PsyOps101: To Destroy Bitcoin, I would...

[Jaime Frontero]

well lemme see here.

1.)  i think the first thing i'd do, if i wanted to destroy Bitcoin (now who would want to do such a thing?), would be to buy a bunch of them.  i would buy those Bitcoin at times calculated to drive the market up fairly quickly.  i might play a little bit with creating noticeable patterns in the markets, for cover.

all i'd need for that would be some money.  it's a thin market - i wouldn't need that much, if i were one of the players who is spooked by the idea of Bitcoin.

2.)  i would invest in massive amounts of mining hardware, and bring it into the network gradually.  why?  follow along...

3.)  then i would avail myself of some blogging software (which i have posted about elsewhere - "online personna management" software, here:
http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=13344.0 ).  i would create many new personnas here, and on other forums that have impact on Bitcoin.  i would not neglect various open news forums like yahoo, etc.  i would begin to snipe at Bitcoin wherever a mention of it appeared.

i would create polarization.

4.)  i would enlist the aid of various political and news figures to begin a campaign against Bitcoin.  that's certainly a well-established infrastructure...

5.) after that - and in concert with my turning up the volume on the blogging personnas i was using to disparage Bitcoin - i would start a sell-off calculated to drive the price down massively.  by then i would have enough Bitcoin, acquired slowly so as to appear as in keeping with the rapid rise of the currency.

6.)  as soon as it appeared confidence in Bitcoin was permanently eroding, i would begin to pull all the hashing power off the network - "oh no!" people (and especially my blogging surrogates) would say: "it's the end!  all the miners are leaving, and the network will be insecure!"

7.)  at that point i would wait for a perfect moment, and execute an attack on the network to fork, or in some way harm, the blockchain - putting back all the hashing power i'd pulled off, and adding a ton more i'd had held in reserve.

i think that's called strategy.

and it might be what's happening now.

just a thought...

[tymothy]

well lemme see here.

1.)  i think the first thing i'd do, if i wanted to destroy Bitcoin (now who would want to do such a thing?), would be to buy a bunch of them.  i would buy those Bitcoin at times calculated to drive the market up fairly quickly.  i might play a little bit with creating noticeable patterns in the markets, for cover.

all i'd need for that would be some money.  it's a thin market - i wouldn't need that much, if i were one of the players who is spooked by the idea of Bitcoin.

2.)  i would invest in massive amounts of mining hardware, and bring it into the network gradually.  why?  follow along...

3.)  then i would avail myself of some blogging software (which i have posted about elsewhere - "online personna management" software, here:
http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=13344.0 ).  i would create many new personnas here, and on other forums that have impact on Bitcoin.  i would not neglect various open news forums like yahoo, etc.  i would begin to snipe at Bitcoin wherever a mention of it appeared.

i would create polarization.

4.)  i would enlist the aid of various political and news figures to begin a campaign against Bitcoin.  that's certainly a well-established infrastructure...

5.) after that - and in concert with my turning up the volume on the blogging personnas i was using to disparage Bitcoin - i would start a sell-off calculated to drive the price down massively.  by then i would have enough Bitcoin, acquired slowly so as to appear as in keeping with the rapid rise of the currency.

6.)  as soon as it appeared confidence in Bitcoin was permanently eroding, i would begin to pull all the hashing power off the network - "oh no!" people (and especially my blogging surrogates) would say: "it's the end!  all the miners are leaving, and the network will be insecure!"

7.)  at that point i would wait for a perfect moment, and execute an attack on the network to fork, or in some way harm, the blockchain - putting back all the hashing power i'd pulled off, and adding a ton more i'd had held in reserve.

i think that's called strategy.

and it might be what's happening now.

just a thought...

JUST LIKE 9/11!!!

[Sief]

Alternatively, you can just ignore bitcoin, because it's very good at destroying itself.

[bitcoinconnection]

That a lot of reaching for such a small topic. People plan everyday to take advantage of the system. Some make it and some do not. I think they will not with btc.



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[MissKara]

then why hasn't it already been destroyed??? i mean its not like it just came out a week or two ago.

Wouldn't it be much easier to use your strategy at say when BTC < $3. Additionally block difficulty to total computational power was more out of balance then it is now.

With that being said, i think it would be safe to assume the USgov has kept an eye on bitcoin since its inexception. How come they haven't shut it down, or other organizations already if it was even possible?

i think what you stated is more saying you could create a crap ton of virus filled torrents and a bunch of machines to distribute them in order to stop p2p file sharing. Which is far from the truth. IN fact what happens is that n00bies who dont know how or what to download and get there computers jacked. These bad torrents dont affect me cuz i dont download em.

In the near future you will see some type of black and grey listing happening on the BTC client. People whom start gamiung the system will be black listed and there trans fees will skyrocket, therefor making it harder then what its worth

so what does it mean to us, that more people who think and "strategize" like what you state, are in fact the ones really being gamed.

