Bitmain edging close to 51%

[aoluain]

Im not one for scaremongering  but I read an article on http://bitcoinist.com/bitmain-51-percent-bitcoin-hashrate/
titled "Bitmain Approaching 51% of Total Bitcoin Network Hashrate".

Now we all know the dangers of the 51% and too much control and
I wasnt aware bitmain had such a big slice bitcoin mining are they
really a threat to the 51% capacity and is it something to be concerned
about?

Also would it be the case that if they got closer to that figure smaller
miners in the pool would move to another?

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[franky1]

more social drama to cause community to ruin bitcoin security by changing the mining algo... (facepalm)

funny part is to achieve changing the algo. core would need to do yet another 35% mandatory attack, threatening the network with IP bans and block rejections.. oh but there will be baseball caps available again. (facepalm)

remember this though folks.
one positive lesson about the august 2017 mandatory split.
if blocks dont fit the rules of the network it doesnt matter what they produce, they will get rejected.

the fear is not that a pool can just magic money up 50 billion bitcoins simply by having enough hashrate. their blocks will gt rejjected in 2 seconds no matter what the hashrate is.

the only thing that will happen is that if a pool with large majority does something that does not fit the rules. then the blocks get rejected and the only result is slower block solutions frrom the remaining pools.

changing the algo is DEFINETLY going to cause not only a risk to security but also delays in block solutions from all pools because ALL pools use the same algo.

so a change in algo affects EVERY POOL and will delay EVERY BLOCK
dont let yourself get fed into the fud of what pools can do to blocks(data). and realise the blocks would get rejected if they try..
wise up to the reality that if the network(CODE) changes. it affects everyone

[BelieveInBTC]

I was sure that Bitmain already has more than 51% of the Bitcoin network because they are the largest Bitcoin ASIC manufacturer. Probably they have lots of hardware which is still not used. I doubt that they will ever perform a 51% attack because it would also hurt their precious Bitcoin Cash and probably every other cryptocurrency on the market.

[avikz]

Earlier Ghash had also achieved this magic number of network hashrate and they had asked miners to move their resources into different mining pools to maintain the balance. However, the case is not the same for bitmain. But I doubt they will be performing 51% attack on the network because it would halt the entire network. That will not be profitable for them in any way. 

Also like Franky correctly mentioned that changing the algorithm will cause a serious security risk so that route is mostly unlikely. Lets just hope for good because that is the only thing we can do now.

[SpiryGolden]

Earlier Ghash had also achieved this magic number of network hashrate and they had asked miners to move their resources into different mining pools to maintain the balance. However, the case is not the same for bitmain. But I doubt they will be performing 51% attack on the network because it would halt the entire network. That will not be profitable for them in any way. 

Also like Franky correctly mentioned that changing the algorithm will cause a serious security risk so that route is mostly unlikely. Lets just hope for good because that is the only thing we can do now.

That sounds pretty awful, event. Hopefully, they are the good intent. Yet who knows overnight what code they will push..... .

[Accertarsi]

There is a high chance of moving from bitcoin by the small miners. But this is not so easy. To control 51%, huge investment and huge technology required which is tough to handle. So I believe if they start, it will hard to continue by them.

[Kakmakr]

Also, DO NOT forget that a 51% attack will destroy the Cow that produce the milk for BitMain. Their whole business will be ruined if they get blamed for this attack. It is also a very costly exercise to sustain such an attack for a long period of time. I predict that we would see a shift in hashing power, as they get closer to the 51% attack scenario. < I base this on what happened when Ghash reached that threshold a few years ago >

They will do the responsible thing and if they do not do that, then they would destroy themselves.

[Wind_FURY]

more social drama to cause community to ruin bitcoin security by changing the mining algo... (facepalm)

funny part is to achieve changing the algo. core would need to do yet another 35% mandatory attack, threatening the network with IP bans and block rejections.. oh but there will be baseball caps available again. (facepalm)

It should be of concern. Some of the miners that are using Antpool and Bitcoin.com should simply use another pool. No drama.

If that is "social drama" then Bitcoin Cash is also making one of its own. Some people are saying that Bitcoin Cash is "being attacked". I believe it will "end" unsuccesfully, and then Roger Ver will get the attention again and say Bitcoin Cash is "resilient". Hahaha.

remember this though folks.
one positive lesson about the august 2017 mandatory split.
if blocks dont fit the rules of the network it doesnt matter what they produce, they will get rejected.

the fear is not that a pool can just magic money up 50 billion bitcoins simply by having enough hashrate. their blocks will gt rejjected in 2 seconds no matter what the hashrate is.

the only thing that will happen is that if a pool with large majority does something that does not fit the rules. then the blocks get rejected and the only result is slower block solutions frrom the remaining pools.

changing the algo is DEFINETLY going to cause not only a risk to security but also delays in block solutions from all pools because ALL pools use the same algo.

so a change in algo affects EVERY POOL and will delay EVERY BLOCK
dont let yourself get fed into the fud of what pools can do to blocks(data). and realise the blocks would get rejected if they try..
wise up to the reality that if the network(CODE) changes. it affects everyone

Yes, the importance of running full, non-mining, validating nodes which some Bitcoin Cash people say "do not matter".

