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Bitcoin Snafu Causes Miners To Generate Invalid Blocks
An anonymous reader writes: A notice at bitcoin.org warns users of the cryptocurrency that many miners are currently generating invalid blocks. The cause seems to be out-of-date software, and software that assumed blocks were valid instead of checking them. They explain further "For several months, an increasing amount of mining hash rate has been signaling its intent to begin enforcing BIP66 strict DER signatures. As part of the BIP66 rules, once 950 of the last 1,000 blocks were version 3 (v3) blocks, all upgraded miners would reject version 2 (v2) blocks. Early morning UTC on 4 July 2015, the 950/1000 (95%) threshold was reached. Shortly thereafter, a small miner (part of the non-upgraded 5%) mined an invalid block--as was an expected occurrence. Unfortunately, it turned out that roughly half the network hash rate was mining without fully validating blocks (called SPV mining), and built new blocks on top of that invalid block. Note that the roughly 50% of the network that was SPV mining had explicitly indicated that they would enforce the BIP66 rules. By not doing so, several large miners have lost over $50,000 dollars worth of mining income so far."
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On the bitcoin.org website: "WARNING: many wallets currently vulnerable to double-spending of confirmed transactions."
Offhand, I'd consider that a significant "compromise", given that vulnerability to double-spending dramatically undermines confidence in using Bitcoin. If this situation continues for any length of time, you can just about guarantee that the bad guys will begin to exploit it.
Very close to zero. Bitcoins are mined where power is cheapest, which means where there is plenty of hydropower, like in Iceland and the US Pacific Northwest. It is not cost effective to mine bitcoins using electricity from FFs.
Bullshit. Give us one shred of evidence that this is happening. Anyone involved in bitcoin mining isn't one bit interested in environmental issues, and coal is still the cheapest form of energy.
It works like this: Say the banks are allowed to lend 90% of the money that is deposited, and have to keep 10% of it. Then Alice deposits $1,000. This means that the banks lend out $10,000 since they had to keep 10% of the money. If the government wanted to create money, rather than bothering with silly printing presses at the mint, they could declare that banks could lend 95% of the money deposited. Then if Alice deposits $1,000, the banks could lend out $20,000.
Now, you might have noticed my numbers aren't quite what you expected. Well, it works like this (when the banks lend 90% of a deposit). Alice deposits $1,000. Then Bob borrows $900, and deposits it in a bank. Then Charlie borrows $810, and deposits it. Then Dylan borrows $729, and deposits it... By the time everyone is done borrowing, depositing, and lending, 10 dollars have been lent for every 1 deposited. Of course, in reality only some of the borrowed money gets deposited immediately -- some of the money gets spent and put in a bank, and some gets kept around in wallets or under a mattress. But yeah, most of the money people "have" is in fact created out of thin air, not even paper.
Just don't ask what happens when too many people want to withdraw their money from the bank.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
How many bitcoin banks have decided to cut and run at this point?
The best part about bitcoin is that there's no takebacks or market controls. Meaning when you get scammed like happens so often, your money is GONE. Definitely the currency of the future, better than credit cards with all those shitty government and business protections. Obviously the wild west mentality is better than anything with protections.
"Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try." -Homer Simpson
How many bitcoin banks have decided to cut and run at this point?
Bitcoin is cash. What you call a "bitcoin bank" is really just a "bitcoin wallet" in somebody else's possession, and it is about as safe as trusting somebody with a wallet full of cash.
The closest thing to a bitcoin wallet involving a bank is putting cash in a safe deposit box. If you do that in the US it isn't protected by the FDIC. If you want to be protected by banking regulations you have to deposit your money.
Bitcoin was never designed around letting others hold your money. The design was really for individuals to hold their own money.