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Title: Bitcoin Client Majority Protocol Attack? Post by: LanYu on November 24, 2013, 03:20:24 PM Hi,
I was wondering if somebody could explain to me why this isn't a plausible attack: A majority of clients have an alternative target determination mechanism, i.e. always deciding to raise the target. Title: Re: Bitcoin Client Majority Protocol Attack? Post by: socrates1024 on November 24, 2013, 05:30:22 PM The difficulty for the next block is fixed by the protocol, as a deterministic function of the previous blocks. There is no choice involved in setting the difficulty.
Title: Re: Bitcoin Client Majority Protocol Attack? Post by: LanYu on November 24, 2013, 05:50:29 PM The difficulty for the next block is fixed by the protocol, as a deterministic function of the previous blocks. There is no choice involved in setting the difficulty. Thanks for the answer. So, if a certain portion of the network decided to alter this function, they would no longer conform with the protocol. So then, when the target changes, it is verified by every full node? Title: Re: Bitcoin Client Majority Protocol Attack? Post by: theymos on November 24, 2013, 07:44:39 PM So then, when the target changes, it is verified by every full node? Yes. Bitcoin is not a democracy. Except in a few cases where it can't be avoided, full nodes will follow their rules regardless of what everyone else does. |