 |
| Redivision of power within Bitcoin network |
According to statistics of the web-site Blockchain.info, the largest pool – GHash.IO is close to gain 40% of capacity of the whole Bitcoin network. Pool is a collection of nodes involved in “mining” (extraction) of Bitcoins, that is, such, which provide transaction processing. Capturing most of the computing power allows controlling the network, as it is arranged by the protocol.
And, apparently, when you follow a particular strategy, forty percent is enough to significantly reduce the effectiveness of other pools, which, in its turn, also leads to the capture of the whole network. (The strategy is to ensure that the calculated blocks are not published by the pool, but holds, starting to work on the next block in “its” branch. This attack is described in a number of papers devoted to crypto analysis of Bitcoin protocol.)
So probably the next crisis of Bitcoins is close, and it will be accompanied by a sensation in the press that will stimulate interest to this issue. We’ll see. However, today Ghash.IO remains the most powerful and reliable pool for crypto currency mining.
Leave a Reply