3 ms·
So, the network has generally become much more expensive to fail. It currently employs something like 10x the K computer (Top 1 in the Top 500) worth of compute
by vessenes 15y ago
So, the network has generally become much more expensive to fail. It currently employs something like 10x the K computer (Top 1 in the Top 500) worth of compute. There are probably a few organizations that could get that compute power together for a while, but you'd have to ask 'why?' and 'for what reason?'
If you want to send a lot of money through Bitcoin transactions, I suggest you estimate expected compute cost of subverting the number of validating transactions you are going to wait to secure it, and using that as a baseline.
E.g. subverting 10 transactions in a row with > 50% likelihood (but doing so without anyone noticing, that is, timed appropriately) would take something like 10x the current compute power for about an hour, = close to a million dollars? hundreds of thousands certainly.
Ergo, wait a day for a $1mm bitcoin transaction to clear, and similarly, don't worry about a $500 transaction at all.
- Devilboy 15y agoOnly a million dollars? That means the government can shut down Bitcoin any time it wants.
- erikpukinskis 15y agoExcept that forensics will allow us to identify the fraudulent block chain, and ban all the relate computers. "Shut it down" really just means "force the Bitcoin community to step it up".
- dfc 15y agoHow do you ban all the related computers?
- rmc 15y agoYou can't easily "ban" these things, since it's a decentralised P2P system. The whole point is to prevent anyone (original creators, banks, a government, etc.) from being able to interfer with it. It does mean the system fails like that.
- erikpukinskis 15y agoEveryone is free to ignore whatever block chains they want to. I can refuse to honor blocks built off what I consider fraudulent block chains.
- rmc 15y agoWould you able to trade with people who hadn't ignored those bloc chains?
- rmc 15y agoThe government can already shut it down. They can make laws. There are lots of laws about money laundering and record keeping, and paying taxes that can be used against BitCoin.