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Researchers Locate Flaw In Bitcoin Protocol

Posted by Unknown on from the path-of-least-information dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at Microsoft Research and Cornell identified a potential flaw in Bitcoin's transaction propagation. In a recent paper they show how miner nodes in the Bitcoin network have an incentive not to relay transactions to the rest of the network, and propose to implement a scheme that rewards nodes [PDF] for relaying messages."

2 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. summary by petermgreen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If a LARGE proportion of bitcoin nodes are run by assholes who refuse to distribute transactions then the network may fall apart.

    This system seems to add a lot of complexity to solve something that has not proven a problem.

    --
    note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  2. Re:And what's the Bitcoin Forums response? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    when you wrote "denial" did you mean "in a discussion involving several dozen people, one participant denied the existence of the problem while everyone else discussed whether the flaw is a practical problem or how it could be solved"?

    Understandable typo, the keys are right next to each other.