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Worldbuilding

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  • $\begingroup$ The problem with a fully anonymous cryptocurrency that doesn't track transactions is that it would not only be very volatile but also very easy to counterfeit. Nobody wants to accept money in a currency that could be worthless in a few weeks. $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 9, 2024 at 2:36
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    $\begingroup$ @Rhymehouse such cryptocurrencies already exist, eg. monero - my understanding of the situation is that each transaction record is encrypted in such a way that only the people who have the private keys associated with the accounts involved can tell anything interesting about it, but the others can still mathematically guarantee that the sender did have the funds to make the transaction and so on. cryptography is magic! $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 9, 2024 at 10:57
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    $\begingroup$ @Rhymehouse Dealing with untrustworthy people is already part of crime. If you try to cheat Jimmy the Crowbar, your knees will be unhappy with your decision. $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 9, 2024 at 11:54
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    $\begingroup$ @Rhymehouse Cryptocurrencies that de facto don't track transactions are trivially easy to implement and exist in the real world. The idea is very simple, you put a coin into the exchange, and you get a randomly chosen coin in return. There's a trace of transactions on the coin, but that trace of transaction cannot be linked to you. $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 9, 2024 at 12:15
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    $\begingroup$ A method that is used for bitcoin is a transaction tumbler. Which performs multiple transactions at the same time, giving people random bitcoins out of the transaction.. making it very difficult to tell who paid what to whom. Money launders use them to cleanup bit coins... right now. $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 9, 2024 at 16:01