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Bitcoin Cash is only protected by the benevolence of the large miners. It is otherwise wide open to a 51% attack.
by nicky0 8y ago
Bitcoin Cash is only protected by the benevolence of the large miners. It is otherwise wide open to a 51% attack.
- stale2002 8y agoSo... Then I guess that means it is safe then right? The whole point of crypto is that you are relying on the fact that 50% of the network is honest. So yes, you are correct that it relies on half the network being "benevolent". That's how ALL cryptos work.
- nicky0 8y agoYou are missing the point. Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash use the same hash algorithm. Bitcoin Cash has about 15% of the total available SHA256 hashpower, and Bitcoin the other 85%. So it only take's a fraction of Bitcoin's miners to turn against Bitcoin Cash to attack it.
- stale2002 8y agoYes, and the Bitcoin network ITSELF can be attacked with a faction of the total hashpower on the Bitcoin network. Specifically, the fraction is 51/100, or 51 percent of the network. This is for the main Bitcoin network. The fraction for Bitcoin cash would be around 15%, or 15/100, expressed as a fraction. The Bitcoin cash network would require a smaller fraction, yes. But this still isn't a huge concern. If it is 3 times easier to attack bitcoin cash, that is still extremely difficult. Fractional hashpower attacks, (51% attacks) are all explained quite clearly in the white paper.