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Title: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: steamboat on April 12, 2013, 04:25:12 AM I've been thinking for a while now about possible scenarios where those that stand to lose the most by bitcoins success would attack it. I find it hard to believe the world powers are dumb enough to not recognize the implications of bitcoin succeeding, and have been watching with a keen eye since before the '11 bubble. At the very least, the FBI and ECB papers give an estimate on when they began to monitor it. So I thought to myself, what would be the most efficient way to destroy bitcoin?
51% attack: This would require extensive infrastructure, even for an attack when we were at 21th/s. this would be expensive and time consuming; and while there certainly are ways to hide it, would increase the attack footprint with specialists required to set up and maintain the cluster, which runs the risk of a leak, giving bitcoin more credibility. they would also, as I understand it, need to amass a significant amount of old coins in order to continue the attack, which would only last as long as their reserves of coin. Attack on companies offering bitcoin related services: persistent, coordinated attacks on web sites offering bitcoin services would reduce confidence in the sites, making it seem like they are run by a bunch of amateurs, reflecting poorly on the bitcoin marketplace. Propoganda: This one is fairly obvious, and doesn't really need to be actively funded. The world governments and CBs have already invested countless dollars and man hours into brainwashing the masses. The media coverage of bitcoin is a shining example of how difficult it is for the general public to comprehend the idea of a free market and monetary system. People I have great respect for surprise me time and time again with their views of what money is. Market manipulation: The bitcoin market is brand new, small, and fragile. It would not take much money, money they can (and do) print by the truckload every day, to orchestrate a massive pump n dump to shatter consumer confidence. The beauty of this attack is its difficulty to detect. The community would be so focused on the growth of the market and increased value they wouldn't notice the slow accumulation of wealth spread over multiple accounts. All it would take is a sudden dump of all the coins amassed to tank the value, destroying confidence in the market. Illegal: this ones tricky due to the nature of bitcoin. It would take an unprecedented amount of coordination to make it illegal in every country, which would at best only slow adoption. History shows how difficult it is for governments to eradicate something if society demands it. Regulation: this is a better alternative to making bitcoin illegal, though difficult given the nature of bitcoin. The easiest way would be to regulate the exchange into and out of bitcoin and fiat currencies. Vendors that accept bitcoin could be taxed on all purchases made with coins. I'm sure the government can come up with creative ways to ensure they get a slice of every pie we buy. I believe we are currently under attack by a mix of these approaches combined to be the most effective. Who stands to gain by DDOSing bitcoin services? Who has the money to buy million dollar plus market value chunks over and over again? Greed, fear, and the inability of the current market to sustain the level of trading certainly had a large part to play in the recent crash/correction/whatever you want to call it, but what if it was something deliberate? What if someone knew the gox trading engine was maxed and they could cause a panic sell by lagging it out? How difficult would it be to spend $100 million in fiat to pump n dump the economy. Not to make a profit, but purely to destroy it? Do I have my tinfoil hat on too tight? Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: GeniuSxBoY on April 12, 2013, 04:27:01 AM Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Severian on April 12, 2013, 04:29:46 AM I have to agree. It's an attack.
In 2009, Liberty Dollar was taken down, with extreme prejudice, by the Bankster Protectiong Group...I mean, the US government. There were ~250,000 users of the currency. It totaled around $20 million in valuation. It was the second most used currency in the US. Of course they're attacking Bitcoin. It's being attacked by the very people it was made to circumvent - banks and governments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: HappyBitCoinUser on April 12, 2013, 04:32:52 AM Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Dargo on April 12, 2013, 04:34:59 AM I think it is possible and if so, working very well. BTC holders turning out to be quite the weak hands (those on the exchanges anyway).
Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: GeniuSxBoY on April 12, 2013, 04:35:32 AM Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Krabby on April 12, 2013, 04:38:57 AM I love you. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Beta-coiner1 on April 12, 2013, 04:39:19 AM It could very well be.I find it strange that some exchanges were taken offline simply because,not to mention Mtgox is still (https://plus.google.com/+mtgox/posts/ZGsXYh8sSgG) having DDOS issues quite strongly.
Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: gusti on April 12, 2013, 04:44:27 AM Don't forget the stupidity attack.
In the mind of the suckers that press the sell button at the first sign of a problem. Depressing. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: noedaRDH on April 12, 2013, 04:44:50 AM It's possible that Bitcoin itself is a pet project of the bankers. Its volatility, association with SR, and general shakiness is a good way to establish to the public that currencies only work in the hands of a centralized entity, to destroy the public's confidence in any sort of decentralized currency. It's also a very clever way to disclose the opinions of the public, sort of like detecting thought-crime. Just one theory. So who knows.
Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: mestar on April 12, 2013, 04:47:44 AM By announcing your reopening time, you give a nice synchronization time point to the otherwise uncoordinated DDOSing parties.
Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Bitobsessed on April 12, 2013, 04:48:43 AM I love you. Awesome! Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: steamboat on April 12, 2013, 04:50:33 AM It's possible that Bitcoin itself is a pet project of the bankers. Its volatility, association with SR, and general shakiness is a good way to establish to the public that currencies only work in the hands of a centralized entity, to destroy the public's confidence in any sort of decentralized currency. It's also a very clever way to disclose the opinions of the public, sort of like detecting thought-crime. Just one theory. So who knows. Now there's a thought! You sir win my tinfoil hat. Wear it with pride. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Herodes on April 12, 2013, 04:53:58 AM I've been thinking for a while now about possible scenarios where those that stand to lose the most by bitcoins success I tell you, it's ze germans. It's merkel, she's already in bed playing with her ddos xbox custom made by slovenian hackers to aid fix their briken economy. Damn, ze germans! Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: noedaRDH on April 12, 2013, 05:00:46 AM It's possible that Bitcoin itself is a pet project of the bankers. Its volatility, association with SR, and general shakiness is a good way to establish to the public that currencies only work in the hands of a centralized entity, to destroy the public's confidence in any sort of decentralized currency. It's also a very clever way to disclose the opinions of the public, sort of like detecting thought-crime. Just one theory. So who knows. Now there's a thought! You sir win my tinfoil hat. Wear it with pride. Hehe. I know it sounds nuts. But I like to just speak my mind. On the other hand, even if bankers aren't behind Bitcoin, they would be wise to seize any opportunity to discredit it. Hey, why not? Better create negative public opinion of something while it's still in its infancy than let it grow. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: MooC Tals on April 12, 2013, 05:22:05 AM ya ya yah How many out there felt it was gonna drop hard when you saw it reach 235 dollars? I think its NOT controlled at all and the old saying give them enough rope to hang them selves is the scenario here.
It went up way to fast and the crash happened just for that reason no strong hand all fluffy speculation. It takes skill like bernaki to be able to milk a currency for 40 years. They let us fuck it up. Now there's plenty of media for bitcoin. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: MarKusRomanus on April 12, 2013, 05:35:09 AM I believe it is coordinated and on purpose.. to break confidence. Bitcoin Is a brilliant new idea that is dangerous to some powerful people who have virtually unlimited resources. If Bitcoin is successful (and It would be without this purposeful interference), It will begin a new paradigm that has these people veery fearful. They won't control it.
Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Herodes on April 12, 2013, 06:39:18 AM I believe it is coordinated and on purpose.. to break confidence. Bitcoin Is a brilliant new idea that is dangerous to some powerful people who have virtually unlimited resources. If Bitcoin is successful (and It would be without this purposeful interference), It will begin a new paradigm that has these people veery fearful. They won't control it. Seems like many of the people you talk about laugh about bitcoin. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Severian on April 12, 2013, 06:49:41 AM Seems like many of the people you talk about laugh about bitcoin. The ECB said it was a threat. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Wekkel on April 12, 2013, 06:53:09 AM Seems like many of the people you talk about laugh about bitcoin. The ECB said it was a threat. No, they said that it could affect trust of people in the official system or similar things. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Herodes on April 12, 2013, 06:57:26 AM Seems like many of the people you talk about laugh about bitcoin. The ECB said it was a threat. No, they said that it could affect trust of people in the official system or similar things. What about those that does not trust the official system, will their trust (or lack thereof) in the official system be affected? I'm kind of sad that they left out me and my pals in that report. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Severian on April 12, 2013, 06:58:11 AM Seems like many of the people you talk about laugh about bitcoin. The ECB said it was a threat. No, they said that it could affect trust of people in the official system or similar things. That's officialese for "threat". " Quote Virtual currencies “could have a negative impact on the reputation of central banks” if their use grows considerably, the Frankfurt-based ECB said in its research paper. “This risk should be considered when assessing the overall risk situation of central banks.” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-28/bitcoin-s-gains-may-fuel-central-bank-concerns-chart-of-the-day.html Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: hlynur on April 12, 2013, 07:10:07 AM I believe it is coordinated and on purpose.. to break confidence. Bitcoin Is a brilliant new idea that is dangerous to some powerful people who have virtually unlimited resources. If Bitcoin is successful (and It would be without this purposeful interference), It will begin a new paradigm that has these people veery fearful. They won't control it. I'm not really sure if they wan't to destroy bitcoin, it would be much better opportunity to milk the market like a cow with their the pump&dump-bots. For them it's more like doing the same shit like on the regular market If I would be some big taxcheating player just the imagination of fast laundering my money via bitcoins would get me horny. much simpler than blurring the transfers to tax havens imo bitcoin is the perfect instrument for them. only question is if they let the little man participate in the whole game. very difficult to to look into the future. ECB, russian oligarchs, FED...who's the fucker involved? (putting tinfoilhat on) that's the big question: Destruction or Regulation (=Manipulation). Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: afbitcoins on April 12, 2013, 10:32:55 AM I'm convinced the world controllers will be or already are attacking bitcoin.
I think they've used market manipulation to paint a fake top. Have written about it here. http://afbitcoins.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/fake-top/ Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: steamboat on April 12, 2013, 08:23:58 PM ya ya yah How many out there felt it was gonna drop hard when you saw it reach 235 dollars? I think its NOT controlled at all and the old saying give them enough rope to hang them selves is the scenario here. It went up way to fast and the crash happened just for that reason no strong hand all fluffy speculation. It takes skill like bernaki to be able to milk a currency for 40 years. They let us fuck it up. Now there's plenty of media for bitcoin. I believe we were rising way too fast, though that doesn't explain what's been happening. Everything about this recent runup and sell-off screams manipulation with nefarious intent to me. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Luckybit on April 13, 2013, 01:01:26 AM I've been thinking for a while now about possible scenarios where those that stand to lose the most by bitcoins success would attack it. I find it hard to believe the world powers are dumb enough to not recognize the implications of bitcoin succeeding, and have been watching with a keen eye since before the '11 bubble. At the very least, the FBI and ECB papers give an estimate on when they began to monitor it. So I thought to myself, what would be the most efficient way to destroy bitcoin? I suspect you could be right, but whether you are right or not it's still the community and mtGox to blame for not expecting these attacks and building it into the design from the start. Satoshi knew this was coming and designed Bitcoin to be resistant and resilient. mtGox was not properly designed.51% attack: This would require extensive infrastructure, even for an attack when we were at 21th/s. this would be expensive and time consuming; and while there certainly are ways to hide it, would increase the attack footprint with specialists required to set up and maintain