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> there will be a financial incentive to launch a 51% attack on the blockchain Anyone with that computing power will use it to earn transaction fees, not to at
by sowbug 9y ago
> there will be a financial incentive to launch a 51% attack on the blockchain
Anyone with that computing power will use it to earn transaction fees, not to attack Bitcoin by sniping funds through double-spends. If Bitcoin were ever attacked such that transactions were not immutable once confirmed, people would stop using it and the value of Bitcoin would drop. A 51% attack only destroys Bitcoin. There is no financial incentive (at least not in terms of Bitcoin).
(This is in the original white paper.)
- thisisit 9y agoThat is assuming a 51% attack is only about double-spends. There are other attacks which can be done without trying to double spend. Still it this exact belief in math that will become a self fulfilling prophecy and keep bitcoin afloat way past someone executing 51% attack.
- sowbug 9y agoRight, my reply simplified the issue. But generally, it's a fair generalization that if step #1 in taking down Bitcoin is acquiring >50% of mining power, most rational actors will go off-mission and decide that step #2 is mine Bitcoin, not screw with it.