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UkoeHB
Mechanics-of-MobileCoin
TeX2021–2022
UkoeHB / Mechanics-of-MobileCoin

Mechanics-of-MobileCoin

Technical exploration of the MobileCoin cryptocurrency

Finance & Commerce
Explore on GitHubRead Hacker News discussions
6Distinct people
10Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
29GitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

Technical exploration of the MobileCoin cryptocurrency

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use has been verified yet.

What people are saying

No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 5:04:57 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by month10 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2021-04-06 16:28:09 UTC to 2022-02-25 10:34:21 UTC.

02468102021-04-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-05-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 9 mentions; 0 submissions, 9 commentsApr 20212021-05-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-06-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2021-06-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-07-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2021-07-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-08-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2021-08-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-09-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2021-09-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-10-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 commentsSep 20212021-10-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-11-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2021-11-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-12-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2021-12-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-02-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2022-02-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-03-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 commentsFeb 2022

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
Apr 20212021-04-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-05-01 00:00:00 UTC909
May 20212021-05-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-06-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Jun 20212021-06-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-07-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Jul 20212021-07-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-08-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Aug 20212021-08-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-09-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Sep 20212021-09-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-10-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Oct 20212021-10-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-11-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Nov 20212021-11-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-12-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Dec 20212021-12-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Jan 20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-02-01 00:00:00 UTC000
Feb 20222022-02-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-03-01 00:00:00 UTC101

