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As far as I can tell, for most users a 51% would at worst look like their transaction didn't "go through". This is because wallet software waits for the system
by jerry1979 4y ago
As far as I can tell, for most users a 51% would at worst look like their transaction didn't "go through". This is because wallet software waits for the system to mine a certain number of blocks before showing the final wallet balance. A 51% attack that is 1 block deep may actually be a good thing for bitcoin because it would cement the idea of needing to wait for confirmations in the minds of users. In this way, 51% attacks do not kill bitcoin, but instead the attack simply makes the network appear as though it is moving more slowly than it used to because users would need to wait for more confirmations.
- lisper 4y agoNo, it's much worse than that. The nightmare scenario for most people is thinking that a transaction for which they are the recipient did go through and then later have it turn out that it didn't, and the money actually went somewhere else. Because of this, the net effect of a 51% attack would be to very quickly destroy confidence in the system for the duration of the attack (at least).