[bachback]

I strongly believe you vastly underestimate the power that lies in this system. Scripts are in fact one of the most exciting features, although some things have to be figured out yet. How are transactions not "first-class citizens"? That statement makes no sense. In fact the opposite is true. Currently everything is about 1:1 transactions, because higher order protocols have not been build out.

[andrewla]

That the system has power is without doubt. The extent to which the power detracts from the currency aspect of the system is what I question.

When I say that a transaction is not a first-class citizen, I mean things like the fact that the question "I have this address, how many bitcoins do I have" is not really answerable; redeeming existing incoming transactions may rely on information outside of your key pair.

You're correct that as it stands, 1:1 transactions are pretty much all we have to deal with, so long as IsStandard doesn't change. The fact that the script language exists is worrisome, as is the fact that IsStandard only applies to relying of transactions by clients, not transactions in blocks.

[bachback]

Interesting, I don't understand how this should be worrisome - the receiver has to know what kind of transaction he is engaged in. Sending BTC which is not redeemable is the same as sending no money at all. It is exactly analogous to signing a contract. If you don't understand the terms you shouldn't sign it. So a sender might trick the receiver into believing that the contract does something he didn't know. But if you have a network of trust you hope that the sender gets punished for this behavior. Most of these issues haven't been solved yet, but it's a bit like saying the internet is worrisome because its peer to peer. I mean its exactly this part that is the most fascinating about the network. Sending from A to B we can already do with paypal.