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lxgr • yesterday at 7:44 PM • 1 reply • view on HN

It’s not always a choice. If value has been transferred onwards (ultimately in the form of e.g. cash withdrawn or something equally hard to trace, like physical goods handed over to a buyer), simply “undoing all transactions in a database” isn’t without victims either.

Whether undoing transactions or not is an option strongly depends on how fast value is allowed to move. Sometimes being slow is a feature as much as it is a bug.


Replies

Lichtso • yesterday at 7:55 PM

> Whether undoing transactions or not is an option strongly depends on how fast value is allowed to move. Sometimes being slow is a feature as much as it is a bug.

Exactly, that is my point. It is less about reversibility and more so about speed. Being slow can be an advantage (for security).