[ethbro]

Isn't that the whole security / obscurity point? That true security only comes by being exposed to active, intelligent, informed adversaries for a sufficient amount of time?

Or, another way: each exploit and oops only improves the system, rather than being a signal of its failure.

And let's be honest, the competition is still "Oops, I accidentally sent $900M to the wrong party." [1]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24222045

[Analemma_]

> And let's be honest, the competition is still "Oops, I accidentally sent $900M to the wrong party." [1]

The counterargument there is that Citibank is currently pursuing a resolution in the courts to that issue, and if they win they will get their $900M back. If you flub a DeFi transaction, you're shit outta luck.

[TeMPOraL]

And of course, if cryptocurrencies ever become anything more than Internet play money (and environmental disaster), the legal systems of countries worldwide will make sure the same protections apply. So yes, your newest cryptoanarchist token may have totally irreversible transactions (cross my heart, here's the math proof!), but the court can still order the thief to send back the money they stole in a separate transaction, under threat of prison time. The judge will not care that the relevant "smart contract" prohibits such behavior.

Because that's what real-world security ultimately boils down to: men with guns, ready to drag you where the law tells them to. It's not perfect, but it achieves 99% of the effect at the fraction of a cost of a "trustless" proof-of-work system.

[alkonaut]

Exactly. There is no way I'd ever want to anything remotely important, or remotely high value, on a system that isn't run by humans and with transactions reversible in courts.

Who is it that uses these smart contracts, and for what? Is it mostly a gadget for research and speculation (still)?

[cryptica]

>> each exploit and oops only improves the system

This is not necessarily true. If the system architecture is highly complex and poorly designed, each exploit will result in a patch which will only make the system more complex and more brittle. IMO this is exactly what is happening with Ethereum.