Miner dilution attack on Bitcoin - is that something plausible?

Summary:

On the Bitcoin-dev mailing list, a potential attack called Dilution was discussed by Артём Литвинович. He explained that if a malicious actor were to acquire a majority of hash power, they could produce valid but empty blocks, effectively reducing the block rate by half or more. As nodes cannot differentiate between block relay and production, there would be nothing they could do to adjust difficulty or blacklist the attacker. The cost for such an attack is estimated at $2 billion for equipment and $0.4 billion per month for power costs, easily affordable for even a minor government-scale actor. The concern raised by Артём Литвинович regarding the Dilution attack is plausible. However, there have been no convincing arguments against it yet. To mitigate this attack, the Other Means Principle has been proposed. It suggests that if an attack is possible using any means other than Bitcoin's protocol, then it should not be considered a protocol-level problem. For example, in the case of Dilution, the attack relies on acquiring a majority of hash power, which is outside the scope of Bitcoin's protocol. Hence, it should not be considered a protocol-level problem. The Other Means Principle is based on the idea that Bitcoin should only address the problems that are within its scope, i.e., those that are related to its protocol. Any other means used to attack Bitcoin should be mitigated by external means. The Other Means Principle is crucial in ensuring that the protocol remains simple, robust, and secure. It also ensures that the protocol is not unnecessarily complicated with features that are not directly related to its core functionality. In conclusion, the Dilution attack is a significant concern, and the Other Means Principle is proposed to mitigate it. The principle suggests that Bitcoin should only address problems related to its protocol and leave external means to be mitigated by external measures. This ensures that the protocol remains simple, robust, and secure.

Updated on: 2023-06-13T03:36:59.917166+00:00