Quote from: stevegreer on January 17, 2015, 11:52:52 AM

Quote from: valarmg on January 17, 2015, 11:13:12 AM

The whole point of crypto-coins is that they are safe from doublespend. If someone shows that they aren't, then he is doing a service to the cryptocurrency industry.

Crypto is still in early days. We are building bridges, and it's better for someone to stress test the bridges before they are declared safe for the general population. If these bridges are unsafe, I want to know now (even if I lose some money).

You'll notice that many who are invested in PoS coins want attacks to be attempted. Better it happen out in the open now rather than in secret in the future.

Also, his attacks don't seem to be destroying coins, just showing they aren't safe. No reason coins couldn't shore up their defenses after the attack, and come back stronger.

I agree with what you are saying. However, from reading his posts it doesn't seem like he is actually trying to be helpful. It seems more like a "look what I can do" kind of thing. Did the Apexcoin community, whatever there is of it, ask him to attack them? He supposedly successfully attacked Apexcoin, and now the crypto world knows there is a vulnerability in POS. Is there really a need to continue any further attacks? Attack all the dead coins you want, but leave legitimate coins alone.

Because a guy does something for his own reasons don't necessarily make it without merit on its own. I agree with you on his apparent motives, but as a POS afficionado, I'd still encourage guys like this because if they can do it, it shows a vulnerability that needs fixing.