Quote from: Spaceman_Spiff on January 19, 2015, 11:03:04 PM

Quote from: JorgeStolfi on January 19, 2015, 10:53:07 PM

Quote from: justusranvier on January 19, 2015, 10:37:44 PM

Quote from: JorgeStolfi on January 19, 2015, 10:34:19 PM

The real problem is the inevitable centralization of mining.

Year after year, the number of active mining pools go up.

Year after year, concern trolls talk about the "inevitable centralization" of mining.

And year after year the bitcoin faithful bury their head in the sand, "if we don't worry about it, it is not a problem".

I have wondered if several decades from now, governments might not end up securing the blockchain by goverment-funded mining in order to protect the economy, property records etc. from evil 51% attacks by terrorist groups or other nations. I might be dreaming of unicorns and rainbows though....

i keep thinking of that great article by Stefan Thomas way back in the first issue of Bitcoin Magazine May 2012 where he writes a fictitious article about foreign state sponsored blockchain 51% attack with an alert US gvt defense mechanism in place that springs into action. it's a great article.