4 ms·
Bitcoin uses a SHA-256 hash algo, you definitely don't need specialized hardware to compute SHA-256 hashes. Yes, the competitive miners have ASICs which get you
by fastball 5y ago
Bitcoin uses a SHA-256 hash algo, you definitely don't need specialized hardware to compute SHA-256 hashes. Yes, the competitive miners have ASICs which get you many more hashes per joule, but you can definitely rent hashing power that could 51% attack BTC without renting ASICs, it would just cost you more than if you could easily rent the most competitive hardware (obviously).
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoIts also more hashes per $1. If you are renting general purpose compute to beat ASIC compute you will need like 50x advantage. That's probably more than a single AWS datacenter can provide
- fastball 5y agoI don't disagree, but the idea that you can't use the same methodology to determine a 51% attack price for Bitcoin is just wrong. Indeed, back-of-the-napkin calculation with an order randomly picked from NiceHash[1] for Bitcoin mining and the same methodology gives: Cost (PH/HR): 0.0002625 BTC Bitcoin Network Hashrate (PH/HR): 9M 51% attack for one hour: 4.6M PH => 4.6M * 0.0002625 ~= 1200 BTC So a one-hour long 51% on the bitcoin network would cost $43,200,000 at $36K per BTC, as per a NiceHash rate I randomly selected. [1] https://www.nicehash.com/my/marketplace/SHA256 https://www.nicehash.com/my/marketplace/SHA256
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoBut that number is super misleading - you cant actually get that much compute from nicehash, you would struggle to get that much compute even from aws. You real costs are going to be much higher, it would probably take you more than an hour to spin it all up and execute the attack. I feel realistic number is 10x to 100x higher
- fastball 5y agoRight, you can't get to 51% of the Ethereum network with NiceHash either, but it's still on this website, so...?