Seasoned stock trader, Simon Ree, asked famous crypto analyst, Plan B (@100trillionUSD), about the nature of the Bitcoin (BTC) hash-rate. This innocent question led to a discussion on attacks on the Bitcoin (BTC) network.
Too expensive for a small nation-state
Following Mr. Ree's question, another Twitter user asked PlanB whether it's possible to carry out a 'short-term' attack on the Bitcoin (BTC) network in order to hijack all of the miner rewards and send them to the malefactor. According to this ingenious plan, this type of attack could only be repeated once the hash-rate was restored.
PlanB suggested that an attacker would need to be extremely powerful. This attempt would cost a dozen billion U.S. Dollars for the proper hardware supported by an enormous supply of electricity. As per PlanB's calculations, the malefactor would need to operate 10 small nuclear reactors or 'a big fraction of that'.
Fortunately, such an attack wouldn't even be easy for a large nation-state, let alone a small one.
Still waiting for the quantum computations era?
Another of PlanB's followers suggested a less energy-intensive plan. He outlined that, with quantum computations, any private key can be decrypted in 10 minutes to steal victims' funds. Furthermore, even a classical 51%-attack would be much easier to carry out with next-gen computational gear.
As U.Today previously reported, rapid development in quantum computations may pose a threat to Bitcoin (BTC) cryptography. However, some experts believe this technology may revolutionize the blockchain and boost its adoption.
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team
