Cryptography experts are already laughing at ‘Facebook Coin’

Facebook’s rumored cryptocurrency project hasn’t even launched, and yet it’s already a punchline for the tens of thousands of security professionals, cryptographers, and researchers gathered at the annual RSA conference. 

On March 5, in the San Francisco Moscone Center, the hotly anticipated Cryptographers’ Panel met to discuss the future of cryptography, the internet, and e-commerce. Of course cryptocurrency came up, with a mention of the so-called Facebook Coin drawing perhaps the biggest laugh of the talk. 

Speaking of the problems inherent in putting even great research ideas into practice, panelist and cryptography expert Paul Kocher (known for, among other things, co-discovering Spectre) told attendees that the blockchain only makes things trickier. 

“[The] idea of combining Bitcoin’s theft mitigation and Facebook’s privacy seems particularly toxic for users.”

“When you add the froth of blockchain into there, these just sort of things that seem crazy just keep amplifying,” he explained. “I think the latest one that I saw is one where you can take Bitcoin where you can lose your money, Facebook you can lose your privacy, and now t