the cluster, which runs the risk of a leak, giving bitcoin more credibility. they would also, as I understand it, need to amass a significant amount of old coins in order to continue the attack, which would only last as long as their reserves of coin. Attack on companies offering bitcoin related services: persistent, coordinated attacks on web sites offering bitcoin services would reduce confidence in the sites, making it seem like they are run by a bunch of amateurs, reflecting poorly on the bitcoin marketplace. Propoganda: This one is fairly obvious, and doesn't really need to be actively funded. The world governments and CBs have already invested countless dollars and man hours into brainwashing the masses. The media coverage of bitcoin is a shining example of how difficult it is for the general public to comprehend the idea of a free market and monetary system. People I have great respect for surprise me time and time again with their views of what money is. Market manipulation: The bitcoin market is brand new, small, and fragile. It would not take much money, money they can (and do) print by the truckload every day, to orchestrate a massive pump n dump to shatter consumer confidence. The beauty of this attack is its difficulty to detect. The community would be so focused on the growth of the market and increased value they wouldn't notice the slow accumulation of wealth spread over multiple accounts. All it would take is a sudden dump of all the coins amassed to tank the value, destroying confidence in the market. Illegal: this ones tricky due to the nature of bitcoin. It would take an unprecedented amount of coordination to make it illegal in every country, which would at best only slow adoption. History shows how difficult it is for governments to eradicate something if society demands it. Regulation: this is a better alternative to making bitcoin illegal, though difficult given the nature of bitcoin. The easiest way would be to regulate the exchange into and out of bitcoin and fiat currencies. Vendors that accept bitcoin could be taxed on all purchases made with coins. I'm sure the government can come up with creative ways to ensure they get a slice of every pie we buy. I believe we are currently under attack by a mix of these approaches combined to be the most effective. Who stands to gain by DDOSing bitcoin services? Who has the money to buy million dollar plus market value chunks over and over again? Greed, fear, and the inability of the current market to sustain the level of trading certainly had a large part to play in the recent crash/correction/whatever you want to call it, but what if it was something deliberate? What if someone knew the gox trading engine was maxed and they could cause a panic sell by lagging it out? How difficult would it be to spend $100 million in fiat to pump n dump the economy. Not to make a profit, but purely to destroy it? Do I have my tinfoil hat on too tight? Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: alexh on April 13, 2013, 01:03:21 AM Definitely coordinated, i have the feeling it is just a small group of speculators who are causing all this.
Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Luckybit on April 13, 2013, 01:06:15 AM I have to agree. It's an attack. In 2009, Liberty Dollar was taken down, with extreme prejudice, by the Bankster Protectiong Group...I mean, the US government. There were ~250,000 users of the currency. It totaled around $20 million in valuation. It was the second most used currency in the US. Of course they're attacking Bitcoin. It's being attacked by the very people it was made to circumvent - banks and governments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Dollar I was a user of E-gold before it was taken down. The only reason I wasn't an early adopter of Bitcoin in 2009 is because honestly I thought it would end up like E-gold. I'm surprised that Bitcoin turned out to be a success because I expected it to be crushed. The way they'll attack Bitcoin is by labeling the most prominent users and developers as sex offenders, pedophiles, rapists. Bitcoin will be associated with child pornography and they'd be able to ban it that way because child pornography short circuits all reasoning, rationality, and logical thinking. Also it doesn't help that there really is a dark net with child porn on it to help them make these kinds of cases. But yeah, there are people who will not like Bitcoin and there is a reason why Satoshi had to remain anonymous. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Luckybit on April 13, 2013, 01:13:30 AM It's possible that Bitcoin itself is a pet project of the bankers. Its volatility, association with SR, and general shakiness is a good way to establish to the public that currencies only work in the hands of a centralized entity, to destroy the public's confidence in any sort of decentralized currency. It's also a very clever way to disclose the opinions of the public, sort of like detecting thought-crime. Just one theory. So who knows. Not likely. The bankers don't support libertarian technology as pet projects and if it was one of theirs you'd see hints of their mindset in the design of the project itself. It would reek of centralization and centralized power. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: noedaRDH on April 13, 2013, 01:42:08 AM It's possible that Bitcoin itself is a pet project of the bankers. Its volatility, association with SR, and general shakiness is a good way to establish to the public that currencies only work in the hands of a centralized entity, to destroy the public's confidence in any sort of decentralized currency. It's also a very clever way to disclose the opinions of the public, sort of like detecting thought-crime. Just one theory. So who knows. Not likely. The bankers don't support libertarian technology as pet projects and if it was one of theirs you'd see hints of their mindset in the design of the project itself. It would reek of centralization and centralized power. There was a new Bitcoin video that popped up on Youtube recently. All computer graphics, much of which have a lot of Masonic symbolism in it. Just saying. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Severian on April 13, 2013, 01:52:30 AM The bankers don't support libertarian technology as pet projects and if it was one of theirs you'd see hints of their mindset in the design of the project itself. In addition, no central banker could ever conceive of releasing a decentralized currency and diminishing their own power. It's like imagining that a priest would tell people to just go start their own religion. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Severian on April 13, 2013, 01:53:15 AM I was a user of E-gold before it was taken down. Out of curiosity, did you lose anything when they smacked it? Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: noedaRDH on April 13, 2013, 02:10:33 AM The bankers don't support libertarian technology as pet projects and if it was one of theirs you'd see hints of their mindset in the design of the project itself. In addition, no central banker could ever conceive of releasing a decentralized currency and diminishing their own power. It's like imagining that a priest would tell people to just go start their own religion. Why not? Central bankers are just trying to de-legitimatize the idea of decentralized currency. Why not release their own version of one, then smack it down to prove a point. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: eric345 on April 13, 2013, 02:32:14 AM The bankers don't support libertarian technology as pet projects and if it was one of theirs you'd see hints of their mindset in the design of the project itself. In addition, no central banker could ever conceive of releasing a decentralized currency and diminishing their own power. It's like imagining that a priest would tell people to just go start their own religion. Why not? Central bankers are just trying to de-legitimatize the idea of decentralized currency. Why not release their own version of one, then smack it down to prove a point. For them, that's like opening pandora's box. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Luckybit on April 13, 2013, 02:35:14 AM It's possible that Bitcoin itself is a pet project of the bankers. Its volatility, association with SR, and general shakiness is a good way to establish to the public that currencies only work in the hands of a centralized entity, to destroy the public's confidence in any sort of decentralized currency. It's also a very clever way to disclose the opinions of the public, sort of like detecting thought-crime. Just one theory. So who knows. Not likely. The bankers don't support libertarian technology as pet projects and if it was one of theirs you'd see hints of their mindset in the design of the project itself. It would reek of centralization and centralized power. There was a new Bitcoin video that popped up on Youtube recently. All computer graphics, much of which have a lot of Masonic symbolism in it. Just saying. Masons aren't any more important than any other social club. I suppose you believe the toastmasters international are the elite? The elite don't need to join a club, they are born into their family. If you need to join a club then you aren't elite. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Luckybit on April 13, 2013, 02:36:07 AM I was a user of E-gold before it was taken down. Out of curiosity, did you lose anything when they smacked it? Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: noedaRDH on April 13, 2013, 02:38:43 AM It's possible that Bitcoin itself is a pet project of the bankers. Its volatility, association with SR, and general shakiness is a good way to establish to the public that currencies only work in the hands of a centralized entity, to destroy the public's confidence in any sort of decentralized currency. It's also a very clever way to disclose the opinions of the public, sort of like detecting thought-crime. Just one theory. So who knows. Not likely. The bankers don't support libertarian technology as pet projects and if it was one of theirs you'd see hints of their mindset in the design of the project itself. It would reek of centralization and centralized power. There was a new Bitcoin video that popped up on Youtube recently. All computer graphics, much of which have a lot of Masonic symbolism in it. Just saying. Masons aren't any more important than any other social club. I suppose you believe the toastmasters international are the elite? The elite don't need to join a club, they are born into their family. If you need to join a club then you aren't elite. Yet there are Masons who are born into it. I don't buy into that idea that Freemasons are just the same as any other social club. They seem to have greater influence than say, Toastmasters, which is just a club to improve one's speech-giving abilities. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: bitcad on April 13, 2013, 02:53:27 AM Should we be afraid of this?
