<p>A transaction that steals money looks exactly the same as a transaction that sends money from one person to another. They are exactly the same thing, just that the person who initiated the transactions are different. The Bitcoin network does not know and cannot distinguish between a theft transaction and a normal transaction since they are exactly identical. Furthermore, the idea of identities don't really exist; there is no way to identify that an address is a thief's just by looking at the blockchain alone (which is all that nodes have access to).</p>

<p>Because the transaction is perfectly valid and no one except for the owner of the wallet and the thief know that the transaction was actually one that stole Bitcoin, the transaction will be propagated through the Bitcoin network by full nodes and included in blocks by miners. There is no central authority that can issue a stop nor is there a way for anyone else to know that a transaction pertains to a theft.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-11T16:16:29.877Z
2018-05-11T16:16:29.877Z
Ava Chow
<p>There is no trusted third-party or intermediary in Bitcoin. The transactions do contain the source and destination addresses (although the description is poor considering what actually happens), however, who will issue a stop? Who will authorise a stop once it has been issued? In the case of banks, fiat and, international transfers there are central authorities that perform these tasks but, Bitcoin is trustless and there are no such parties.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-12T16:56:14.177Z
Very good commenst. Clarify my concept. Will think some ways in this perspective. I am planning few ICO. It seems BTC/ETH having a lot of features to develop other than speed enhancement (as in LIGHTNING NETWORK).
Daniel Ng
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-11T12:02:34.110Z
2018-05-11T12:02:34.110Z
Willtech
<p>As I know, most BTC hacking happens at digital wallet (but in blocks). I believe the hacker use normal BTC transaction to transfer those stolen BTC to other block addresses. Why can't we stop the transaction like the SWIFT system does? All blocks should contain the original and source addresses. Is it because of miners doing the Merkle Tree verification to anonymously verify all executed BTC transactions mechanically and all nodes in BTC have to honor executed BTC transaction?</p>

<transaction-verification><decentralization>
Why can't Bitcoin transactions be stopped like SWIFT transfers?
Daniel Ng
# Why can't Bitcoin transactions be stopped like SWIFT transfers?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-05-11)

As I know, most BTC hacking happens at digital wallet (but in blocks). I believe the hacker use normal BTC transaction to transfer those stolen BTC to other block addresses. Why can't we stop the transaction like the SWIFT system does? All blocks should contain the original and source addresses. Is it because of miners doing the Merkle Tree verification to anonymously verify all executed BTC transactions mechanically and all nodes in BTC have to honor executed BTC transaction?

**Tags:** transaction-verification, decentralization


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-05-11. Score: 4

A transaction that steals money looks exactly the same as a transaction that sends money from one person to another. They are exactly the same thing, just that the person who initiated the transactions are different. The Bitcoin network does not know and cannot distinguish between a theft transaction and a normal transaction since they are exactly identical. Furthermore, the idea of identities don't really exist; there is no way to identify that an address is a thief's just by looking at the blockchain alone (which is all that nodes have access to).

Because the transaction is perfectly valid and no one except for the owner of the wallet and the thief know that the transaction was actually one that stole Bitcoin, the transaction will be propagated through the Bitcoin network by full nodes and included in blocks by miners. There is no central authority that can issue a stop nor is there a way for anyone else to know that a transaction pertains to a theft.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-05-11. Score: 3

There is no trusted third-party or intermediary in Bitcoin. The transactions do contain the source and destination addresses (although the description is poor considering what actually happens), however, who will issue a stop? Who will authorise a stop once it has been issued? In the case of banks, fiat and, international transfers there are central authorities that perform these tasks but, Bitcoin is trustless and there are no such parties.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Very good commenst. Clarify my concept. Will think some ways in this perspective. I am planning few ICO. It seems BTC/ETH having a lot of features to develop other than speed enhancement (as in LIGHTNING NETWORK).  

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