Could bitcoin be hacked?

[BitNerd]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

EDIT: Yes I was talking about the 51% thing. This thing makes bitcoin look like democracy, which sucks.

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[mcb1221]

I've heard that if a group of people control most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

all that you have heard is False. Until unless you dont handover your private key to some rouge man you are safe.

[Slark]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

So far in the history of Bitcoin, there has never been an attack on the blockchain that resulted in stolen money. You can pretty much assume that bitcoin network itself is 'hacker free'.
On the contrary to bitcoin satellite services like online wallets providers or exchanges - these services are vulnerable and can be hacked.

[AgentofCoin]

I've heard that if a group of people control most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

First of all, what you have written above doesn't actually make any sense.
I believe you are either referring to a group of people controlling a majority of nodes or a majority of miners.
Ultimately if you are asking that, you are asking a very complex question that has many different parts that
each need their own explanation. For the sake of not getting into every detail, I would advise you not to worry
since in order to do any real damage it would take the effort of tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions) of
dollars and a massive coordinated attack of which would be on the scale of a government attack.


But if your question is more simple, then a group:

1. controlling most coins doesn't do or mean anything.
2. controlling most transactions doesn't do or mean anything.
3. can not change the "Bitcoin program".
4. can not steal bitcoins from the "Bitcoin program".

But, a group could steal your bitcoins if you do not protect your privatekeys and your computer from malware/viruses.

[pooya87]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

i think what you have heard is about the 51% attack. that is the only thing that comes to my mind when you say a group of people controlling most of .... (the blank is not coins it is hashpower). and that will cause the ability to double spend.

just FYI in 2014 GHASH.IO had more than 51% of hash power and nothing bad happened
http://www.coindesk.com/51-attacks-real-threat-bitcoin/

for more information about weaknesses read the wiki and ask question more specifically about which part is not clear to you: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses

[amacar2]

NO bitcoin network can't be hacked  but bitcoin wallet could be hacked specially online wallet and also your wallet if your computer is accessed by some expert physically or remotely by some malware.

[Quartx]

Well depends on your definition of hack.

A pool or mega rich farmer can theoretically scheme to try to get 51% of the total hashrate of bitcoins. This would be a scenario where said entity can control transactions as long as he is in power, or simply try to destroy the network with fake transactions which would be very difficult to reverse after that. Many would say that the possibilty of such an attack is very low as said entity would earn so much more by playing nice.

Learn more at https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses

[senyorito123]

NO bitcoin network can't be hacked  but bitcoin wallet could be hacked specially online wallet and also your wallet if your computer is accessed by some expert physically or remotely by some malware.

The bitcoin wallet is can be hack even it have high security features it can be hackable to those pro hackers even not pros can hack they can easily make phising site. Phising site is the one common use of newbie hackers it can get your email password and by that they can access your email if you log in to their bait. But we most carefull by this we should avoid shortened link and to avoid our wallet to be hack and dont cry later.

[Herbert2020]

NO bitcoin network can't be hacked  but bitcoin wallet could be hacked specially online wallet and also your wallet if your computer is accessed by some expert physically or remotely by some malware.

The bitcoin wallet is can be hack even it have high security features it can be hackable to those pro hackers even not pros can hack they can easily make phising site. Phising site is the one common use of newbie hackers it can get your email password and by that they can access your email if you log in to their bait. But we most carefull by this we should avoid shortened link and to avoid our wallet to be hack and dont cry later.

you are giving half ass information.

whether or not a bitcoin wallet can be hacked depends only on what type of wallet you are using. if you are using a web wallet then yes it is the most vulnerable to hacking. it can be phishing, it can be brute force for finding weak passwords or it can be a key logger.

but if you have a desktop wallet the hacking becomes more difficult and if it is offline (in a cold storage) the hacking becomes almost impossible.

[NorrisK]

If bitcoin were to be hacked on a protocol level we would be in much bigger trouble than you think.

The core of the bitcoin security is the very strong encryption that is also used in basically everything we use today. If bitcoin gets hacked through faulty encryption, rest assured, people will target banks and major financial institutions and not your bitcoin wallet containing a few coins.

Also, your mail accounts and basically anything would stop functioning if this happened.

