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Showing posts with the label chain death

The Bitcoin Chain Death Cycle In 2018

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Chain Death Cryptocurrencies have struggled to gain their footing in 2018 following a barrage of regulatory concerns, hacks, and high-profile scams. While many headlines suggest that this is the beginning of the end for cryptos, the tremendous amount of institutional wealth flowing into the space suggests otherwise. It may get much worse though, before it gets better.   Still, it is important for any investor to recognize the hurdles ahead. Many cryptocurrencies, including King Bitcoin, still face blockchain destroying vulnerabilities. While the recent additions of the Lightning Network and SegWit removed some of the most daunting concerns of a potential ‘Chain Death,’ the threat still exists, and it’s more than just Bitcoin at risk. Bitcoin vs. Bitcoin Cash Last year’s Chain Death Spiral fears stemmed from the battle between Bitcoin and the Bitcoin Cash hard fork / airdrop. Following the August fork, miners migrated between the two coins, testing the profitability of each. As miners

Insights into Chain Death Spiral and Other Vulnerabilities Plaguing Bitcoin

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Bitcoin (BTC) has been in the limelight lately for all the wrong reasons, including its associated risks and some vulnerabilities it has. A few of the most concerning vulnerabilities and issues that BTC faces are related to: problems with difficulty adjustment, the possibility of a Chain Death Spiral, and the ongoing rise in the mempool. In the following sections, we will explore these issues in greater detail. A Closer Look at Vulnerabilities and Issues Bitcoin is Facing Issue #1: Bitcoin's Vulnerability With Respect to Difficulty Adjustment and the 2016 Blocks Right at the time of the Bitcoin fork, it became clear that Bitcoin’s protocol has an inherent vulnerability. The vulnerability relates to the difficulty adjustment: in the event there is a loss of mining power by the chain, it will have to wait for a total of 2016 blocks to be processed before a difficulty adjustment can take place to bring the block time back to its normal ten minute target. If mining power is not restore