Author: Jeremy Spilman 2013-12-31 07:28:10
Published on: 2013-12-31T07:28:10+00:00
Merge mining allows Bitcoin miners to support or attack an altcoin with no additional cost for their proof-of-work. The percentage of Bitcoin hashing power reflected towards the altcoin will depend on its adoption rate and convincing Bitcoin miners to opt-in. However, even with less than 51% of total Bitcoin hashing power, an attacker can conduct a 51% attack on the altcoin, based on where it is on the adoption curve. It is argued that not supporting merge-mining may not necessarily be better since there are large amounts of hashing power available that can be deployed on target at zero startup cost, and perhaps very little runtime cost such as botnets. It is unlikely that the absolute cost of PoW would prevent a 51% attack on most blockchains currently in existence, and the question here is mostly a matter of game theory.Luke-Jr argues that using merge-mining as a red flag is not entirely accurate since any non-scam altcoin is safe with merged mining. Any potential attacker would have invested in the altcoin instead of attacking it. For non-scam altcoins, the rational decision is to take advantage of merged mining to maximize security. There are also possible tricks to get the full security of the Bitcoin miners, even when not all participate in the altcoin, but this area requires further study to get right.
Updated on: 2023-06-07T23:14:04.358911+00:00