[Amph]

the only real threat is the infamous 51% attack, but they need to acquire an immense amount of hashrate first, which mean spending a lot of money

i could see this worth it, only if the price of bitcoin skyrocket so fast that it would be better to attack the network than waiting for the profit from the mining

[Wendigo]

Well it totally depends on how you have secured your wallets and computers in the first place. If you are neglecting your security and are downloading random stuff to your work machine where your wallet is installed your coins can be easily compromised. Personally I prefer using mostly online wallets and mobile wallets for my phones and haven't had any issues whatsoever till now but I am trying to steer clear of obvious scams like dubious email links and running weird exe files. Anything of value could be stolen from you not only Bitcoin if there are no preventive measures in place to thwart the attackers.

[yenxz]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

A very small chance to bitcoin or altcoin being hacked by their program,its have more effort than create the program,maybe the only one to hack bitcoin is like what people post before,phising attack and scamming site,its a terrible way.

[Bitcoinbee]

as of my understanding bitcoin cant be hack. what can be hack is what you use in storing your bitcoin. information to your bitcoin wallet account like e mails information. so if possible keep this information to yourself.

[DARKCHANGE]

Bitcoins is the safest crypto currency right now. You need to compare basic source, hash rates and more important, the people behind. Bitcoin is actively being supported by the community and bugs fixed in a short time manner. There is no 100% guarantee that it is "hack-free". At least the currency proofed itself as reliable since 2009.

[bob123]

Bitcoin and its blockchain can't be hacked.
You probably r talking about the 51% attack where people control more than 50% of all nodes.
Just google that.

[shinratensei_]

lol, bitcoin can't be hacked, the thing that can make your bitcoin stolen or lets say hacked is your email,wallet,and your privkey

[Kprawn]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

i think what you have heard is about the 51% attack. that is the only thing that comes to my mind when you say a group of people controlling most of .... (the blank is not coins it is hashpower). and that will cause the ability to double spend.

just FYI in 2014 GHASH.IO had more than 51% of hash power and nothing bad happened
http://www.coindesk.com/51-attacks-real-threat-bitcoin/

for more information about weaknesses read the wiki and ask question more specifically about which part is not clear to you: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses

Nothing bad happened, because people saw what was happening and they shifted to other pools and their main intention was not to get a 51% majority of the hashing power to do harm.. it just

happened. If someone or a group of people goes out to do this, to do some harm... then they will have to be willing to burn a lot of money to accomplish that. You need a hell of a lot of money to

buy that amount of hashing power... and to maintain it. The money spend to get that, will most probably offset the amount that could be gained form doing it.  ... Gavin and the rest of the

developers at the time said, they had a counter, if this happens anyway. 

[Vaskiy]

lol, bitcoin can't be hacked, the thing that can make your bitcoin stolen or lets say hacked is your email,wallet,and your privkey

Yeah bitcoin can never be hacked unless private keys lost, also the bitcoin wallet has to be protected by you by assigning strong passwords and other preventive measures has to be applied, it's all your mistake if it gets hacked .

[smho_16]

Want to be sure, the only way is to buy a hardware wallet like Trezor, or any other , any other wallet can be hacked, web wallet, or desktop wallet, depending on who access your computer. I don't know anything about the 51% thing, but that needs a lot of investment from what I am reading now on google, so the hardware wallet remains safe again.

[thejaytiesto]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

EDIT: Yes I was talking about the 51% thing. This thing makes bitcoin look like democracy, which sucks.

Lol since when do democracies work with super majority? Even if someone owns 51% of the mining hash power it means nothing, to actually cause damage you would need way more than that, it's unrealistic and a non issue, at that point the attacker would be making more money by being a good actor to the network than an attacker, there's no incentive to deploy an insane mining attack whatsoever.

[tobacco123]

Yes bitcoin can be hack, but it will cost the hacker so much fortune that it will convert the hacker into a believer...

[Fityan]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

EDIT: Yes I was talking about the 51% thing. This thing makes bitcoin look like democracy, which sucks.

techically bitcoin cannot hacked by a program,i think bitcoin have solid code,and its make bitcoin very secure,but human mistake or error can be big problem for bitcoin.

[QuestionQuest]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

EDIT: Yes I was talking about the 51% thing. This thing makes bitcoin look like democracy, which sucks.

techically bitcoin cannot hacked by a program,i think bitcoin have solid code,and its make bitcoin very secure,but human mistake or error can be big problem for bitcoin.

