Where is this 1MB max block size coming from? And for how long it can hold?
All clients will reject blocks larger than 1MB as invalid. Changing this is known as a "hard fork" change, something to be avoided because it knocks old clients off the network, limiting their access to their own bitcoins, and creates other technical problems. |
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If you have billions at your disposal, you can always "buy" bitcoin through mining domination.
However, economic incentives don't really exist at present to motivate big players to destroy bitcoin (== net economic loss).
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Yes, the interface is potentially limited to signed 32-bit.
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The maximum block chain growth[1] is about 1GB per week.
[1] given 1MB max block size, which cannot be changed without a hard fork
This does not account for increasing hashrates or luck. Hence "about" |
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The maximum block chain growth[1] is about 1GB per week.
[1] given 1MB max block size, which cannot be changed without a hard fork
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...In about three days from now people who use the official bitcoin client...
blk0001.dat will be at most 2130706432 bytes, or 2080768 KiB, or 2032 MiB.
You were wrong. Both of you were wrong: 07/10/2012 11:36 PM 2,097,281,755 blk0001.dat Pieter said "at most". Bitcoin will not split a single block across two files, therefore blk0001.dat will almost always be smaller than precisely 2032 MiB. |
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The ECDSA private key behind it all is 256 bits.
Yes, but since the end-result is a 160-bit address, there's a certain loss of information. IOW, multiple 256-bit private keys could map to any given 160-bit address, so really only (  ) 2^160 bits worth of work needs to be done to crack any given address. The bitcoin address is basically a 160-bit hash, yes, but you need the private key to actually spend the bitcoins. |
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Under the original post's scenario, that private key may be unknown to anyone. If anyone ever does generate that key pair (against astronomically incomprehensible odds), they mathematically and cryptographically "own" (because this is how the Bitcoin system is defined) any associated bitcoin value assigned to them by a transaction in the blockchain!
What exactly are those odds? Is there a reference somewhere? I was trying to explain the finer details of Bitcoin to someone with a solid mathematics background, and I was having trouble finding the odds. is it like 1 in 2^50, or 1 in 2^100? Thanks! IIRC, Bitcoin addresses rely on a hash called RIPEMD-160, giving 160-bit results, so the odds are about 1 in 2^160. The ECDSA private key behind it all is 256 bits. |
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But anonymity is a feature that can actually be added to the
bitcoin client fairly easily (coin control), as well as provided
by mixing services.
There is no need to add anything to the bitcoin client. The raw transaction API provides everything needed for full input/output control when building transactions. |
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Connected nodes is a poor measure of users, as several sites like instawallet, blockchain.info, mtgox etc. have hundreds or thousands of users.
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Outside of popular forum theories like ponzi, my current favorite guess is gambling-related lending or trading -- bitcoins for pokerstars or whatnot. Depending on the US state (hello, Nevada), it might be legal or at least a grey area, rather than obviously illegal.
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Let's stay completely silent again, without any outgoing payments. Great job guys, great job!
What's the first thing a lawyer will do? Advise their client to stop talking, and stop messing with bank accounts (or the Bitcoin equivalent thereof) associated with disputed funds. The beginning of a lawsuit might even mandate a freezing of funds by court order -- a temporary restraining order -- outside Bitcoinica's control. |
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Some houses in Detroit are listed for under US$ 1000. Or Braddock, PA under US$ 10,000.
Buy one, list it on bitmit, see how much the "first bitcoin house sold" fetches.
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Well, the portable representation of an IPv6 address is the network representation.
You may need some platform-specific code to store it in the right structure and struct member.
bitcoin/bitcoin.git (satoshi client) works on linux/mac/win, and supports non-blocking IPv6 sockets. The system calls and addressing are the same in C and C++.
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Nice! Bitcoin is an excellent settlement currency for real estate purchases, too.
I have always been tempted to buy a cheap property in a US city, and then auction it on bitmit.
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More gross negligence then. They can't use customer deposits to pay for legal defense, so what is their excuse for not paying refunds? Childish revenge? It is irrelevant whether or not the funds would be used for legal defense (one presumes they would not). If lawsuits are threatened, as another mentioned, most lawyers would advise stopping refunds until all legal challenges are completed and the court settles refund amounts and claimants. Bitcoinica would not want to refund, and then have a court show they should not have refunded X amount to Y person. So, good show, chaps. You have now delayed your refunds for at least another year or two. |
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At this early stage, lawsuits will have a chilling effect on trying to bring new people into the community, especially new businesses.
Jeff, I disagree completely. There have been plenty of cases in the past where bitcoins were stolen or deposits unrefunded, yet I am unaware of a single attempt to fix this. How can an attempt to resolve this issue discourage people from using Bitcoin? Make sure all relevant law enforcement authorities, in all jurisdictions, have all available evidence required to chase the thieves responsible. This includes Bitcoinica involved parties, assisting with all their available data, one hopes. |
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Would it be possible to force a blockchain change without having the processing power to backup that block chain switch?
There is no "force", there is choice. Each user chooses the software they run to validate the chain. If a majority of users choose to switch to SHA-512, that is what will happen, regardless of the number of miners who switch. 51% hashing power, or even 90%, means nothing if clients collectively refuse to accept and relay your blocks. |
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IMHO, underscoring Bitcoin with lawsuits *will* increase accountability (why wasn't Bitcoinica open sourced? why is info on most sites' security practices and legal statuses still so hard to find?), but it's going to require some *very* dedicated and passionate people to step up to that. The question is where are they going to come from?
At this early stage, lawsuits will have a chilling effect on trying to bring new people into the community, especially new businesses. It seems unlikely that lawsuits will recover funds or successfully locate the thieves. |
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Well, for one, SHA-3 does not exist.
In general, bitcoin users and miners may collectively choose to do anything they wish.
Changing the hash algorithm is a "hard fork" that makes new bitcoins unspendable by old clients, and therefore, is a change only undertaken under the most dire of circumstances.
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