Bitcoin SV, not to be confused with the original Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, has suffered a “51% Attack”. After “unleashing some serious hashing power”, an as-yet-unknown group has successfully started mining three versions of a Blockchain.
A group successfully disturbed the “democratized and decentralized” nature of cryptocurrency by deploying a 51% attack. It appears the attack has now ceased, but it is not clear if the group has permanently halted its tactics.
What is Bitcoin SV and how is it different from the original Bitcoin?
At its core, Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (SV) is a cryptocurrency. Bitcoin has some serious limitations, which the original creators intentionally built into the same.
While creating the BSV, its creators claimed to address these core limitations of the original Bitcoin. BSV was formed in 2018 by a “hard fork”. Simply put, the new version has some polar opposite fundamentals.
FARUM has identified a 51% attack today on the BSV network at around 11:45AM EDT.https://t.co/Oy19UDw53t https://t.co/T3MMRHqPe8
— CoinMetrics.io (@coinmetrics) August 3, 2021
For example, the new BSV has a much large “Mining Block”. The creators insist the large size reduces transaction fees. However, some proponents of the original Bitcoin, strongly object to such modification.
The new BSV could benefit big financial institutions and large crypto-mining farms, claim some experts. Apparently, this goes against the intentions behind creating cryptocurrency.
There’s no doubt that Bitcoin SV does not enjoy the massive support from the cryptocurrency community as compared to the original Bitcoin.
The hard-fork suffers the fifth attack on the network within this year itself:
Given the fact that Bitcoin SV is largely hated for going against the core principles of cryptocurrency, it is no surprise that there would be attacks on the platform.
However, it is concerning to note that BSV has suffered the fifth such attack on the network since late June. Multiple reports have confirmed that all of Bitcoin SV recorded “a deep reorg with a max depth of 14 blocks”
All of our FARUM nodes witnessed a deep reorg with a max depth of 14 blocks.
No further reorganization events have been witnessed, but there are still synchronization conflicts taking place on major mining pools. pic.twitter.com/aM6FoWOKke
— CoinMetrics.io (@coinmetrics) August 3, 2021
There haven’t been any further reorganization events. But, as with any attack on Blockchain, synchronization conflicts were still occurring on major mining pools. Simply put, Bitcoin SV miners are now forced to restructure their mining blocks on a new command.
*all 3 BSV node operators scramble to run the command*
— ⚔ Lawblock ⚔ (@JamesLawblock) August 3, 2021
Needless to mention, the new command has to “unacknowledge” the effects of the “51% Attack”. A 51% attack is basically when a single person or group of miners collectively gains control of more than 50% of the hash rate or computing power of a cryptocurrency mining platform.
To invalidate the fraudulent chain, node operators should run the following command on their #BitcoinSV node:
bitcoin-cli invalidateblock 000000000000000003B67AEC95E9B5DA897EB5EBF3227D5A6A67835104367840
Please reach out on Twitter with any questions for the BA team.
2/2
— Bitcoin Association (@BitcoinAssn) August 3, 2021
By controlling 51% of the Blockchain, the person or group can take decisions unilaterally. As they control more than half of the total hash rate in the network, the group can create their own blocks, regardless of the validity of the transactions.
Simply put, in a democracy, the majority rules. And a cryptocurrency mining group has just rigged the BSV elections, secured a landslide victory, and decided to become a dictator. it is now up to the community to painstakingly undo the damage and restore order.