3 ms·

Alright, I'll bite. Why did the attacker mine primecoin (rather than bitcoin, or any of a dozen other cryptocurrencies)?

• timpattinson 13y ago
  Because primecoin is easier to mine because of the difficulty rate
  • vbuterin 13y ago
    More precisely, Bitcoin mining is dominated by specialized hardware (ASICs), so non-specialized computers have almost zero impact or revenue potential in the Bitcoin network. Litecoin and Primecoin are less ASIC-friendly, so ordinary computers stand a better chance at actually finding a block because they don't have the massively overpowered competition.
    • brownbat 13y ago
      I guess the better question is why not Litecoin. Or if you're going for something really obscure, why not Junkcoin? I guess PrimeCoin is in 6th in capitalization... maybe it's in that sweet spot of not overly competitive but still capable of retaining some value: http://coinmarketcap.com/ http://coinmarketcap.com/