Bitcoin Forum

Other => Beginners & Help => Topic started by: Mlchel on November 04, 2013, 12:37:29 PM



Title: Possibility of a 51% attack
Post by: Mlchel on November 04, 2013, 12:37:29 PM
Dear bitcointalkers,

I've been interested in bitcoin for quite a while now, and almost mined half a bitcoin in April when it was still viable with a GPU.

I've been discussing about the safety of the network with some friends lately. They, and also many people on the internet, argue that due to the massive network speed, it is impossible for someone (even governments) to attack the bitcoin by the means of a 51% attack.

However, I assume that the main contribution on the network speed is coming from Europe and the USA. If we assume that the USA and EU want to get rid of bitcoin, would it be possible to put a large amount of hashing power in continents such as South America or Africa, and temporarily shut down the internet in the USA and EU (They could easily blame Al Qaida or a similar organization). By removing a large sum of hashing power from the network, a 51% would require much less hashing power then.

Am I missing something which would make such an attack impossible?


Title: Re: Possibility of a 51% attack
Post by: favdesu on November 04, 2013, 12:41:22 PM
look, use the search function. there are literally 100 threads about this already.


Title: Re: Possibility of a 51% attack
Post by: Hexadecibel on November 04, 2013, 01:57:05 PM
This is a good read too:

http://gavintech.blogspot.com/2012/05/neutralizing-51-attack.html (http://gavintech.blogspot.com/2012/05/neutralizing-51-attack.html)