Buy ASIC to protect the network from a 51% attack

[gollum]

With the attention BitCoin is getting in the media and the growing market cap makes the risk greater for attacks from governments to destroy bitcoin – Therefore it is more important than ever that enthusiasts start to invest in mining – not for the sake of mining and earning money but to protect the network. The wealthiest people in bitcoin should have the greatest reason to protect their wealth buy investing some money on mining so they can protect the network. The same is true for exchanges such as MtGox - they should invest some of their profits to protect bitcoin (by mining).

Today we got a 60,000 GHash network that equals 1000 “BFL Single SC”. If an evil government or bank would like to take control over the network they could simply let a Chinese contractor manufacture 2,000 equals of “BFL Single SC” for the development cost of 1 million dollars + 2000 * 500$/device = 2 million dollars – that is nothing compared to the yearly budget of NSA. With the hashing power of 120,000 GHash they would control 67% of the network.

The question is how much they are willing to invest to wage war on Bitcoin? 100 million dollars? That would mean at least 5 dollars should be invested in mining hardware for every bitcoin that has been or will be created. Everyone having more than 100 Bitcoins should invest in ASIC, when they become available and affordable.

[Gabi]

I agree about the fact that there is a serious risk of a 51% attack. Bitcoin is still small, such attack is feasible.

[greyhawk]

The question is how much they are willing to invest to wage war on Bitcoin? 100 million dollars?

Take a gun, shoot Roger Ver, Charlie Shrem, Gavin Andresen, Mark Karpeles and Erik Vorhees. Good night, bitcoin.

How much do 5 bullets cost?

[Gabi]

They aren't the only programmers in the world 

[gollum]

I agree about the fact that there is a serious risk of a 51% attack. Bitcoin is still small, such attack is feasible.

Bitcoin is the biggest cryptocurrency but still easy to atack on with just 2 million dollars!
Imagine how easy it is to attack even smaller Bitcoin clones such as LiteCoin, SolidCoin, ShitCoin et al... Therefore securing the bitcoin network via mining will also minimize the threat from bitcoin competitors since the gap is widening in hashing power between BitCoin and the competitors.

[greyhawk]

They aren't the only programmers in the world  

So you add a bullet or two. The point is: remove the movers and shakers and the whole thing grinds to a halt, especially with how prevalent the cult of personality  is in bitcoin and the ratio between "idea men" and "do-ers".

[gollum]

Or give them a proposal they cannot refuse: let a CIAs venture capital firm such as In-Q-Tel buy them out and invest millions in them and pay them huge salaries. Make them sell their soul to the devil... (Facebook is the most known example)
http://www.businessinsider.com/25-cutting-edge-companies-funded-by-the-central-intelligence-agency-2012-8?op=1

And reamake the technology so it benefits the interests of the government while people are falsly believing that they are liberated, instead government can easier trace them than they could do ever before... And the technology is now so widely used that you cannot stop using it even if you are aware you are being spied on. Can you shut down your facebook account? No, you will lose the connection to lot of friends, you will be isolated and alone. Because facebook is now a part of our life, and the government loves it since this is the best spying tool ever created.

[Yankee (BitInstant)]

The question is how much they are willing to invest to wage war on Bitcoin? 100 million dollars?

Take a gun, shoot Roger Ver, Charlie Shrem, Gavin Andresen, Mark Karpeles and Erik Vorhees. Good night, bitcoin.

How much do 5 bullets cost?

That wouldn't do much lol

[blockbet.net]

Is mining profitable at the moment? If it is, then I would assume every individual and company with a bit of extra cash would buy all the ASICs they can produce, and there would be no way the government could keep up with that.

[Eri]

Or give them a proposal they cannot refuse: let a CIAs venture capital firm such as In-Q-Tel buy them out and invest millions in them and pay them huge salaries. Make them sell their soul to the devil... (Facebook is the most known example)
http://www.businessinsider.com/25-cutting-edge-companies-funded-by-the-central-intelligence-agency-2012-8?op=1

And reamake the technology so it benefits the interests of the government while people are falsly believing that they are liberated, instead government can easier trace them than they could do ever before... And the technology is now so widely used that you cannot stop using it even if you are aware you are being spied on. Can you shut down your facebook account? No, you will lose the connection to lot of friends, you will be isolated and alone. Because facebook is now a part of our life, and the government loves it since this is the best spying tool ever created.

just a few random facts,

TOR was developed by the US Gov't then released and made public where they continue to fund 50% of its costs(last a checked a year or so ago). Tor itself allows you to essentially hide a needle in a haystack with regards to communication. it allows you to communicate with people in other countries.  the Govt's TOR would not work unless the public/world used it, there would be no 'hay' to hide their 'needles'. it also has the benefit of being publicly tested and secured as it is today.

To me that shares a striking resemblance to bitcoin and bitcoin fills the other half of a symbiotic role with it.
TOR: allows you to hide communication (at its start this wasnt the case because of a lack of users.)
Bitcoin: allows you to send (and later hide) money transfers.

those two combined are a govt's wet dream.

bitcoin as it stands doesnt have the user base or the stability to be of any use, but then neither did Tor when it started. Bitcoin can hide the source of a transaction, you just need a mixing service with a large enough user base.


If the gov't made bitcoin, they will have no reason to destroy it. even if they didnt make it, it could make sense to adopt its usefulness at a later date.


In the realm of speculation, it could be used to buy the country out of debt in the future if the gov't holds enough bitcoins and it catches on.



tldr. I dont think they will stop bitcoin, the same way they didnt stop Tor.

[porcupine87]

Today we got a 60,000 GHash network that equals 1000 “BFL Single SC”. If an evil government or bank would like to take control over the network they could simply let a Chinese contractor manufacture 2,000 equals of “BFL Single SC” for the development cost of 1 million dollars + 2000 * 500$/device = 2 million dollars – that is nothing compared to the yearly budget of NSA. With the hashing power of 120,000 GHash they would control 67% of the network.

So you say, if I buy "BFL Single SC" for 1Mio., I have 50% of the hashrate of the network so I would create 50% of the blocks and would earn $150 000 a day? In one week the investment would be amortized? Ok, let's assume the exchange rate crashes to 10$ per BTC. And don't forget electricity. Then it would be one month.

Why do people not invest?

[Gabi]

They aren't the only programmers in the world  

So you add a bullet or two. The point is: remove the movers and shakers and the whole thing grinds to a halt, especially with how prevalent the cult of personality  is in bitcoin and the ratio between "idea men" and "do-ers".

Then you will have anonymous programmers doing everything behind proxies, TOR and whatelse. What then?

[WinVery.com]

The NSA most likely does not need new hardware:



Anyone want to guess at the hashing speed of these?

[The Bitcoin Catalog]

OP: Good point.
I think it's the responsibility to all of us to protect the network no matter how.