As Bitcoin Turns 13, The Network Is More Secure Than Ever

Here's a fascinating and reassuring stat from the mining industry, arsenic it basal close present it would instrumentality much than 2 years for an attacker with 100% of the web hashrate to wholly rewrite the Bitcoin ledger dating backmost to January 3rd, 2009 (Happy Genesis Block Day, freaks!). Said different way, the web is beauteous damn unafraid astatine the moment. More unafraid than it's ever been. You tin remainder casual if you person made a transaction that is sitting nether a fig of blocks.

This caller each clip precocious comes arsenic the web hashrate is re-approaching each clip highs.

The inclination of Proof of Work equivalent days expanding has been raging up and to the close since mid-2019. Back past it would person taken a small little than a twelvemonth to rewrite the full chain. The information has much than doubled since then. Which is starring maine to judge that this has been the astir under-appreciated cardinal information constituent implicit the past 2 and a fractional years.

Many (myself included) person been focused connected the maturation of the Lightning Network, organization and firm adoption, Bitcoin successful the eyes of regulators, and its permeation passim popular culture, among different things. And this isn't to accidental that each of these things aren't large things that person been going on. However, it is beauteous brainsick that Proof of Work equivalent days don't get much radiance successful the mainstream due to the fact that it is 1 of (if not, the) champion metric to gauge web security, which should beryllium a ample determining origin that pb to maturation of the metrics mentioned above.

Individuals should consciousness comfy utilizing the Lightning Network due to the fact that they are anchoring into a protocol keeping way of a ledger that is improbable to beryllium reorganized; giving those individuals much certainty that they tin fastener up sats connected the 2nd furniture and transact with them determination without the fearfulness of not having a UTXO determination for them erstwhile they spell to adjacent a channel.

Institutions, corporations, and retail investors alike should lone consciousness comfy moving tiny and ample amounts of worth into the web if they consciousness assured that it volition beryllium cemented successful a artifact with small likelihood of being removed by a malicious miner.

Regulators should consciousness little disquieted astir retailers losing funds via the protocol if it is much secure.

And the nationalist astatine ample should proceed to consciousness much comfy with the normalization of Bitcoin arsenic a web that is not lone present to stay, but is present to play a pivotal relation successful economical coordination connected a planetary standard lone if they cognize that the web is becoming much unafraid arsenic much radical are onboarded.

Somehow, astir wholly nether the radar, the economical incentives of the network, peculiarly the mining industry, person successfully created an highly robust and unafraid web that is becoming harder and harder to onslaught by the day. This is simply a beauteous thing. Most radical are focused connected transaction throughput and astute contracting capabilities, but each of that is for naught if the web isn't secure.

Luckily for the world, determination is not overmuch to interest astir astatine the infinitesimal successful regards to the information of a transaction that has been confirmed and is sitting underneath galore blocks. We person the quality to absorption connected the things supra this basal furniture necessity. This isn't priced in. Act accordingly.