What Hacker News says

10 sources
rvz·Feb 25, 2022
Exactly. Moxie is right. Telegram isn't secure by default. Signal is the way for tons of dark net criminals, terrorists and extremists to use it to conduct their activities without seeing any side of the conversation, thanks to E2EE which that is a known double-edged sword by many. [0] The real problem is what Moxie doesn't want to tell you is that they want to release a private untraceable cryptocurrency called MobileCoin [1], which not only the majority of the coins are owned by the founders. [2][3] so basically orchestrating a pump-and-dump, this coin (like Monero) enables these dark net criminals, scammers and extremists to fund their operations anywhere in the world and it is totally untraceable. Now I see why Moxie is out there hyping the Signal / MobileCoin pump-and-dump scheme again? [0] https://www.theverge.com/22872133/signal-cr
Read the rest
yptocurrency-paym... [1] https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360057625692-In... [2] https://mixin.one/assets/MobileCoin-Whitepaper-EN_FINAL.pdf [3] https://github.com/UkoeHB/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin/blob/maste...
In Telegram, the most popular messenger in urban Ukraine is by default plaintext db
tw04·Apr 7, 2021
https://github.com/UkoeHB/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin The protocol isn't based on mining, and they have a finite supply of 250m coins which they won't disclose the distribution of other than to try to assure everyone to not be concerned: https://community.mobilecoin.foundation/t/mobilecoin-distrib... They fact they can't even disclose coin distribution but Signal is already integrating it is both shocking and extremely concerning for the future of Signal. I seriously question what Moxie was thinking unless this is just a money grab for him.
In Et Tu, Signal?
Shank·Apr 7, 2021
Hi Josh! Why does nothing, in plain English, explain why MobileCoin should be used over another decentralized digital currency that exists? For example, if I look at your GitHub [0], the first FAQ item is about Intel SGX, and the overview is just...a blockchain overview. Why does it make sense to integrate MobileCoin into anything? Why not use Monero or zCash? Sure, you can definitely explain this to me, but nothing explains that to general people on your GitHub page. Same thing on your foundation page, which simply has logos and "Private Payments for everyone" [1]. I've spent a lot of time working on blockchain and perceptually, it feels like you're trying to sell snake oil here. For example, the mechanics paper [2] starts with "Cryptography. It may seem like only mathematicians and computer scientists have access to this obscure, esoter
Read the rest
ic, powerful, elegant topic." Cryptography is a tool. What's obscure about it? People are using it right this second. Why is it esoteric? The paper then continues with a brief overview of 'blockchains' (why the scare quotes?). In the same paragraph, it states that the purpose of blockchains is that "no piece of money can be duplicated or created at will" but this is only one of many points of the entire point of a blockchain. Why does it not explore other facets of blockchains if the goal is to be introductory? Then, in the fifth paragraph, the paper remembers that people may not be reading this for the first time with no experience, and suddenly jumps up to 11, with this paragraph. Note, this paragraph is one single 91-word jargon-filled sentence: > MobileCoin is a standard one-dimensional directed acyclic graph (DAG) cryptocurrency blockchain, where blocks are consensuated with an implementation of the Stellar Consensus Protocol, transactions are validated in SGX secure enclaves and are based on elliptic curve cryptography using the Ristretto abstraction on curve E25519, transaction inputs are shown to exist in the blockchain with Merkle proofs of membership and are signed with Schnorr-style multilayered linkable spontaneous anonymous group signatures (MLSAG), and output amounts (communicated to recipients via ECDH) are concealed with Pedersen commitments and proven in a legitimate range with Bulletproofs. While I want to assume good faith here, I find that the blockchain community often has a history of attempting to "smooth over problems" with lots of jargon and hoping for the best. This sentence, when run through Hemingway [3], gives it a post-graduate reading level. But that's not anything about the cryptography: the paragraph/sentence is simply unreadable to most people. It serves no purpose in the middle of this section. While I'm sure you'll mention that this is a preview document, you're pointing people to it as the primary resource for people to learn "how the whole thing fits together." Other warning signs that make me wary are everywhere. The foundation about page has the Intel, Azure, and IBM logos under a "powered by" footer [4]. The meaning is ambiguous, and the intent is clear: you want to use these big tech company logos, because they're recognized. Yet, this is the exact same thing companies do when they're sponsored by other companies. To the untrained eye, these are indistinguishable things. Is MobileCoin sponsored by Intel, IBM, or Azure? If not, you should remove the logos. It feels like a "trust play." You're not linking to any sites or providing any information as to your relationships with these companies, but it seems like you just have cloud services with Azure and IBM, and use Intel SGX. There's a typo on the "Foundation Trusted Nodes" page (two words slammed together): "MobileCoin Consensus is built on trust relationships between individuals and organizations who are running MobileCoin Consensus Validator Nodes.Determining" [5]. So, I suppose, if I had a question, it's: why, in all of this documentation and all of the websites that you've linked to, is there not a single "you should use MobileCoin over Monero and zCash because of ..." comparison? Why does it seem more like it's interested in propping itself up and being trustworthy, rather than conveying details about how it's superior to its competition for mobile payments? [0]: https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/mobilecoin [1]: https://www.mobilecoin.foundation/ & https://archive.is/ktf3o [2]: https://github.com/UkoeHB/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin/blob/maste... (archive: https://files.catbox.moe/1wal8z.pdf) [3]: https://hemingwayapp.com/ [4]: https://www.mobilecoin.foundation/about & https://archive.is/JNDbG [5]: https://www.mobilecoin.foundation/foundation-trusted-nodes & https://archive.is/Pr868
In Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
hiq·Apr 6, 2021
Hi, I still have to read the docs more thoroughly, but given that these HN threads die out quickly, I'd rather ask now that I have the chance, so forgive me if some of these are answered in the docs: 1. how does MobileCoin make money? 2. how many coins do you / does MobileCoin own? 3. related to that, are there mechanisms in place to prove that this is not a pump and dump? Or simply, how do I know it's not one and it's here for the long-term? 4. what's the threat model of the blockchain you're using? E.g. for Bitcoin, the chain is compromised once 51% of the hashing rate belongs to collaborative evil miners (as a rough approximation). What about MobileCoin? When would something bad happen? How is it prevented? 5. how does MobileCoin compare with privacy-oriented cryptocurrencies such as Monero? P.S.: you might wanna add a F.A.Q. section s
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omewhere for the questions I've mentioned and the others in this HN thread, right now we either have to blindly trust the claims on https://www.mobilecoin.com/ or going through the 133 pages of https://github.com/UkoeHB/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin, there should be some intermediate tech documentation (or does it exist already?)
In Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency
josh2600·Apr 6, 2021
{Today's Wired article for context: https://www.wired.com/story/signal-mobilecoin-payments-messa...} Hi! I'm the CEO of MobileCoin. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask here. We've been working on this project for four years and it has been a labor of love. There's a lot of new technology here. We exist in a highly regulated space so it's possible some questions will require reaching out to lawyers to make sure we answer them in a way that's compliant so please don't feel offended if a response takes a while to come back. The best set of docs for how the whole thing fits together is our book "The Mechanics of MobileCoin"[0]. We'll be around here and on our forums [1] to answer questions. Please also check out our foundation website[2]. The github[3] is also a lot of fun, especially the section on Fog[4]. [0]https://github.c
Read the rest
om/UkoeHB/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin/blob/maste... [1]https://community.mobilecoin.foundation [2]https://mobilecoin.foundation [3]https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/mobilecoin [4]https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/fog
In Help us test payments in Signal
josh2600·Apr 6, 2021
Hi! I'm the CEO of MobileCoin. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask here. We've been working on this project for four years and it has been a labor of love. There's a lot of new technology here. We exist in a highly regulated space so it's possible some questions will require reaching out to lawyers to make sure we answer them in a way that's compliant so please don't feel offended if a response takes a while to come back. The best set of docs for how the whole thing fits together is our book "The Mechanics of MobileCoin"[0]. We'll be around here and on our forums [1] to answer questions. Please also check out our foundation website[2]. The github[3] is also a lot of fun, especially the section on Fog[4]. [0]https://github.com/UkoeHB/Mechanics-of-MobileCoin/blob/maste... [1]https://community.mobilecoin.foundation [2]https:/
Read the rest
/mobilecoin.foundation [3]https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/mobilecoin [4]https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/fog
In Signal adds a payments feature with a privacy-focused cryptocurrency

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