http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/04/huge-attack-on-wordpress-sites-could-spawn-never-before-seen-super-botnet/ Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Severian on April 13, 2013, 02:56:06 AM http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/04/huge-attack-on-wordpress-sites-could-spawn-never-before-seen-super-botnet/ Makes sense. Wordpress is the biggest site to accept bitcoins. This will be ongoing and ramped up, I believe. Time to start buying namecoins and use .bit? Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: stash on April 13, 2013, 03:25:47 AM Definitely coordinated, i have the feeling it is just a small group of speculators who are causing all this. I believe this is a real reason, if elites want destroy they will go easy ways via regulation and legal. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Severian on April 13, 2013, 03:31:06 AM I believe this is a real reason, if elites want destroy they will go easy ways via regulation and legal. Too slow and they know it won't work. They're going to start getting serious. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Luckybit on April 13, 2013, 03:53:59 AM It's possible that Bitcoin itself is a pet project of the bankers. Its volatility, association with SR, and general shakiness is a good way to establish to the public that currencies only work in the hands of a centralized entity, to destroy the public's confidence in any sort of decentralized currency. It's also a very clever way to disclose the opinions of the public, sort of like detecting thought-crime. Just one theory. So who knows. Not likely. The bankers don't support libertarian technology as pet projects and if it was one of theirs you'd see hints of their mindset in the design of the project itself. It would reek of centralization and centralized power. There was a new Bitcoin video that popped up on Youtube recently. All computer graphics, much of which have a lot of Masonic symbolism in it. Just saying. Masons aren't any more important than any other social club. I suppose you believe the toastmasters international are the elite? The elite don't need to join a club, they are born into their family. If you need to join a club then you aren't elite. Yet there are Masons who are born into it. I don't buy into that idea that Freemasons are just the same as any other social club. They seem to have greater influence than say, Toastmasters, which is just a club to improve one's speech-giving abilities. Do you know any of these masons? How many masons do you know? I've never met an elite mason or toastmaster or any other fraternity and if you think that just by joining a club that you'll become wealthy you'll rule the world good luck with that. Maybe you should join? I suggest you actually interview someone who is a mason or visit a lodge. They don't have any power in the United States. They are no more elite than the typical country club, toastmasters, elks, etc. The only reason the masons take so much heat is because George Washington happened to be a Mason hundreds of years ago, and FDR happened to be a Mason. What about George Bush? Ronald Reagan? Barack Obama? Are you one of the people who believe they were all Masons? What about Mitt Romney? Donald Trump? or the Koch Brothers? The way to track the elite is to follow the money. Those who are so wealthy that their children will inherit the wealth are the elite. The masons you see at the lodge aren't wealthy, most aren't even rich and are no different from anyone else. The same would apply to any other club or fraternity, the maojrity of the members of anything are just like you and me and maybe one or two might be wealthy out of thousands. If Bitcoin were a club then I'm sure there are a few wealthy individuals involved with Bitcoin but that's not the majority and no I don't think Bitcoin is a cult but some people think it is. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: Luckybit on April 13, 2013, 03:59:23 AM ya ya yah How many out there felt it was gonna drop hard when you saw it reach 235 dollars? I think its NOT controlled at all and the old saying give them enough rope to hang them selves is the scenario here. It went up way to fast and the crash happened just for that reason no strong hand all fluffy speculation. It takes skill like bernaki to be able to milk a currency for 40 years. They let us fuck it up. Now there's plenty of media for bitcoin. I believe we were rising way too fast, though that doesn't explain what's been happening. Everything about this recent runup and sell-off screams manipulation with nefarious intent to me. The run up was real, the crash was not. The crash