> what would be in it for a potential monopolist to tank the value of bitcoin in that way?
Shorting BTC. But you'd have to gather a humongous mining farm / pool in secret, wait until right after the recalibration and then turn on everything at once, mining those 2016 faster. People would panic, enabling you to close your short positions.
After those 2016 blocks you can just keep mining for a regular return, although I'd just sell the farm to an organisation interested in doing so.
It's a fun theoretical attack, if capital intensive. And aside from the short positions (which you can cover instead of going naked), your capital isn't at risk because the worst result is that you'll own a crypto mining farm.
> because the worst result is that you'll own a crypto mining farm.
Bitcoin is fairly popular among criminals, so you might also get some people visit you to argue that is best for both of you to give them back the money they lost, using strong arguments such as threats of bodily harm.
Shorting BTC. But you'd have to gather a humongous mining farm / pool in secret, wait until right after the recalibration and then turn on everything at once, mining those 2016 faster. People would panic, enabling you to close your short positions.
After those 2016 blocks you can just keep mining for a regular return, although I'd just sell the farm to an organisation interested in doing so.
It's a fun theoretical attack, if capital intensive. And aside from the short positions (which you can cover instead of going naked), your capital isn't at risk because the worst result is that you'll own a crypto mining farm.