If you run a wallet (whatever online or desktop or commandline or app) with no controll over your peers, then it is possible under some cirumstances even if your device is not compromised! (if your device is infected almost everything can be possible - almost - run a hardware wallet for your big money and small wallets for your fun, business or whatever).

Anyways, I would suggest to choose a wallet with controll over the peers and get yourself informations about the community of a peer.

If you do a sell and you are awaiting the bitcoins the peers will give you the confirmations.
People say its save to send your goods or whatever after 7 confirmations. Some are fine with even 3 or 5. And some are crazy 20+ waiters.

Anyways if 6 of 10 peers you are using are compromised it is possible to fake the informations for you. Remember, you dont have the blockchain on your device with most of the wallets.
Even if you have an own blockchain and using the core, you will use a limited number of peers (or you have to configure some more!)

You are Happy. You received the bitcoin. Giving out your account, data, game whatever. (Haha, the idiot payed me even too much!)
And next morning your wallet is empty again - you now have the real blockchain informations  

You´ve got hacked  

There are even some other options, but then a wallet-server for online wallets has to be hacked first.

But you cannot hack the blockchain or the logical informations behind it.
Well, like you see - the next morning your wallet will be 100% correct again with 0 btc  

[StoreBit]

No, it is false no one can hack your coins from your wallet unless they get access to your bitcoin wallet, as only those who open the wallet can be able to send the coins from there. when you have secured your wallet then don't worry no one will be able to use your coins, you are safe.

[bitcoin-hunter]

No, it is false no one can hack your coins from your wallet unless they get access to your bitcoin wallet, as only those who open the wallet can be able to send the coins from there. when you have secured your wallet then don't worry no one will be able to use your coins, you are safe.

Yeah people are getting afraid thinking that bitcoin can be hacked more easily then any other way. Remember if you protect your coins the same way you protect your money,
hackers won't stand a chance.

[DimensionZ]

Well depends on your definition of hack.

A pool or mega rich farmer can theoretically scheme to try to get 51% of the total hashrate of bitcoins. This would be a scenario where said entity can control transactions as long as he is in power, or simply try to destroy the network with fake transactions which would be very difficult to reverse after that. Many would say that the possibilty of such an attack is very low as said entity would earn so much more by playing nice.

Learn more at https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses

That's right but what if someone wants to undermine Bitcoin or drive the price down to the ground? Theoretically a government or a bank consortium could do that of they wish to get rid of Bitcoin if the crypto coin has become too powerful and widespread. I think this is a real threat to the Bitcoin community because this is a weak link which can be broken by someone with the means to do it. The question is not who will profit by mining Bitcoin but who will profit by destroying it completely. I think Bitcoin is a global financial experiment and the people with power are letting it run for now but what if they decide to pull the plug at one point?

[European Central Bank]

Alot of scummy people have been trying to break it for a long time. Nothing much has happened. And if you did wanna harm it then all you have to do is a ton of spam transactions or crater it on an exchange. Easier and quicker.

[n0ne]

Alot of scummy people have been trying to break it for a long time. Nothing much has happened. And if you did wanna harm it then all you have to do is a ton of spam transactions or crater it on an exchange. Easier and quicker.

More people try to be smart by getting others hard earned bitcoins. It is difficult to hack the wallets or transaction network but there are people who hack official networks and demand bitcoin to continue the operations with the network.

[paulino_]

Hi Man, check this topic  "is it possible to hack your bitcoin from your wallet?"

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1424490.0

[Kakmakr]

The media is part to blame for this confusion. The Core protocol <code> be hacked, but the third party services built onto it can be hacked, and the media conveniently confuse the two. The are to lazy to do proper research. Example :
When Mt Gox or Cryptsy got hacked, the media reported about it, as Bitcoin is hacked. This headline attract more attention and they make more money.

Do not believe everything you read in papers or on these uninformed websites. Come to this forum and the informed people will debate the issue and you will get a clearer answer to your questions.

[QuestionQuest]

The media is part to blame for this confusion. The Core protocol <code> be hacked, but the third party services built onto it can be hacked, and the media conveniently confuse the two. The are to lazy to do proper research. Example :
When Mt Gox or Cryptsy got hacked, the media reported about it, as Bitcoin is hacked. This headline attract more attention and they make more money.

