<p>Since Namecoin <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/128/516">started using merged mining</a> with Bitcoin, its effective processing power increased substantially. The current difficulty is <a href="http://bitcoinx.com/namecoin/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1063443</a>.</p>

<p>This is very high considering the resale value of namecoins (1 namecoin is worth <a href="https://vircurex.com/welcome/index?base=btc&amp;alt=nmc" rel="nofollow noreferrer">0.002 of a bitcoin</a>) and given that the difficulty is 49% of the Bitcoin difficulty.</p>

<p>The Bitcoin network currently is around 16TH/s, so you'd need around 8TH/s to successfully attack the Namecoin network. That would be pretty expensive!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-16T23:57:48.043Z
US$4 million worth of hardware to attack, US$100K of market value of all namecoins issued so far, using the current exchange rate.
Stephen Gornick
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-08-16T22:49:28.960Z
2012-08-17T00:31:31.117Z
2017-04-13T12:47:33.283Z
Highly Irregular
<p>Namecoin sounds neat, but I know that the strength of the network depends on the amount of computing power in use. Namecoin isn't as popular as Bitcoin, so it would be easier for an attacker to control the network. I'm curious how big the difference actually is.</p>

<p>How does the amount of computing power in use compare between the Namecoin and Bitcoin networks?</p>

<network><namecoin>
How does the computing power of the Namecoin network compare to the Bitcoin network?
Jeremy
# How does the computing power of the Namecoin network compare to the Bitcoin network?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-08-16)

Namecoin sounds neat, but I know that the strength of the network depends on the amount of computing power in use. Namecoin isn't as popular as Bitcoin, so it would be easier for an attacker to control the network. I'm curious how big the difference actually is.

How does the amount of computing power in use compare between the Namecoin and Bitcoin networks?

**Tags:** network, namecoin


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-08-16. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Since Namecoin [started using merged mining](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/128/516) with Bitcoin, its effective processing power increased substantially. The current difficulty is [1063443](http://bitcoinx.com/namecoin/).

This is very high considering the resale value of namecoins (1 namecoin is worth [0.002 of a bitcoin](https://vircurex.com/welcome/index?base=btc&alt=nmc)) and given that the difficulty is 49% of the Bitcoin difficulty.

The Bitcoin network currently is around 16TH/s, so you'd need around 8TH/s to successfully attack the Namecoin network. That would be pretty expensive!

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: US$4 million worth of hardware to attack, US$100K of market value of all namecoins issued so far, using the current exchange rate.  

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