AM on January 24 [8 favorites]
posted by dbx at 5:43 AM on January 24 [8 favorites]
paying fifty bucks in transaction fees for a dollar packet of gum is where bitcoin was always inevitably headed and that millions of people thought it was a great idea to "get in early" was all the proof i needed that it was a bigger-chump / pyramid scheme from the go. anyone playing with these currencies is ethically compromised, there's no way around it.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:52 AM on January 24 [12 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:52 AM on January 24 [12 favorites]
The title for this piece is so goofy, how old would you expect a Bitcoin researcher to be in 2013? 27 seems about right.
posted by BungaDunga at 6:23 AM on January 24 [11 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 6:23 AM on January 24 [11 favorites]
paying fifty bucks in transaction fees for a dollar packet of gum is where bitcoin was always inevitably headed
People pay a dollar for a packet of gum?!
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:31 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]
People pay a dollar for a packet of gum?!
posted by Cardinal Fang at 6:31 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]
Bitcoin has built-in deflation [...] irreparably doomed as a currency and was from the start
It's kinda weird though, because that same deflation that makes it not work as a currency, might make it seem attractive as an investment asset? A pizza keeps costing more dollars and fewer bitcoins. So a bitcoin keeps being worth more and more in comparison to a dollar? Which would make it a good investment, because you can buy it now for some number of dollars, and sell it for a greater number of dollars later?
But that only works if you can actually buy pizza with bitcoin, I think... if people actually use it as a currency. Which maybe they won't, because the deflation makes it a bad idea to spend it instead of saving it...
posted by OnceUponATime at 6:37 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
It's kinda weird though, because that same deflation that makes it not work as a currency, might make it seem attractive as an investment asset? A pizza keeps costing more dollars and fewer bitcoins. So a bitcoin keeps being worth more and more in comparison to a dollar? Which would make it a good investment, because you can buy it now for some number of dollars, and sell it for a greater number of dollars later?
But that only works if you can actually buy pizza with bitcoin, I think... if people actually use it as a currency. Which maybe they won't, because the deflation makes it a bad idea to spend it instead of saving it...
posted by OnceUponATime at 6:37 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
Bitcoin is a virtual commodity with extremely finite supply, not a currency. And the whole concept of the blockchain is that every transaction is known to everyone, everywhere, for all time. The idea that it could remain anonymous is fallacious.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:56 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:56 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
Of all the nonsense surrounding Bitcoin the idea it was ever untraceable has been the most baffling to me. The very premise of the system is there's a public ledger of every single transaction with sender and recipient. It's the absolute core of the protocol. There's a lot of work involved in usefully reversing all that data, extracting meaning, and work like Meiklejohn's is complicated and sophisticated. But the system is the exact opposite of untraceable.
I appreciate the brief mention of tumblers (and her ability to see through them). That's another baffling thing about the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The entire function of a tumbler is money laundering, to hide the source of dirty money and pop out supposedly untraceable money on the other side. The intended function of them is avoiding the law. But all the cryptoenthusiasts pretend it's somehow a legitimate service. Fortunately a few years ago regulators started cracking down.
posted by Nelson at 8:03 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
I appreciate the brief mention of tumblers (and her ability to see through them). That's another baffling thing about the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The entire function of a tumbler is money laundering, to hide the source of dirty money and pop out supposedly untraceable money on the other side. The intended function of them is avoiding the law. But all the cryptoenthusiasts pretend it's somehow a legitimate service. Fortunately a few years ago regulators started cracking down.
posted by Nelson at 8:03 AM on January 24 [9 favorites]
Monero basically runs every transaction through a tumbler and I don't think anyone has broken it yet, or if they have it's not been made public. A public ledger can be inspection-resistant, it's just that Bitcoin very much isn't.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:35 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 8:35 AM on January 24 [3 favorites]
i'm personally working on starting my own credit union so that i can be both the up-and-comer there to apply for a home loan and the wealthy techno-industrialist that turns me down.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 9:06 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]
posted by MonsieurPEB at 9:06 AM on January 24 [6 favorites]
Yeah Monero is the rare cryptoprotocol that was designed for untraceability. Which makes it absolutely inappropriate for a legitimate global financial instrument. Great for getting paid for criming though.
