Self-serving cryptocurrency miners are attacking small blockchain networks
In just the past two weeks, three cryptocurrency networks have been hijacked by miners trying to enrich themselves.
A wave of selfishness: Motherboard reports that Verge, Monacoin, and Bitcoin Gold have all recently fallen victim to the dreaded “51 percent attack,” a nightmare scenario in which a miner or mining group obtains a majority of the network’s power to approve new transactions. An estimated $20 million was lost as a result.
A useful reminder: Just because a cryptocurrency works like Bitcoin, which is enormously difficult to tamper with, doesn’t mean its blockchain is “secure.” Smaller, newer networks that haven’t been battle-tested—of which there has been a proliferation—are particularly risky, and self-interested miners are capitalizing. “We are now beginning to see miners act more strategically,” Cornell professor Emin Gün Sirer told Motherboard, whereas in the past they “lacked technical sophistication” and had fewer potential targets (see “How secure is a blockchain really?”).
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build
“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”
Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives
The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.
Learning to code isn’t enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google
Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.