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The US Judicial system which tries to flex its "unlimited" reach.

qeternity 5y ago
Do we have reason to believe they don’t have that capability? There are very few who have escaped the long arm of the DOJ.
- russian-hacker 5y ago
  That you know of.
edgyquant 5y ago
I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that their reach kind of is. If sanctioned the US government could almost certainly 51% attack any given crypto and redirect funds to whoever they want. This isn’t what happened but it’s laughable to think the US government isn’t capable of tracking down the account and seizing coins.
- tracedddd 5y ago
  I doubt they could 51% Bitcoin with any sort of haste. Perhaps with a few year plan. Simply put it’s a procurement issue. There are limited ASICS and they are distributed among many operators, mostly foreign. There aren’t massive ASIC stockpiles in the US just waiting to be purchased. A government 51% attack would probably involve doing a private chip run.
  - fomine3 5y ago
    Also even if 51% attack is succeeded, then BTC price would crash so victim can't collect original $.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > I doubt they could 51% Bitcoin with any sort of haste. From when they planned for the capacity, probably not. But how do we, at any time, know that hasn’t happened in the past? > A government 51% attack would probably involve doing a private chip run. Sure, and when that classified capacity is acquired via, say, the NSA’s black budget, we’ll all know before (or, heck, even after, until they decide to something disruptive with it) they decide to light up the capacity...how? OTOH, any attack won’t just be to redirect funds, because that can’t be done without broader disruption that would make it pointless for that purpose.
- paulpauper 5y ago
  then the hackers would just send a little bit at a time in case it gets intercepted
  - edgyquant 5y ago
    It was just an example. If the US government is dead set on hurting you they can and will; that’s my point.
kolinko 5y ago
„ If sanctioned the US government could almost certainly 51% attack any given crypto and redirect funds to whoever they want” 51% attacks don’t allow for withdrawing funds from an account - only for rolling back recent transactions
- dannyw 5y ago
  Most mining takes place in China, so no, they can't do anything.

Do we have reason to believe they don’t have that capability? There are very few who have escaped the long arm of the DOJ.

russian-hacker 5y ago
That you know of.

edgyquant 5y ago

I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that their reach kind of is. If sanctioned the US government could almost certainly 51% attack any given crypto and redirect funds to whoever they want. This isn’t what happened but it’s laughable to think the US government isn’t capable of tracking down the account and seizing coins.

tracedddd 5y ago
I doubt they could 51% Bitcoin with any sort of haste. Perhaps with a few year plan. Simply put it’s a procurement issue. There are limited ASICS and they are distributed among many operators, mostly foreign. There aren’t massive ASIC stockpiles in the US just waiting to be purchased. A government 51% attack would probably involve doing a private chip run.
- fomine3 5y ago
  Also even if 51% attack is succeeded, then BTC price would crash so victim can't collect original $.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > I doubt they could 51% Bitcoin with any sort of haste. From when they planned for the capacity, probably not. But how do we, at any time, know that hasn’t happened in the past? > A government 51% attack would probably involve doing a private chip run. Sure, and when that classified capacity is acquired via, say, the NSA’s black budget, we’ll all know before (or, heck, even after, until they decide to something disruptive with it) they decide to light up the capacity...how? OTOH, any attack won’t just be to redirect funds, because that can’t be done without broader disruption that would make it pointless for that purpose.
paulpauper 5y ago
then the hackers would just send a little bit at a time in case it gets intercepted
- edgyquant 5y ago
  It was just an example. If the US government is dead set on hurting you they can and will; that’s my point.

kolinko 5y ago

„ If sanctioned the US government could almost certainly 51% attack any given crypto and redirect funds to whoever they want” 51% attacks don’t allow for withdrawing funds from an account - only for rolling back recent transactions

dannyw 5y ago
Most mining takes place in China, so no, they can't do anything.