<p>No.</p>

<p>Bitcoin is an economical system. To become a pool operator, you must have 1) <em>large amount of bitcoin</em> or 2) <em>large amount of hardware</em>. Both requires you to be an "investor". In contrast to Proof of Stake, it is not easy to sell everything and leave Bitcoin in short time, which means you're informally "contracted" to Bitcoin. To put it another way, the only proper way to profit is long term mining. That requires you to ensure that it won't decrease in value. (1% increase is actually a lot for them) As a consequence, you can't attack Bitcoin even if you have the power to do that, as it'll affect its value.</p>

<p>This was the reason Emin Gün Sirer's <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1311.0243" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Majority is Not Enough: Bitcoin Mining is Vulnerable</a> was controversial.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-17T13:48:13.100Z
2018-10-17T13:48:13.100Z
MCCCS
<p>Given that the majority of bitcoin processing is done in China (source: <a href="https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/report-links-74-bitcoin-mining-china-sees-threat-network/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/report-links-74-bitcoin-mining-china-sees-threat-network/</a>), is it possible for a single entity to accomplish double spending (or be forced into accomplishing it by the Chinese government) to make profit for themselves or for the country?</p>

<p>How likely is it for all the separate entities doing the mining in China to be forced into complying and compromising the network's validity and has there ever been credible reports of such a thing occurring on bitcoin's front specifically?</p>

<doublespend><majority-attack><china>
Is a 51% attack on bitcoin likely?
John
# Is a 51% attack on bitcoin likely?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-17)

Given that the majority of bitcoin processing is done in China (source: <https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/report-links-74-bitcoin-mining-china-sees-threat-network/>), is it possible for a single entity to accomplish double spending (or be forced into accomplishing it by the Chinese government) to make profit for themselves or for the country?

How likely is it for all the separate entities doing the mining in China to be forced into complying and compromising the network's validity and has there ever been credible reports of such a thing occurring on bitcoin's front specifically?

**Tags:** doublespend, majority-attack, china


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-10-17. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

No.

Bitcoin is an economical system. To become a pool operator, you must have 1) *large amount of bitcoin* or 2) *large amount of hardware*. Both requires you to be an "investor". In contrast to Proof of Stake, it is not easy to sell everything and leave Bitcoin in short time, which means you're informally "contracted" to Bitcoin. To put it another way, the only proper way to profit is long term mining. That requires you to ensure that it won't decrease in value. (1% increase is actually a lot for them) As a consequence, you can't attack Bitcoin even if you have the power to do that, as it'll affect its value.

This was the reason Emin Gün Sirer's [Majority is Not Enough: Bitcoin Mining is Vulnerable](https://arxiv.org/abs/1311.0243) was controversial.


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