[HN Gopher] An incomplete guide to stealth addresses
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An incomplete guide to stealth addresses
Author : DocFeind
Score : 90 points
Date : 2023-01-23 19:12 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (vitalik.ca)
(TXT) w3m dump (vitalik.ca)
| unwind wrote:
| Meta: I think this title would benefit from an "Ethereum:"
| prefix, or something.
|
| As written, it's not at all clear what the context and topic are,
| unless you're supposed to recognize that from the domain name (I
| did not, and I would say it's not a domain seen often on the
| front page).
| [deleted]
| pvg wrote:
| It's fine for titles not to be completely self-explanatory
|
| https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
| voz_ wrote:
| [flagged]
| agravier wrote:
| Ad hominem arguments don't work very well on this crowd,
| fortunately. Try criticizing the substance of the article.
| alexbakers wrote:
| Stealth addresses are beneficial for large amounts.
|
| For example:
|
| - 0x1... stealth address have 5USDC
|
| - 0x2... stealth address have 5USDC
|
| - 0x3... stealth address have 5USDC
|
| Now I want to pay 9USDC to 0x4..., how do I do that?
|
| 0x1... -> 0x4... = 3USDC (gas transfer ERC20 ~2USDC)
|
| 0x2... -> 0x4... = 3USDC (gas transfer ERC20 ~2USDC)
|
| 0x3... -> 0x4... = 3USDC (gas transfer ERC20 ~2USDC)
|
| And since you spend from different addresses in one transaction,
| in theory you can reveal your identity.
| zaroth wrote:
| These types of addresses are useful for publishing static
| directions for receiving payment (what they call a "meta-
| address") that doesn't then reveal every transaction that has
| been sent to it.
|
| It is orthogonal to / does not impact sender privacy
| whatsoever, and likewise doesn't help the receiver maintain
| privacy when _they_ try to spend those coins if they get
| intermingled with other coins that could be tracked.
| crecker wrote:
| Thanks for the article. If you're a newbie and want to learn
| about stealth address, I'd suggest also
| https://serhack.me/articles/what-is-stealth-address-technolo...
| LelouBil wrote:
| I was looking for an article about this, thanks !
| lysergia wrote:
| > Basic stealth addresses can be implemented fairly quickly
| today, and could be a significant boost to practical user privacy
| on Ethereum. They do require some work on the wallet side to
| support them
|
| So how easy is it realistically? I hope it's not going to un-
| ergonomic like PGP where novices are sometimes seeing to be
| pasting their private key into e-mails and sending things in
| plaintext which should have been ciphertext, or otherwise leaking
| info.
|
| I imagine you have to be really careful not to mess things up
| here.
| zaroth wrote:
| There's no reason for there to be any sharp edges or foot guns.
|
| The "meta-address" published by the receiver has everything in
| it needed to generate a one time address on the sender side,
| and it should all "just work" from a sender's wallet
| perspective once a standard is reached.
|
| There's nothing a sender can do wrong really unless the wallet
| code is broken. On the receiver side the private key will never
| look like an "address" so it would be hard to confuse the two.
| deanCommie wrote:
| > Suppose that Alice wants to send Bob an asset. This could be
| some quantity of cryptocurrency (eg. 1 ETH, 500 RAI), or it could
| be an NFT. When Bob receives the asset, he does not want the
| entire world to know that it was he who got it.
|
| Except we live in a society. Whose cohesion requires us to be
| able to verify that:
|
| * Bob did not receive an asset that Alice previously stole from
| Carol
|
| * If Bob received an asset as income, then he needs to pay a
| portion of it in taxes to continue receiving water, sanitation,
| emergency services, etc.
|
| * The asset Bob received isn't evidence of a crime (such as
| terrorism or child pornography), that while Bob may not have
| committed, his desire to receive it generated the demand that
| incentivized the commission of the crime.
|
| Privacy is important. Don't get me wrong, I am certainly aware
| the same arguments can be made to weaken end to end encryption in
| communication, and things like terrorism & CP are frequently used
| as scare tactics to remove civil liberties and infringe on
| people's privacy.
|
| But it's also important to acknowledge that when building a
| decentralized financial system as folks are keen to do with
| Etherium, you are replacing something that is one of the core
| building blocks of our society.
| upsidesinclude wrote:
| This isnt a good argument.
|
| Something in your brain makes you believe that you _should_
| know what other people are doing.
|
| It is almost funny to read as you point out the logical fallacy
| of your position and then promptly ignore it. Perhaps funny if
| so many people didnt also share your incessant belief that
| other people don't have a _right_ to privacy
| f38zf5vdt wrote:
| When I order a cheeseburger and pay with cash, the clerk is
| always cautious to ensure that the cash I provide wasn't
| previously stolen. After enjoying my meal, I always make sure
| to thoroughly investigate the diner after to ensure that they
| pay their fair share of taxes.
| burnished wrote:
| Granted. What about when you make a transaction over 10k?
| f38zf5vdt wrote:
| $10k today, or in 40 years when that's how much I need to
| pay for a cheeseburger?
| j0hnyl wrote:
| You're right. When I meet a guy off craigslist that wants
| to sell me his car, he needs proof that I didn't steal the
| $12k I'm handing him in an envelope, and then I keep tabs
| on him to make sure he doesn't do anything illegal with the
| money.
| burnished wrote:
| No, but your bank has reporting requirements when you
| want to deposit that money.
| roenxi wrote:
| Technical privacy is fundamentally a difficult technology to
| integrate into the tax system and the systems of financial
| repression that are in vogue.
|
| But there are some fun dots to connect:
|
| - The absolute failure of things like the War on Drugs
|
| - Frequent problems with government enforcement of capital
| controls (eg, China)
|
| - Success of wealthy people in maintaining offshore assets to
| avoid taxation
|
| - It is expensive for government agents to confiscate crypto
| from individuals. Technically it is impossible without their
| cooperation
|
| - It is very expensive to prove that someone is dabbling in
| privacycoins
|
| So even if you are spot on with your concerns, how do you plan
| to stop me using privacy technology? Or anyone else for that
| matter? Ban general purpose computing? That'll hurt you a lot
| more than it helps.
| andrewxdiamond wrote:
| > Bob did not receive an asset that Alice previously stole from
| Carol
|
| Yes like how we have perfect tracking of physical assets today
|
| > If Bob received an asset as income, then he needs to pay a
| portion of it in taxes to continue receiving water, sanitation,
| emergency services, etc.
|
| Yes like how the IRS has perfect tracking of every dollar bill
| in the US
|
| > The asset Bob received isn't evidence of a crime (such as
| terrorism or child pornography), that while Bob may not have
| committed, his desire to receive it generated the demand that
| incentivized the commission of the crime.
|
| Yup. the only way to prevent crime is to violate the privacy of
| every individual on the planet. We should expose everything
| that everyone has ever bought to the public so the government
| can make sure we are behaving.
|
| > you are replacing something that is one of the core building
| blocks of our society.
|
| I agree. Our society is built on the long standing tradition of
| the English Monarchy, and we should avoid changing things that
| fundamental to how we live.
|
| ----
|
| Sarcasm aside, I'm trying to point out that everything you're
| advocating for here is an expansion of government capabilities.
| Governments do not have complete information today, and we are
| better off because of it.
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(page generated 2023-01-23 23:01 UTC)