Do not believe everything you read in papers or on these uninformed websites. Come to this forum and the informed people will debate the issue and you will get a clearer answer to your questions.

100%
Core is safe
Ways to hack are around the core (apps, code, network etc.) only.

We could maybe ad an "at the moment", because nothing is impossible.
Give me the first quantum computer and we can have a talk about it again  

[Chrismeister]

There is always a manner to steal something. You need to keep your passwords and private things secret
if you don't do that the hackers will be able to hack your bit coins.

[Jemzx00]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

EDIT: Yes I was talking about the 51% thing. This thing makes bitcoin look like democracy, which sucks.

Well this could be true or maybe not since internet is full of lies. But I've already heard some people being hacked using their bitcoin wallet address only and even I don't know how they do this but I don't care about this things since these Hackers would care to my account too since it's poor.

[MaritiJames3]

With these groups of hacker these days they can hack into anything if they really want to. But it is pretty hard because Bitcoin is becoming big and I am sure that they have very good protection.
But if these hackers tried it they would succeed.

[pereira4]

The only thing that can be hacked is the device that you are using to store your Bitcoins, if it's connected to the internet. If you have your device disabled from the internet and encrypted, then you are pretty much safe for life.
As far as hacking the actual network, you have more chances being hit by an asteroid in the face than chances of the Bitcoin network getting hacked.

[cjmoles]

I don't know if a 51% attack would be contemplated by those currently controlling the hashing power because such an event would be detrimental to bitcoin's price.  If such an event were to occur, confidence in the technology would be lost and the price would plummet.  Therefore, there would be no monetary incentive for their effort.  However, if the goal were to crash the price, then I could see some very wealthy entity investing a bunch of resources into hashing power to try and break the chain....It's something to think about, but I don't think we need to worry about those in control of the hashing power at this point....they want to make money and they would lose money if they were to attack the network.

[thend1949]

Bitcoin could be hacked i think theres no system is safe but they difficult to hacked this.. Many tried to hacked this but they dont succeed ..

[Zaun]

Bitcoin itself cannot get hacked, you wallet can be hacked but this would be your own problem and you most likely can also blame yourself for it.
I think a paper wallet is very secure and you will not get hacked for sure.

[Mumbeeptind1963]

Bitcoin itself cannot get hacked, you wallet can be hacked but this would be your own problem and you most likely can also blame yourself for it.
I think a paper wallet is very secure and you will not get hacked for sure.

Yup now the wallet can be hacked but i think in the future they can break the security of bitcoin. Thats possible in the future but if that happen many bitcoin user dont use it so it can make the bitcoin price down if that happen

[bL4nkcode]

No one can hack bitcoin but a web wallet, desktop wallet or whatsoever can be hack, it depends on you are so careless to login
without observing the address bar of your browser , well that is phishing if you are using a web wallet but if n desktop maybe someone access your PC or laptop and knows about your informations and get hacked

[BellaBitBit]

No bitcoin cannot be hacked but YOUR wallets can and exchanges can be hacked as well.  If you are asking in concern of your own bitcoin there are many measures you can take to protect your own bitcoins.  Always do 2FA and consider offline wallets when possible.

[Vaskiy]

No bitcoin cannot be hacked but YOUR wallets can and exchanges can be hacked as well.  If you are asking in concern of your own bitcoin there are many measures you can take to protect your own bitcoins.  Always do 2FA and consider offline wallets when possible.

There is no possibility for bitcoin wallet to be hacked, it's only our mistake if it gets hacked, bitcoin has strong codes that protects it and it the human mistake making huge problems.

[requester]

I think yes but as long my wallets wont be hacked its ok.

Its hard to wait and rank accounts.

[senyorito123]

No bitcoin cannot be hacked but YOUR wallets can and exchanges can be hacked as well.  If you are asking in concern of your own bitcoin there are many measures you can take to protect your own bitcoins.  Always do 2FA and consider offline wallets when possible.

There is no possibility for bitcoin wallet to be hacked, it's only our mistake if it gets hacked, bitcoin has strong codes that protects it and it the human mistake making huge problems.

