Largest Bitcoin Mining Pool Pledges Not To Execute '51% Attack'

Posted by Soulskill on Friday January 10, 2014 @03:15AM from the currency-with-an-option-for-hostile-takeover dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Bitcoin transactions are confirmed by performing complex calculations, also known as 'mining.' If a single mining pool gains 51% of the overall computational power in the network, various forms of transaction manipulation become possible. Only a few years into Bitcoin's existence, this existential threat appears to be at hand, with Bitcoin mining pool ghash.io approaching 51% of mining power. ghash.io has now assured the Bitcoin community in a press release (PDF): 'GHash.IO does not have any intentions to execute a 51% attack, as it will do serious damage to the Bitcoin community, of which we are a part.' But can a network relying on such assurances survive in the long run?"

2 of 351 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Re:So let me get this straight by Sockatume · 2014-01-10 03:33 · Score: 4, Informative

This has nothing to do with the market in bitcoin speculation. It's about the fact that a majority of the cryptographic network (which is what bitcoin miners are) has to concur for a transaction (sending money to someone else) to be considered valid. When you control 51% of the computing power, you can start faking transactions.

--
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Re:If you're concerned... by u38cg · 2014-01-10 04:49 · Score: 5, Informative

Did you feel the whoosh?

--
[FUCK BETA]