Related: North Korea Is Expanding Its Monero Mining Operations. They've been the nation that's most benefitted from cryptocurrency, between the massive thefts and using it to buy parts for their nuclear weapons program. There's been a fair amount of work tracing Bitcoin, etc flowing in and out of that country.
posted by Nelson at 9:18 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
Related: North Korea Is Expanding Its Monero Mining Operations. They've been the nation that's most benefitted from cryptocurrency, between the massive thefts and using it to buy parts for their nuclear weapons program. There's been a fair amount of work tracing Bitcoin, etc flowing in and out of that country.
posted by Nelson at 9:18 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
The title for this piece is so goofy, how old would you expect a Bitcoin researcher to be in 2013? 27 seems about right.
That immediately bugged me, because it is so dismissive of her credentials and experience. She isn't some kid who stumbled upon this idea, she was a well-qualified expert in cryptography and security working on her PhD when she started and now she's a very, very well-qualified expert in cryptography and security.
I get that maybe the intention was to praise her for being so good so (theoretically young) but it just grates on my nerves.
It's like the 'good job, Katie' graphics that went around after the black hole image was published in 2019. On their face, praise, but actually patronizing and erasing her credentials as Dr. Bouman, PhD in doing the exact shit they were talking about. A lot of the headlines about her mentioned her age, as well.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:55 AM on January 24 [19 favorites]
That immediately bugged me, because it is so dismissive of her credentials and experience. She isn't some kid who stumbled upon this idea, she was a well-qualified expert in cryptography and security working on her PhD when she started and now she's a very, very well-qualified expert in cryptography and security.
I get that maybe the intention was to praise her for being so good so (theoretically young) but it just grates on my nerves.
It's like the 'good job, Katie' graphics that went around after the black hole image was published in 2019. On their face, praise, but actually patronizing and erasing her credentials as Dr. Bouman, PhD in doing the exact shit they were talking about. A lot of the headlines about her mentioned her age, as well.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:55 AM on January 24 [19 favorites]
But what if these patronizing headlines were applied to everyone? Wouldn't it be more fun to read "47-year-old bongo enthusiast wins science competition!" than "Richard Feynman awarded Nobel Prize" ?
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:28 AM on January 24 [20 favorites]
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:28 AM on January 24 [20 favorites]
I know that these kinds of articles always make an attempt to describe the person, but I'm so tired of this kind of stuff (from the second paragraph): "a petite, dark-haired graduate student".
Of course she's "petite". That implies she's at a socially acceptable level of attractiveness, which means the reader can root for her as pretty girl who is also smart, because just being smart isn't enough.
posted by sardonyx at 11:02 AM on January 24 [12 favorites]
Of course she's "petite". That implies she's at a socially acceptable level of attractiveness, which means the reader can root for her as pretty girl who is also smart, because just being smart isn't enough.
posted by sardonyx at 11:02 AM on January 24 [12 favorites]
It's kinda weird though, because that same deflation that makes it not work as a currency, might make it seem attractive as an investment asset?
It’s a fundamentally self-contradictory project that has somehow been able to maintain enough of a balance to keep stumbling along. The deflationary nature has indeed been attractive to the HODL-to-get-rich crowd, and meanwhile the distributed nature and initial sense of security-through-obscurity has given it a niche (mostly in black markets, obviously) in which people are actually willing to exchange it. But this has created a situation in which every person who bought drugs on the original Silk Road even once for the novelty of it squandered a few hundred thousand in-theory dollars.
posted by atoxyl at 12:15 PM on January 24 [3 favorites]
It’s a fundamentally self-contradictory project that has somehow been able to maintain enough of a balance to keep stumbling along. The deflationary nature has indeed been attractive to the HODL-to-get-rich crowd, and meanwhile the distributed nature and initial sense of security-through-obscurity has given it a niche (mostly in black markets, obviously) in which people are actually willing to exchange it. But this has created a situation in which every person who bought drugs on the original Silk Road even once for the novelty of it squandered a few hundred thousand in-theory dollars.
posted by atoxyl at 12:15 PM on January 24 [3 favorites]
It’s hard to say whether this was a brilliant calculation (a lot of people attracted to the idea of buying drugs online in 2012 probably did not give a shit how Bitcoin actually functioned or what might happen to it in the future, and their existence made it worth something to the “investors”) or a stupid idea that accidentally worked.
posted by atoxyl at 12:19 PM on January 24 [2 favorites]
posted by atoxyl at 12:19 PM on January 24 [2 favorites]
"47-year-old bongo enthusiast wins science competition!"
