Author: Alex Mizrahi 2015-02-12 14:32:26
Published on: 2015-02-12T14:32:26+00:00
The author argues against the notion that Bitcoin's approach to security, known as "the approach," will always work because it has worked in the past. They argue that this type of reasoning can be used to justify any kind of scamcoin, and that the success of the approach depends on scale. Specifically, highly sophisticated attacks are only feasible when there is a large amount of money being transacted each day, making it more difficult for attackers to profit from disruption of zero-confirmation payments. The best way to profit from such an attack would be through derivatives, but the necessary conditions for this type of attack to be successful have not yet been met. However, the author believes that these conditions may be met within the next five years. The author notes that the direct impact of an attack may be low, but the attacker could still profit from the panic it causes. They also mention that their argument assumes that Bitcoin-aware PoS solutions are deployed on a large scale, which could involve significant costs for upgrades. The author concludes by stating that they think it is good that Bitcoin is still relatively small, as it provides an opportunity to analyze and improve things. They criticize those who are hostile to people who offer alternatives and do not back up their intuition with rigorous reasoning.
Updated on: 2023-06-09T16:55:06.646308+00:00