Embrace bitcoin its the future economics.

[BinaryMage]

Alternatively, you can just ignore bitcoin, because it's very good at destroying itself.

Every new system is bound to go through instability here and there. Just because the price really fluctuates doesn't mean Bitcoin is going to die. Just look at the stock market.

[Torminalis]

I find it rather reassuring that someone is actually threatened by bitcoin. It seems to confirm alot of my beliefs in the power of the idea.

Usually forums are mainly populated by enthusiasts of a given subject. I have been lurking for a while and have seen a huge influx of very transparent and badly thought out trolls who are clearly trying to sow the seeds of doubt. Most of them I would imagine are second rate copywriters who get paid by the word and have little imagination and a pitiful comprehension of the technology, the economics and the potential.

The thing is though, the enthusiasts on here are obsessed, involved, writing software (as indeed am I) and evangelising. They are confident, capable and most importantly, they are playing the long game.

I suspect that most enthusiasts on here are much like me, they have invested no more than they can afford to lose, have a good grasp of the technology, have wild aspirations to change the world and their own lives and will not be deterred by a correction in the price or some poorly chosen words from a few wannabe bloggers who can't get the hits. It wouldn't surpise me if a few of them weren't hedging their bets and investing a few bucks on the side just in case.

The price will start to rise again, bitoin fans will diversify into other corners of the internet as this place becomes overrun with muppets, cooler heads will prevail and this pause in growth will give some of the more exciting projects time to mature and make Bitcoin granny friendly.

My money is on the can-do techies, they have little to lose and a vision of a better world. All the trolls can frankly go and fuck themselves, as I am sure they do regularly, between posting nonsense on this forum and any others that their minimum wage paymasters demand.

[Torminalis]

and importantly, all you other lurkers need to start talking to help drown out the noise from the naysayers.

Hi, my name is Ben and I am a bitcoin evangelist. 

[hawks5999]

and importantly, all you other lurkers need to start talking to help drown out the noise from the naysayers.

Hi, my name is Ben and I am a bitcoin evangelist. 

Hi Ben.

[TonyHoyle]

I'm not much of an evangelist, just interested.  Don't even normally bother too much with the forums..

But today is wierd.. almost like a coordinated attack.. these trolls are still coming thick and fast.  Easily identifiable because they clearly know squat about bitcoin.

[Torminalis]

Yo hawk man. 

[Sukrim]

6.)  as soon as it appeared confidence in Bitcoin was permanently eroding, i would begin to pull all the hashing power off the network - "oh no!" people (and especially my blogging surrogates) would say: "it's the end!  all the miners are leaving, and the network will be insecure!"

...meanwhile the Bitcoin net hash rate just broke the 8 TH/s barrier the second time and this time even higher.

Also Blockchain forks are not that much of an attack, as long as they are less than 6 blocks long.
To create even a 3 blocks fork, you need either a LOT of hashing power (FAR more than 51%) or a LOT of luck.

Mining is STILL more profitable than a few weeks ago, the net hash rate is still high as always (and growing) - so where's the problem?

It just seems like someone did dump a few thousand BTC on MtGox on open instead of dark pools, either to buy in slowly later or because he/she needed the money. Nothing more, nothing less.

[bitcoinBull]

I would contract the CIA (or whoever) to make the operators of the largest exchanges "disappear" and leave all bitcoin users with the impression that said operators ran off with everyone's money.  Any new exchanges would have already lost all trust before they even opened.

[Jaime Frontero]

and importantly, all you other lurkers need to start talking to help drown out the noise from the naysayers.

Hi, my name is Ben and I am a bitcoin evangelist. 

hi ben.

i am too, although it may not seem like it from this post.

thing is, there's some very serious money out there that is threatened by Bitcoin - and while i definitely see the tremendous advantages of Bitcoin, and am somewhat convinced that it may already be too big to stop, i'm not going to stick my head in the sand either.

i would dearly like to see some 'enthusiastic' moderation on this forum - and maybe some kind of blogswarm notification process so those of us who care to could go to other sites and refute the clearly organized FUD that has been popping up more and more frequently.

in any case, welcome.

[Jaime Frontero]

I would contract the CIA (or whoever) to make the operators of the largest exchanges "disappear" and leave all bitcoin users with the impression that said operators ran off with everyone's money.  Any new exchanges would have already lost all trust before they even opened.

mmmm...

that's unlikely.  and probably counterproductive as far as CIA is concerned.  Bitcoin could be quite useful to them.  it may already be.

no.  my thoughts on any attack against Bitcoin are that a major bank would be the most logical organizer of such a thing.  the money involved would be relative pocket-change - but what they stand to lose is huge.  i have to believe the banks see that, by now.