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Bitcoin => Bitcoin Discussion => Topic started by: jajansen on November 15, 2013, 08:29:57 PM



Title: (Future) Government attack on Bitcoin
Post by: jajansen on November 15, 2013, 08:29:57 PM
Probably these discussions have been done before, but I didnt manage to find good answer to following issue...(that is a positive solution to a government attack on bitcoin)

regarding attack on bitcoin network, i want to discuss not an economic attack (somebody who wants to earn bitcoin money by attacking), but a simple attack to destroy bitcoin. (parties interested in cryptocurrencies, and bitcoin as for now, not to make it)

Seeing the prices of ASICS, if a goverment were to fund/take over an asic company, (for financial power, lets assume its the US ) with substancial money such that they would get from one moment to the other 60% hashing power. Currently they might manage this with as little as 50 million dollar.
(for example buy 5000x 5999dollar 2TB is just 30 million..just as reference). With a goverment willing to spend billions (or better said central banks)

So then is bitcoin gonna survive a hit like this? Or else said, what would happen? Can we circumvent all those government asics?

I am confident that even if bitcoin wont survive, a new crypto comes up...100% sure cryptocurrency has future, only question here is if its gonna be bitcoin....

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Further talking into the future, imagining a world where all bitcoins have been mined, will miners (that mine only for transaction costs i guess) be strong enough to handle any government attacks? (which by then could have become like a 10 billion dollar military project)

Then again, with a BTC at 100.000 and widely used, total marketvalue 2000billion US, also the transaction costs might be in the billions (though transaction costs where supposed to be low...), and thus a very big hashing power industry behind. I guess transaction costs should be high enough, together with BTC value high enough, that the mining industry will be huge . (kind of substituting banks, exchanges all around the world....so quite a big market, and who knows to big for a single government to attack on..)

Would like to hear some thoughts about above issues from some more knowledgable people here...

Another thought regarding the above, is that I assume that a government is protecting its assets in a logical way...which is not the case...government is big and clumsy, and the individuals within the government might even be owners/proponents of bitcoin, even though that bitcoin itself could destroy power of government....(or at least power of printing money, confisqating, taxing at will, etc etc)





Title: Re: (Future) Government attack on Bitcoin
Post by: dominicwin on November 15, 2013, 09:21:12 PM
I believe the government's goal is to figure out more and more how to police it when bitcoin turns into something fiat.