The problem is also the other side of the transaction. Which he talked about too.
My friend is one of the best hackers in the world and he does not share his PGP key. I asked him why she he said he does not trust that people who communicate with him can protect their endpoints. Having a false sense of privacy then makes things worse.
I don't agree, but I can see what he's talking about. You can be doxxed by the people you transact with.
Absolutely. But you can also always find a different counterparty if its a decentralized P2P platform.
of course, I am promoting nostr:npub1mftv2j67vayavkks8rqev3u8jjhefe86tf80msstfxvpunk9vmps6prkl3 heavily and there are other good platforms as well. But that does not remove the problem completely. Say you sold something illegal and dangerous, like unpasteurized milk. The counterparty of the sale was selling heroin. The cops caught him and they want to trace the coins. He does not know your name, but tells them where you met. You wore a mask, right? unfortunately the CCTV recording leads them to your car which you entered after the trade.
It's overblown story, but I'm saying this - don't be fooled that if you don't show your ID, you have privacy. Real privacy is extremely hard. Were you carrying a phone in your pocket? Did you take Uber? Bought a coffee around a corner and paid with card?
Right now this is hard and you have to be a target, but this is getting automated and soon it will be all automatic.
Until all transactions in the world are conducted natively with Bitcoin, decentralized P2P is the best we’ve got. Native Bitcoin adoption will require price stability, and we are easily a decade away from widespread Bitcoin adoption at the mom and pop merchant level.
Platforms like Vexl is good. But they are like Blue Skys and Mastodon before Nostr. We need an open protocol for decentralized exchange. Not a lot of inter-incompatible little silos of centralized P2P solutions.
In particular, Vexl’s starting screen asking for my phone number tho, is not a good sign whatsoever…
The phone number is your web of trust. Vexl doesn’t know your phone number nor does anyone else. Everything happens client side.
