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The 51% attack is a big flaw with blockchains, but it goes away when the network becomes sufficiently large, with enough hash power distributed to different act
by CoryG89 10y ago
The 51% attack is a big flaw with blockchains, but it goes away when the network becomes sufficiently large, with enough hash power distributed to different actors. If you can trust that it would be near impossible for a single actor (or group) to gain 51%, then there is no need to trust any individual actor.
The issue, as demonstrated by this event, is that it is difficult for a new coin to get enough momentum going at the beginning. There is a lot of research going into figuring out the best way to bootstrap new blockchains. Personally, I think this problem will be solved sooner or later.
- vegabook 10y ago...it goes away as momentum builds and everyone gets interested...and then it comes roaring right back as the economics of mining favour concentration.
- CoryG89 10y agoI agree, that is why another area of interest is figuring out a way to discourage or eliminate mining pools. Both this and bootstrapping are discussed at length in this free book from Princeton: https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2016/02/09/the-princeton-bitcoin-textbook-is-now-freely-available/ https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2016/02/09/the-princeton-bitco...
- CJefferson 10y agoBitcoin is coming close to having a 51% problem (3 mining groups could join together to get 51%). At recent points in the past 2 groups have been able to hit 51%. If bitcoin isn't big enough for 51% to be a serious possibility, who is?
- CoryG89 10y agoRight, mining pools are an issue. If the hash power isn't sufficiently distributed then your guarantees go away. That is why some people are doing research in that area to discourage or eliminate mining pools. I read about most of this from the following draft textbook from Princeton https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2016/02/09/the-princeton-bitcoin-textbook-is-now-freely-available/ https://freedom-to-tinker.com/2016/02/09/the-princeton-bitco...
- exelius 10y agoAh; but the way that mining is incentivized makes mining pools almost required to spread out the risk sufficiently as the amount of discoverable blocks shrink over time. IMO this is the critical flaw in any cryptocurrency. Hell, it's the entire reason we don't elect our politicians directly: sometimes a thin majority has intentions that directly endanger the whole. You need some out-of-band checks and balances to protect against bad actors and moral hazard or else people will never adopt the system in large numbers.