The Farmer and the Mac

This is a 2020 story which centers on a Missouri based farmer named “Samantha”, who seems to have lost $100,000 worth of Bitcoin. Allegedly, she came across this fortune after trying to order some medicine overseas in Europe for her animals. Oddly, before the medicine could get shipped to the US, it became illegal to import. The seller, who found it challenging to give a refund in USD asked if he could give a refund in Bitcoin, instead; to which, she accepted. Sadly, she didn’t pay much attention to what she had until it was too late. One iMac, 5 email addresses, 3 USB drives and one external hard drive later, the golden key to access the Bitcoin is still to be found. You can follow this ongoing mystery, and get a more in-depth view of the recovery process at the link below:

“The Rodfather” Clifton Collins

This wild story takes place in Dublin, Ireland. A beekeeper turned drug dealer, Clifton Collins, amassed a fortune of 6,000 Bitcoin (€55 million at the time) over the course of his enterprise. Unfortunately after he was arrested in 2017 for possession of the devil’s lettuce, a group of nefarious thieves broke into his rented home. His landlord also allowed for his belongings to be cleared out and taken to the dump to be incinerated in Germany and China. It’s assumed that his fishing rod case, containing the A4 paper with his private keys, probably got lost in the mix since it hasn’t been found. Collins seems to have made peace with this loss though as he sees it as a punishment for his actions. Check out the full story below:

Saved by the Stay

Our last story is a tale of hope and glory so you don’t feel completely hopeless. An unnamed man placed his private keys into an encrypted file, storing the access to his $300,000 BTC fortune. I’m sure you can guess what happened next. Say it with me everyone! He forgot his password. Usually the story would end there, but with the help of a specialized cryptographer named Mike Stay, he was able to recover the funds and break the encryption. There was a catch though, it would cost 100,000 bucks and take a year to break the encryption. Our guy in question took the risk however, since he knew it would be worth it in the end. Full story below:

On average how much Bitcoin do you think gets lost every day? Now that people know the value of Bitcoin, it’s probably not as high a number as it was before. Keys still get lost with other circumstances of course, such as death and Bitcoin being sent to the wrong address from time to time. All we can advise is that you keep those keys safe so you don’t end up sharing the misfortune of these unlucky few.

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I hear your shock and awe through the screen. What is this WabiSabi protocol you ask? It’s an amazing new feature that will come as part of our 2.0 launch. It will basically make CoinJoin transactions with the help of a coordinator. The main idea behind it is that it can’t deanonymize you or steal your money, despite the fact that the CoinJoin is being operated by a coordinator.

It brings privacy to Bitcoin, and makes it so people cannot see your prior transactions. A welcome side effect to this is that it will in turn, save you from losing any of those precious bitcoins you’ve been hodling. It also means automatic CoinJoin transactions (the crowd goes wild!)!

It’s also important to note that there is no point in time where the coordinator will be able to steal your money as they will never know who is who during the transaction.

How does WabiSabi help us achieve privacy in those transactions? Well, there are some components that make sure it runs as smoothly as possible:

Zero knowledge proof system:

This is where one person can prove to another that they know what amount is meant to be sent, without really having to prove anything aside from that.

The keyed-verification anonymous credentials:

With this, the coordinator can confirm which amount was paid when the sum of the coinjoin is broken down, without being able to tell who paid it.

Tor circuits:

This allows users to connect to the coordinator anonymously.

Lastly, serial numbers are used to prevent double spending as well as helping to ensure the correct input and output values are going to the right location without showing the exact amount.

If you’d like to see an analogy further explaining how it all works, here’s a helpful link on our GitHub: https://github.com/zkSNACKs/WabiSabi/blob/master/explainer.md

There’s certainly lots to look forward to with the impending 2.0 launch and we can’t wait to share this and the other amazing things we’ve created to protect your privacy and ease the transaction process.

WabiSabi’s definition should be clearer now.

The post What is Wabi-Sabi? appeared first on Wasabi Wallet - Blog.

So you’ve finally taken the leap and invested in Bitcoin. Congrats! I’m sure you’re excited to jump into the incredibly engaging community surrounding cryptocurrency. Whether you’re a rookie or a veteran at trading, the online space surrounding Bitcoin can feel a bit like the jungle. There are some questions that come up constantly which can make even the best of us cringe. Here are our top 3 questions that should be avoided in the online Bitcoin community, and 3 things you can say instead to easily fit in (like, totally!)

1. How much Bitcoin do you have?

If you’ve been around the community long enough this one should be a no brainer, right? However this question is still commonly asked in forums and on various social media platforms. How much Bitcoin someone has is just as private as other pieces of information dealing with personal finance. For those who have asked this question before and don’t see the problem, it would be like asking how much money a person has in their bank account right now, or if they keep jewelry at home. Sounds shady now, doesn’t it?

Instead, feel free to ask: When did you start your Bitcoin journey?

This makes it less about numbers and can help highlight the decisions people made that got them to where they are today.

2. So what do you think Bitcoin will become in (x amount) years?

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck? Just like any other investment, it’s impossible to know exactly how things will go. Everyone is going to have their own take and every year people take on new ideas about what they think Bitcoin is and will be. Trust your gut and don’t invest any more than you can afford to lose in order to avoid any anxiety.

Instead, ask: How do you stay prepared for any changes that may happen with Bitcoin over time?

This allows others to share their ideas of how things might change without being definitive, as well as provide insight into decisions that might be helpful to you. Take what resonates and leave the rest.

3. When are we going to know who created bitcoin?

I can answer this one right away, we’ll probably never really know the real person/people behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. However, it sure is fun to see the conspiracies behind who they could be. This one isn’t as bad a question as it is asked all over the place, a quick google search should clear that question right up.

Instead, ask: Nothing, simply devote a minute of silence every day in respect to the legend that is Satoshi.

Now that you’re fully caught up on the dos and don’ts, you’ll certainly be amongst the community’s coolest in no time, or at least won’t earn as many eye rolls.

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