Author: Kenshiro [] 2019-07-18 15:50:35
Published on: 2019-07-18T15:50:35+00:00
The email thread discusses the feasibility of a 51% attack under proof-of-work and proof-of-stake algorithms. The author argues that a 51% attack under proof-of-work is only possible if an entity has physical control of almost 50% or more of the globe due to energy availability being somewhat distributed over the world. In contrast, individual miners spread globally can join big mining pools, which could be hacked to participate in a 51% attack under proof-of-stake. The author suggests that changing the hashing algorithm is pointless in case of a 51% attack since control of energy sources matters more than hash power distribution. Furthermore, the author believes that nothing is more efficient than proof-of-work, and proof-of-stake is a perpetual motion machine that attempts to get something from nothing. The author also suggests that removing the chain tip puts the transactions in that block back in the mempool before following the longer chain under proof-of-work. However, this could make double spend attacks easier, leading many people to lose their money. A community-guided initiative could fix this problem with a proof-of-stake algorithm, where all transactions of both chains are merged to create a hard fork, making double spends attacks impossible. Nevertheless, coordinating hard forks becomes challenging as the user set increases in size. The author thinks it is evident that the rich gain coins faster in both algorithms. If someone has 51% of the coins and uses them to stake, they make 51% of the blocks under proof-of-stake. In PoS, if someone decides to do a 51% attack, stopping doing blocks in the main chain to force others to follow the private chain, their funds will be burned in the next hard fork. Finally, the author thinks Ethereum PoS will be successful in ensuring that smart individuals spend their time doing things that benefit the economy and technology rather than wasting their time on Ethereum and proof-of-stake.
Updated on: 2023-06-13T20:04:13.023612+00:00