You could say this one about almost anywhere:
Meet the senior citizen who runs an entire country!
posted by pracowity at 12:24 PM on January 24 [14 favorites]
You could say this one about almost anywhere:
Meet the senior citizen who runs an entire country!
posted by pracowity at 12:24 PM on January 24 [14 favorites]
I get that maybe the intention was to praise her for being so good so (theoretically young) but it just grates on my nerves
feels like someone nixed "Girl Scientist" and this was the runner-up headline
posted by BungaDunga at 12:27 PM on January 24 [5 favorites]
feels like someone nixed "Girl Scientist" and this was the runner-up headline
posted by BungaDunga at 12:27 PM on January 24 [5 favorites]
I will have to find the energy to read the whole article. It always blows my mind that some people are so smart.
Also, in response to some of the other comments, actually mathematicians do their best work when young. So I do not understand why the article makes such a huge deal out of her age. Advanced mathematics is one of those things that you either get or don't. Its not the case that an average person can grind and study for 50 years and gain proficiency in the math that underlies cryptography. So ... to me this is quite sensational journalism.
posted by Didnt_do_enough at 5:53 PM on January 24 [1 favorite]
Also, in response to some of the other comments, actually mathematicians do their best work when young. So I do not understand why the article makes such a huge deal out of her age. Advanced mathematics is one of those things that you either get or don't. Its not the case that an average person can grind and study for 50 years and gain proficiency in the math that underlies cryptography. So ... to me this is quite sensational journalism.
posted by Didnt_do_enough at 5:53 PM on January 24 [1 favorite]
^
That is a false characterization of mathematics and mathematicians.
posted by eviemath at 5:13 AM on January 25 [3 favorites]
That is a false characterization of mathematics and mathematicians.
posted by eviemath at 5:13 AM on January 25 [3 favorites]
First: everyone can, in fact, study and improve their understanding of mathematics. A number of at least moderately famous mathematicians came to the subject slightly later in life, and a number of famous mathematicians did some of their best work later in life as well (see below for why this is the case).
Second: while not everything in math requires building up your understanding step-by-step, there are certainly many areas where understanding the current research topics does require sequential learning of a fairly extensive background. This is part of what makes math challenging for many people both in that it takes a bit more time, and that before one develops the skills needed for independent learning, a bad classroom experience can have an outsized impact in derailing this sequential learning. But it also means that there are some areas of current math research where having more experience and more time to develop good intuition is an extremely valuable asset and where it can be quite hard for newer, younger people to make breakthroughs.
posted by eviemath at 5:23 AM on January 25 [5 favorites]
Second: while not everything in math requires building up your understanding step-by-step, there are certainly many areas where understanding the current research topics does require sequential learning of a fairly extensive background. This is part of what makes math challenging for many people both in that it takes a bit more time, and that before one develops the skills needed for independent learning, a bad classroom experience can have an outsized impact in derailing this sequential learning. But it also means that there are some areas of current math research where having more experience and more time to develop good intuition is an extremely valuable asset and where it can be quite hard for newer, younger people to make breakthroughs.
posted by eviemath at 5:23 AM on January 25 [5 favorites]
(I’ll stop this derail after this comment, but seriously, the misconceptions that you’re either a math person or not, that math requires some sort of genius, and the associated valuations of people’s worth based on that given that many of the better paying jobs currently available require some math background are the main impediments to many people learning more math. If you had a bad test or a bad year in math class and it was just a bad test or a bad year, you could move on and try again. But instead people have a bad test or a bad year and then start thinking/are told that they aren’t a “math person”, or math is such a high stakes subject that they develop math anxiety, and either of those can make future learning much more challenging. See, for example, Mathematical Mindsets by Dr. Jo Boaler for some of the research backing this up at the grade school level.)
posted by eviemath at 6:14 AM on January 25 [10 favorites]
posted by eviemath at 6:14 AM on January 25 [10 favorites]
DreamerFi, you might find this study [PDF] from the European Parliament of interest. At 120 pages, it's fairly light reading.
Thank you for that pipesky!
I like how that study uses bureaucrateese to make things look like "not so bad". For example, on page 8:
I guess "challenge" is a synonym for "breaks completely".... I will update my thesaurus accordingly...
posted by DreamerFi at 8:13 AM on January 25 [1 favorite]
Thank you for that pipesky!
I like how that study uses bureaucrateese to make things look like "not so bad". For example, on page 8:
Furthermore, this study has observed that blockchain technologies challenge core assumptions of European data protection law, such as that of data minimisation and purpose limitation
I guess "challenge" is a synonym for "breaks completely".... I will update my thesaurus accordingly...
posted by DreamerFi at 8:13 AM on January 25 [1 favorite]
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By that analogy, a crypto-anarchist ought to be an anarchist pretending to be a capitalist. But they're using the term here in precisely the opposite sense.
posted by Cardinal Fang at 1:18 AM on January 24 [15 favorites]