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> The only way a bad actor can manipulate the ledger is if they own enough nodes to gain a majority, which is virtually impossible. At times the leading BTC mi
by linkregister 9y ago
> The only way a bad actor can manipulate the ledger is if they own enough nodes to gain a majority, which is virtually impossible.
At times the leading BTC mining pool has controlled greater than 50% of the nodes. Would this not be enough to alter the ledger?
- danblick 9y agoYes, you could abuse that power to allow double-spending. For what it's worth, I'd say I'm a bit concerned about this, but it seems many aren't. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14485430 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14485430
- Taek 9y agoNotably, 'altering the ledger' here has a very restricted meaning. You can spend money, then reverse the spend back into your wallet. Or you can commit to a piece of information, then delete it. But you can't alter the core protocol or fundamental network rules. If you do, the other nodes will ignore you.
- kahnpro 9y agoBut this is the fundamental question it's all about... the expectation that the other nodes will ignore you. Somehow "the other nodes" have reached consensus about what protocols or rules to follow, and this is where we end up back at human governance.