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I wonder why this ended up in the front page of HackerNews? It's not news that altcoins are much much easier to attack than the top coin(s). Lesson to learn her

by knocte 7y ago

I wonder why this ended up in the front page of HackerNews? It's not news that altcoins are much much easier to attack than the top coin(s). Lesson to learn here: top coins are not only better due to the network effects (users and developers), they are also better in terms of security (it's much more expensive to carry out an attack in BTC or ETH, for example).

xyst 7y ago
Would it be fair to say altcoins are the “penny stocks” of the cryptocurrency world? Easily subjected to price manipulation and typically the perpetrator doesn’t have to spend too much.
- knocte 7y ago
  I think altcoins are not even penny stocks, they will die soon in the same way there are no other networks these days that try to be the internet. The penny stocks are the Ethereum tokens.
rudolph9 7y ago
When I first read it, I read "Bitcoin Cash" which stuck me as alarming as it's one of the larger ones. But upon further investigation realized that it's "Bitcoin Gold" something I have no recollection of.
- knocte 7y ago
  I don't consider Bitcoin Crash as one of the larger ones (it possibly has less than 5% of BTC's hashpower).
  - bdcravens 7y ago
    As in all things cryptocurrency related, when most people are talking about the biggest coins, they are talking about trading price and volume. You'd do well to frame your discussions about cryptocurrency from the HN perspective, not that of a BTC-enthusiast or -maximist. Using derisive terms like "Bitcoin Crash" really doesn't add to the conversation. Like I said in another comment, this isn't Reddit.
duxup 7y ago
As far as showing up on the front page goes the HN community has shown to have a lot of interest in the strange world of cryptocurrency. I'm not surprised it made it this far.
avip 7y ago
Crypto failures were always well received here. The infamous DAO drainage alone triggered multiple 200+ comments threads.
bdcravens 7y ago
> It's not news that altcoins are much much easier to attack than the top coin(s) Not everyone here is a cryptocurrency enthusiast. The fact that this is even possible is interesting by itself; an instance of it happening even more so. What's not news to you is indeed interesting to someone else. Alas, this isn't Reddit, so the usual "OMG Don't spread FUD!" response doesn't apply here.
hatinthecat 7y ago
You’re assuming all blockchains are created equal. A new smaller blockchain can pop up and provide better security, finality, and the coin could actually be backed by something.
- knocte 7y ago
  hahaha!

by knocte 7y ago

xyst 7y ago

Would it be fair to say altcoins are the “penny stocks” of the cryptocurrency world? Easily subjected to price manipulation and typically the perpetrator doesn’t have to spend too much.

knocte 7y ago
I think altcoins are not even penny stocks, they will die soon in the same way there are no other networks these days that try to be the internet. The penny stocks are the Ethereum tokens.

rudolph9 7y ago

When I first read it, I read "Bitcoin Cash" which stuck me as alarming as it's one of the larger ones. But upon further investigation realized that it's "Bitcoin Gold" something I have no recollection of.

knocte 7y ago
I don't consider Bitcoin Crash as one of the larger ones (it possibly has less than 5% of BTC's hashpower).
- bdcravens 7y ago
  As in all things cryptocurrency related, when most people are talking about the biggest coins, they are talking about trading price and volume. You'd do well to frame your discussions about cryptocurrency from the HN perspective, not that of a BTC-enthusiast or -maximist. Using derisive terms like "Bitcoin Crash" really doesn't add to the conversation. Like I said in another comment, this isn't Reddit.

duxup 7y ago

As far as showing up on the front page goes the HN community has shown to have a lot of interest in the strange world of cryptocurrency. I'm not surprised it made it this far.

avip 7y ago

Crypto failures were always well received here. The infamous DAO drainage alone triggered multiple 200+ comments threads.

bdcravens 7y ago

> It's not news that altcoins are much much easier to attack than the top coin(s) Not everyone here is a cryptocurrency enthusiast. The fact that this is even possible is interesting by itself; an instance of it happening even more so. What's not news to you is indeed interesting to someone else. Alas, this isn't Reddit, so the usual "OMG Don't spread FUD!" response doesn't apply here.

hatinthecat 7y ago

You’re assuming all blockchains are created equal. A new smaller blockchain can pop up and provide better security, finality, and the coin could actually be backed by something.

knocte 7y ago
hahaha!