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by ohmygodel 2812 days ago
> Tech alone is never enough for anything like what we are doing.

You'd be surprised how far you can get. For example, protocol design exist that provide strong message anonymity: mixnets, DC-nets, and secure multiparty computation (MPC). Tor is great at its goals, but it accepts weaker security for low latency that Brave doesn't need. Tor is also unfortunately blocked in many companies and countries by technology and/or policy. Mixnets are freely available [0]. MPC is sold commercially [1]. (I have no personal or professional connection to either project.)

> On road, will get you links to code for randomizing time between ANONIZE sessions as soon as I can.

Looking forward to it.

Many thanks for the serious engagement. I look forward to recommending Brave to my friends and colleagues in the not-distant future!

[0] <https://katzenpost.mixnetworks.org> [1] <https://www.unboundtech.com/>
2 comments
BrendanEich 2812 days ago
Here's a non-tech issue that already causes some idealists to scorn us: most publishers want to be paid in fiat. That means AML/KYC/anti-sanction-list/etc. Pretty unideal but we are not waiting for others to achieve Utopia. We want to help creators get users funding them sooner, and while some take crypto, most (esp. of size) want fiat.
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ohmygodel 2812 days ago
Honestly, I don't know why you need a blockchain in the first place. Just run your own accounting servers, which you already are doing for the Anonize ballots. It is certainly possible to take in money from identified (i.e. non-anonymous) users and pay out money to identified publishers without being able to determine which users are responsible for which payments to the publishers. However, I also don't see any problem with using Ethereum for transferring money.
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BrendanEich 2812 days ago
Oh, that q ("why you need a blockchain") is easy. Fiat only would require us to be an MSB or MTA, heavy licensing lift and no ability to grant users for free from the user growth pool we precreated before the BAT sale. The user growth pool is the number one reason in my view.

Also we like macro-auditability from funding wallet to omnibus settlement, to show we took the %ages we promised.

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BrendanEich 2812 days ago
BTW I'm aware of mixnets, talking to Harry Halpin and others, but also cautious about new tech. Will look at your refs, thx.
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