Quote from: Rotsor on November 19, 2012, 07:42:07 AM

Also this: http://gavintech.blogspot.com.ar/2012/05/neutralizing-51-attack.html
Basically, it says that a crude proof-of-stake can quickly and easily be bolted upon the protocol if and when the attack comes.

This is interesting, and it seems like a valid defence, though I can spot two weaknesses. First is that having more bitcoin-days is "easily" accomplished by having more than half the bitcoins. So you'd need 51% of hashing and 51% of bitcoins. Second is more subtle. If people get paid (e.g. civil servants) in the govt-approved blockchain, then they'll have to use that chain to spend their money. If there are lots of civil servants, then the govt blockchain will be correspondingly more important.

Quote from: cbeast on November 19, 2012, 04:08:12 PM

Remember the Boston Tea Party? These servers will be easy to locate and isolate from the bitcoin network. Block their IPs, and if necessary, permanently.

They'll switch to TOR. Is there any way to block a miner from participating over tor that doesn't involve compromising tor itself?

Quote from: Rassah on November 19, 2012, 05:43:51 PM

I think a government with your goals would be way more effective if it just slapped a unique id on every dollar, and tracked all the transactions from the central ledger it already has.

Not possible with paper money. VERY possible with a blockchain.

Quote from: Rassah on November 19, 2012, 05:43:51 PM

At most, the 51% holding government will be burning a ton of energy while rejecting almost all transactions and transaction fees and creating orphaned blocks, while the remaining pools will continue earning fees and creating blocks the general population would agree to be valid.

Depends proportionately on how many people depend on the govt-blockchain.

Let's pose the problem another way. Suppose tomorrow the US government issued a statement to the effect that they really like the idea behind bitcoin and would be commencing work on a new government-mined blockchain, complete with a new genesis block; obviously with some different mining and block verification procedures. Police, military, doctors, teachers, ALL employees in ALL branches of government would be paid in that new blockchain. How do you see that situation evolving? Now ask yourself, how is that situation any different from executing a surreptitious 51% attack on the current blockchain?

Actually, thinking about that scenario myself, it would seem to be a much more logical path for government to follow. Hah, I just shot myself down Shocked