Author: Eric Lombrozo 2015-12-18 03:02:36
Published on: 2015-12-18T03:02:36+00:00
The discussion revolves around the security of softforks in Bitcoin. The first point is about an expensive beer and the second point discusses the risks of non-upgraded nodes seeing invalid confirmations in case of a consensus rule change. However, assuming that a large majority of hashing power is behind the new rule, it is unlikely that many invalid confirmations will be seen. The number of confirmations required depends on the use case security requirements. During a new rule activation, it is not recommended for non-validating or non-upgraded nodes to accept coins with low confirmation counts unless the risk is accounted for in the use case. As long as the rule change activation is signaled in blocks, even old nodes will be able to detect that something is wrong and warn users to be cautious. The third point states that there is no issue unless fundamental security assumptions are already violated, making them vulnerable to exploitation without rule changes. A hypothetical scenario of fraud involving a payment for beer is discussed, which highlights the potential issues arising from non-upgraded nodes and how they can be exploited.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T02:21:07.822995+00:00