I think its hackable by those pro hackers because for them no system is safe and also phising site is the most common way to hack the bitcoin wallets if the owner log in to their bait then they stole your password and email. And i think thay way you will be hack even not pro can make phisinf site today and it is very scattered now in fb groups and many were victimized by this kind of modus.

[Jasad]

I've heard that if a group of people controls most of the coins, or transactions, whatever... they could change the bitcoin program, steal etc. How much of this is true and what is the chance that it happens?

EDIT: Yes I was talking about the 51% thing. This thing makes bitcoin look like democracy, which sucks.

i think as technology and program,bitcoin is safe and can't hacked. because so far i never found people find blackk hole in bitcoin program. and the only reason that make bitcoin can be hacked,its a human error,phising,scamming,and other way that doing related with people who have bitcoin on wallet.

[goinmerry]

I believe that once you are connected through the internet then you are hackable. Even the government websites are being hacked now even if they have the highest security or they have their own line it is still being hacked by really bright minds.

[Jeremycoin]

As Wikipedia says, Hacking|exploits weaknesses in a computer system or computer network.
Maybe the can do something bad to the Blockchain, like sending a lot 0 fee transactions. But however, they can't get through the system.

[daringdiscovered]

Yes bitcoin industry and bitcoin source,bitcoin wallets,bitcoin itself can be hacked because it's security is not too strong to stand against too many hackers if they will join as one to bruteforce bitcoin.Bitcoins is the apple of the eye of some hackers out there cause of its big value.There is already a history of bitcoin system being hacked but dont worry developers wont let it come that worst

[praprata]

The bitcoin itself cannot be hacked but wallets can be hacked without any doubts, wallets are hacked easily if people just use a simple password.
Always check your firewall and other virus protection stuff.

[Viyamore]

No , it can't be hacked because bitcoins are secured also the transactions are keep anonymously ,but bitcoin otself as they said that it can be hacked and that depends on us .

[delliaerd]

The bitcoin itself cannot be hacked but wallets can be hacked without any doubts, wallets are hacked easily if people just use a simple password.
Always check your firewall and other virus protection stuff.

I couldn't agree more with you the wallet is possible to hacked by someone. Sometimes someone have stolen his balance by someone.

[Dr.Osh]

I do not know, so many great hackers out there, there might be someone who could hack the system owned bitcoin. even so many hackers who broke into a bank with a security system that is almost equivalent to that of bitcoin. but it may be very difficult to hack bitcoin system, since users are also mostly an undetectable, maybe all the people there is someone who has excellent computer skills that maintains the bitcoin system from within

[mrayazgul]

I think bitcoin can never be hacked.

[Whosdaddy]

Of course. Bitcoin is a part of the virtual network and as far as I know, everything as in literally everything inside the galactic network (internet) can be hacked, given the proper manpower, knowledge, tools and equipment.

I'm sure bitcoin isn't strictly 100% safe from all attacks but what I can guarantee is that Bitcoin has some kind of a security level so high.

[adriaymati58]

I doubt it could be hacked in that way of expressing it, I think the network overall might be damaged if a %51 attack was initiated but that itself is rather unlikely, and it would ruin the whole network rather than "hacking" it.

[miningdude]

Bitcoin cannot be hacked but wallet yes. unless you got secured wallet or online wallet secured

[CoinsOrDie]

For example China could in theory "hack" bitcoin by plowing a few billion into mining farms and screw up the network. It would almost certainly cost more than the cost of the harm they could do, though. The community could probably also fend off even powerful attackers to some extent if they really had to.

[OROBTC]

...

Most of you guys are saying that there are quite a few avenues of attack to get your Bitcoin.

I am pretty well convinced that the math of the system means that the cryptography cannot be broken yet.  That may change, but it does look pretty strong for YEARS (Satoshi thought ahead).

But, there are all kinds of other threats: keystroke loggers, bad on-line wallets, the disturbingly common exchange thefts, smartphone vulnerabilities, etc.

I like the hardware wallets Ledger Nano and Trezor for storing the bulk of my BTC.  I keep just enough at blockchain.info to spend or to transfer when I want.

[dragonusa9]

i dont think that bitcoin can be hacked, that the bitcoin priority is anonymous that make bitcoin harder to be hacked
but if the thing refer to the hot wallet, i think it's still possible for hacking the wallet service server