Wow. This really isn't making me very confident of bitcoin. You're saying that people (i.e. joe schmo) who have bitcoin deposits need to constantly make sure that the majority of computer hashing power in the world can't be used against them? So, like, the fastest computers in the world need to be focused solely on bitcoin mining otherwise the system isn't stable/secure? Jay-sus. Lets ignore 'dark pools' of compute power that are suddenly turned on during an attack (or even make a threat of an attack, and extort people into 'protection' money), or collusion between 'pools'... yeah, the double spending attack really is uh..dumb... You know, if a government had proposed this system (bitcoin), people would be all over it pointing out how weak it is.
> You can't escape human nature.
Total agreement there. Just get out of the herd's way. Edit: and right now I see the herd running into bitcoin.
Edit 2: I read some smart people got around that executive order (at the time) by buying foreign currency that had already done the devaluation (timing is everything!). (Which lead to unwanted strengthening of those foreign currencies)
You're saying that people (i.e. joe schmo) who have bitcoin deposits need to constantly make sure that the majority of computer hashing power in the world can't be used against them?
It's not like it can be used against someone personally. It can't steal someone's coins. What the attacker can do is:
- Revert their own transactions (I pay you 10BTC, then I revert that payment and I use the same BTC to pay someone else). This is what is called double-spending.
(Essentially, it's something like a chargeback, which aren't supposed to exist in Bitcoin.)
- Prevent the validations of some or all transactions, for as long as they control the blockchain.
So, if they just do a temporary attack, it'd cause some troubles (as it has in the past already), but not necessarily catastrophic.
You know, if a government had proposed this system (bitcoin), people would be all over it pointing out how weak it is.
I'm sure they would, yet everyone uses Credit Cards despite the $190 billion of losses due to fraud that occur every year.
Just get out of the herd's way. Edit: and right now I see the herd running into bitcoin.
That's completely contradictory with your previous statement. If there's an herd, it has been towards buying gold. Bitcoin is a blip in the radar. HN is far from representative.
> If there's an herd, it has been towards buying gold. Bitcoin is a blip in the radar.
Fair enough. Gold market cap ~$8 trillion, BTC ~$8 billion.
I do find BTC quite intriguing for international movement of assets - particularly if you can do it in small chunks at a time (to limit risk, like the double spending attack, or counter party / exchange risk in general...).
> You can't escape human nature.
Total agreement there. Just get out of the herd's way. Edit: and right now I see the herd running into bitcoin.
Edit 2: I read some smart people got around that executive order (at the time) by buying foreign currency that had already done the devaluation (timing is everything!). (Which lead to unwanted strengthening of those foreign currencies)