Transcription

[[Sharon and Trudy debate as Sharon analyzes the "shadowCoin" source code. She has just discovered a hard-coded key that secretly signs every transaction that passes through the system.]]
Trudy: Wait... so this hard-coded key has a toe in every "shadowCoin" transaction?
Sharon: Seems like it. I'm not sure I get why, though...

Trudy: Well, I do. It's the same thing EVERY money exchange service does. It's a transaction fee. Skim a few cents off of thousands or millions of transactions and you're rich.

Sharon: [Dubious] Smith said that, like Bitcoin, "shadowCoin" lets you set a processing fee to speed up transactions, but it's optional.
Trudy: Yeah, but this fee ISN'T. And I'll bet it's not advertised either.

Sharon: [Surprised] Trudy, that's... brilliant.
Trudy: [Closing her eyes and crossing her arms across her chest] I used to be a nefarious criminal mastermind, remember? I'm just ashamed I hadn't thought of it myself.