was a flash crash based upon high frequency trading, not a correction. Keep buying and see. Title: Re: Is this a coordinated attack? Post by: steamboat on April 14, 2013, 05:05:20 PM I've been thinking for a while now about possible scenarios where those that stand to lose the most by bitcoins success would attack it. I find it hard to believe the world powers are dumb enough to not recognize the implications of bitcoin succeeding, and have been watching with a keen eye since before the '11 bubble. At the very least, the FBI and ECB papers give an estimate on when they began to monitor it. So I thought to myself, what would be the most efficient way to destroy bitcoin? I suspect you could be right, but whether you are right or not it's still the community and mtGox to blame for not expecting these attacks and building it into the design from the start. Satoshi knew this was coming and designed Bitcoin to be resistant and resilient. mtGox was not properly designed.51% attack: This would require extensive infrastructure, even for an attack when we were at 21th/s. this would be expensive and time consuming; and while there certainly are ways to hide it, would increase the attack footprint with specialists required to set up and maintain the cluster, which runs the risk of a leak, giving bitcoin more credibility. they would also, as I understand it, need to amass a significant amount of old coins in order to continue the attack, which would only last as long as their reserves of coin. Attack on companies offering bitcoin related services: persistent, coordinated attacks on web sites offering bitcoin services would reduce confidence in the sites, making it seem like they are run by a bunch of amateurs, reflecting poorly on the bitcoin marketplace. Propoganda: This one is fairly obvious, and doesn't really need to be actively funded. The world governments and CBs have already invested countless dollars and man hours into brainwashing the masses. The media coverage of bitcoin is a shining example of how difficult it is for the general public to comprehend the idea of a free market and monetary system. People I have great respect for surprise me time and time again with their views of what money is. Market manipulation: The bitcoin market is brand new, small, and fragile. It would not take much money, money they can (and do) print by the truckload every day, to orchestrate a massive pump n dump to shatter consumer confidence. The beauty of this attack is its difficulty to detect. The community would be so focused on the growth of the market and increased value they wouldn't notice the slow accumulation of wealth spread over multiple accounts. All it would take is a sudden dump of all the coins amassed to tank the value, destroying confidence in the market. Illegal: this ones tricky due to the nature of bitcoin. It would take an unprecedented amount of coordination to make it illegal in every country, which would at best only slow adoption. History shows how difficult it is for governments to eradicate something if society demands it. Regulation: this is a better alternative to making bitcoin illegal, though difficult given the nature of bitcoin. The easiest way would be to regulate the exchange into and out of bitcoin and fiat currencies. Vendors that accept bitcoin could be taxed on all purchases made with coins. I'm sure the government can come up with creative ways to ensure they get a slice of every pie we buy. I believe we are currently under attack by a mix of these approaches combined to be the most effective. Who stands to gain by DDOSing bitcoin services? Who has the money to buy million dollar plus market value chunks over and over again? Greed, fear, and the inability of the current market to sustain the level of trading certainly had a large part to play in the recent crash/correction/whatever you want to call it, but what if it was something deliberate? What if someone knew the gox trading engine was maxed and they could cause a panic sell by lagging it out? How difficult would it be to spend $100 million in fiat to pump n dump the economy. Not to make a profit, but purely to destroy it? Do I have my tinfoil hat on too tight? I completely agree. I view these attacks as a good thing. They show us where the weaknesses are and how we can reduce or eliminate them. A single exchange carrying the fiat/btc exchange rate weight of the entire network has been a weakness from the start. Hopefully we'll begin to to wider adoption of other exchanges and new ones popping up. Once the community realizes centralization is a weakness we'll be well on our way to creating the resilient infrastructure necessary to bitcoins survival |
