Quote from: tifozi on April 01, 2014, 04:12:55 PM

Quote from: AlexGR on April 01, 2014, 04:04:05 PM

Quote from: eduffield on April 01, 2014, 03:55:07 PM

Quote from: AlexGR on April 01, 2014, 03:41:02 PM

Quote from: eduffield

Darkcoin is meant to fix problems with Bitcoin, not to be CriminalCoin. I'm afraid that if you're trying to hide something from the NSA, we don't want to be involved with that.

Privacy is a human right and it's about time that a coin implemented it. However, if the NSA wants to find out what you're doing, they will. No matter how much you protect it, if someone wants your information bad enough they'll get it.

It's Especially true with Zerocash/Zerocoin and their use of exotic mathematics. I've read through it and it's insanely complicated, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a room full of cryptographers in the NSA ripping it apart already.

I do believe NSA-proofing is a virtually impossible task, since they have control on factors beyond our own code (hardware, networks) but the issue here is this: DarkSend is launched, everything rolls, it's open sourced etc etc. Then another one comes along, takes Dark Send code, implements divide & conquer and then boooom. He claims they have the superior anonymous coin. It's a market weakness for DRK placement right there if it lags behind.

Now, the situation is obviously difficult having to choose one or the other, so I propose this: What if DarkSend had 2 checkboxes, one that is simple "Enable DarkSend" and a further one which activates "Divide and Conquer" for "extra anonymity". I've been thinking about a slide bar actually that enhances the degree of anonymity, with something like 1 to 10 - and increasing parameters like time delay for transaction or laundry depth (multiple laundering) to make it more obfuscated, but maybe it could simply go the Div/Conq way at max setting for the more paranoid about their secrecy.

Why not just offer "rounds" of DarkSend through separate master nodes, i.e:

User 1 -> Change Address 1 (master node 1)
Change Address 1 -> Change Address 2 (master node 2)
Change Address 2 -> Change Address 3 (master node 3)
Change Address 3 -> Change Address 4 (master node 4)
Change Address 4 -> Change Address 5 (master node 5)
Change Address 5 -> Destination (master node 6)

I like it... thing is, from a market perspective, someone can still implement the D&Q and claim that they "solved the inherent problem of darkcoin for trusting master nodes that know who is transacting what". It's just how it goes with altcoins. Other are expecting every weakness to capitalize (and cannibalize the market cap).

Trusting master nodes that are randomly selected for transactions?

For most people, the privacy aspect will be adequately covered. But it's not that hard to imagine the scenario of a potential altcoin adversary spreading FUD about DRK's operation with master nodes in order to promote their "superior" solution and how they "solved the problem".

As I've said, if digital currencies have a worth of 10bn market cap and one percent goes to anonymity, it's 100mn market cap. That's a lot of money right there and it won't be distributed without a fight. If we assume ten percent transition from the transparent to the private/anonymous market, that's one billion. Too much money for "kindness" between market adversaries that are competing for this billion: Every weakness of Darkcoin will be highlighted as to why it shouldn't be the leading anonymous cryptocurrency but rather why some other altcoin should (to get a better position so that more of the flow of money towards the private/anonymous market can end up to them).