2012-12-26 washingtonpost - What will we smuggle in the future? Coal, cyber cur

[julz]

What will we smuggle in the future? Coal, cyber currency, honeybees.

Brad Plumer
2012-12-26


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/26/the-future-of-smuggling-drones-coal-and-honeybees/


...
– Counterfeited cyber-currency. North Korea already (allegedly) makes plenty of money from counterfeit $50 and $100 bills. But what happens if cyber-currencies like Bitcoin become massive and start rivaling official currencies? Could a shadowy market emerge for counterfeit digital currencies?
...

I don't even ... :/

[niko]

Ridiculous. Fortunately, someone is doing good job educating people in the comments section.

[Gabi]

So much fail

[thoughtfan]

Ridiculous. Fortunately, someone is doing good job educating people in the comments section.

To be fair to the author, when criticised on this first he pointed to his source to defend his corner, then when the flaws in the argument were pointed out to him he conceded.

Okay, fair enough, thanks. I guess when it comes to cyber currency, the hacking/counterfeiting distinction isn't always clear, but counterfeiting is probably the wrong term to use in that case.

[420]

how long till PC's are strong enough to guess private keys of bitcoin addresses. is this possible?

[hazek]

how long till PC's are strong enough to guess private keys of bitcoin addresses. is this possible?

Not until "computers are built from something other than matter and occupy something other than space." (quote by renowned cryptographer Bruce Schneier)