[Pursuer]

first of all the article itself is saying they control 42% not 51% and although when you look at percentages it may look like nothing but it is a HUGE difference there. we are not talking about 9% of a small total hashrate like 100 GHS total. we are talking about 9% of a HUGE hashrate = 37.395 Ehash/s according to bitinfocharts. that is 3.365 Ehash/s. that is not something you can easily summon.

secondly it is combination of more than one pool not just one pool having a large hashrate and it relies upon the fact that these pools are controlled by one company (bitmain).

and finally it is a mining pool not a mining farm. a mining pool's hashrate belongs to many different miners coming from many different places all around the world. they can switch to another mining pool if they feel like the mining pool they are connected to can 51% attack the network and ruin the thing they are mining and spending money on. they will take their investment (their hashrate/ASICs) to some other pool.

[atariguy]

the article plays with emotions, but I understand it has nothing to do with reality. the bottom line is that 51% of all produced equipment produced Bitmain, but not 51% of capacity. I understand. if the second - it means nothing

[Xpod78]

Im not one for scaremongering  but I read an article on http://bitcoinist.com/bitmain-51-percent-bitcoin-hashrate/
titled "Bitmain Approaching 51% of Total Bitcoin Network Hashrate".

Now we all know the dangers of the 51% and too much control and
I wasnt aware bitmain had such a big slice bitcoin mining are they
really a threat to the 51% capacity and is it something to be concerned
about?

Also would it be the case that if they got closer to that figure smaller
miners in the pool would move to another?

Not going to lie, I wasn't really worried about it until they announced that they're going to slash their fees for the next 3 months.

[jseverson]

I'd like to contest this:

Bitmain Technologies Ltd. — the Beijing based Bitcoin mining company reported astonishing profits in 2017, taking in between $3 and $4 billion.

Bitmain didn't report anything. If you follow the link in the article, it says that number was estimated by a third party research firm. I'm not discrediting the article, I just want to point out that it has a tendency to exaggerate.

Either way, Bitmain won't dare to cross that threshold and would likely relent if they get close to the number. They probably have the most to lose out of any entity should a 51% attack be possible.

[BTCLovingDude]

more social drama to cause community to ruin bitcoin security by changing the mining algo... (facepalm)

apart from the security risks, changing the algorithm (based on the proposals that i have seen so far) will not solve anything at all. it will not even change anything or even put a dent in the power that companies such as bitmain has!

the only thing that it does is to fuck with bitcoin, its price and any small or new business (like the Japanese Internet Giants) that have just entered ASIC manufacturing because bitmain has already made their profit and if the change happens they simply start creating new ASICs and make a lot more profit than before because they start selling more since the old ASICs would be obsolete and miners have to buy new ASICs. so in the end that change will just make bitmain bigger.

[O9NpJ9ld1opS]

Accurately speaking, Bitmain controls nearly 45% of total btc hashing power. Still a big number. But I think there is nothing to worry about a 51% attack. Bitmain is a reputed company and let's hope that they won't do that. Moreover Bitmain made 3-4billion$ from revenue last year, doing a 51% attack will end their business.

[Thefrolly]

Well its not a single entity like Bitmain having all that hash power but many miners combined who are making up the 51%. If Bitmain gets evil and tries to perform a 51% attack on the Bitcoin network than all the miners can pull out their hash power from it and Bitmain would be left with not much power to do anything.

[dothebeats]

Usually, BITMAIN is maxing out their hashing power everytime a new batch of their miners are created and ready for shipping. They are just taking advantage of the time remaining to stress-test these miners before shipping it out, as was the case even in the previous years. Their hashrate would surely subside once the new batch is out for shipping and the hashrate is distributed again. They will not hit the 51% as they know it will affect their business model and the miners wouldn't be sold since everyone had already pulled out their assets through such a dumb move.

[brickafterbrickwalldpt]

I don't think that they are irresponsible, they won't perform 51% attack. They earn a lot of money on selling ASICs and mining Bitcoin. There is no point for them to increase the panic among the investors. If they actually performed that attack, it would be disastrous for our community. People would say that cryptocurrencies have failed and they would not succeed for the next few years.

[jonalva]

Based on crypto market there are many ideas are coming through the many websites and forums but this not a good idea I think because its not so easy and this algorithm is really unnecessary for user it will cause of risk so this so we should think another idea.

[Way2Cool]

government can't take down the market, banks neither.
Bitmain can. Bitmain control the market. Bitmain control everything...

[mamichula]

I've really researched the 51% problem. What I wonder, does it automatically create a problem, or does Bitmain have to take advantage of something for it to be a problem.