Hal Finney: Future Bitcoin security depends on price
2011 Mar 18
See all posts
Hal Finney: Future Bitcoin security depends on price @ Satoshi Nakamoto
- Author
-
Hal Finney
- Email
-
satoshinakamotonetwork@proton.me
- Site
-
https://satoshinakamoto.network
We know that Bitcoin's resistance to attack is based on the cost for
the attacker to overwhelm the network, or at least to control a large
fraction of its computing power. We assume this cost will continue to
rise in the future so attacks will be infeasible even for well-funded
attackers.
But the computational power of the network is proportional to
difficulty; and it appears that difficulty is proportional to bitcoin
price. It follows that unless bitcoins become substantially more
valuable than they are today, the Bitcoin network will never be
substantially more resistant to attack than it is today.
For Bitcoin to succeed and become secure, bitcoins must become vastly
more expensive.
Hal Finney: Future Bitcoin security depends on price
2011 Mar 18 See all postsHal Finney
satoshinakamotonetwork@proton.me
https://satoshinakamoto.network
We know that Bitcoin's resistance to attack is based on the cost for the attacker to overwhelm the network, or at least to control a large fraction of its computing power. We assume this cost will continue to rise in the future so attacks will be infeasible even for well-funded attackers.
But the computational power of the network is proportional to difficulty; and it appears that difficulty is proportional to bitcoin price. It follows that unless bitcoins become substantially more valuable than they are today, the Bitcoin network will never be substantially more resistant to attack than it is today.
For Bitcoin to succeed and become secure, bitcoins must become vastly more expensive.