> If, say, there’s 50 computers in the network and you’re only connected to 5 who happen to be attackers, they could tell you that you only have 5 coins instead of 20.
No node ever "tells" any information to another. They only pass blocks, blocks either are valid or invalid. If they are valid and part of the main chain, they are the truth. No node ever communicates the balance of a wallet directly, that's the local nodes responsibility.
There is no trust in Bitcoin, that's the entire point.
> No node ever "tells" any information to another.
Yes it does. Nodes "broadcast" information to other nodes. And by information I mean blocks of course. Wanted to keep it as jargon-free as possible.
> There is no trust in Bitcoin, that's the entire point.
This is unfortunately incorrect. You, as a Bitcoin user, require 50% or more trust that the honest nodes in the network can generate blocks at a faster pace than the attackers.
If for whatever reason an attacker generates blocks at a faster pace than the entire network, they could attack you by invalidating your latest payments (simply not accepting them in the block).
The current XRDS issue (ACM student magainze) has a very good explanation (human readable for both technical and non-technical). And it's free!
http://xrds.acm.org/article.cfm?aid=2510124
Very good initiative to explain Bitcoin, a lot of people like myself don't understand how this obscure currency works. Perhaps you should should further include P2P and how mining works!
[+] [-] nwh|12 years ago|reply
> If, say, there’s 50 computers in the network and you’re only connected to 5 who happen to be attackers, they could tell you that you only have 5 coins instead of 20.
No node ever "tells" any information to another. They only pass blocks, blocks either are valid or invalid. If they are valid and part of the main chain, they are the truth. No node ever communicates the balance of a wallet directly, that's the local nodes responsibility.
There is no trust in Bitcoin, that's the entire point.
[+] [-] sktrdie|12 years ago|reply
Yes it does. Nodes "broadcast" information to other nodes. And by information I mean blocks of course. Wanted to keep it as jargon-free as possible.
> There is no trust in Bitcoin, that's the entire point.
This is unfortunately incorrect. You, as a Bitcoin user, require 50% or more trust that the honest nodes in the network can generate blocks at a faster pace than the attackers.
If for whatever reason an attacker generates blocks at a faster pace than the entire network, they could attack you by invalidating your latest payments (simply not accepting them in the block).
[+] [-] aianus|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] miguelrochefort|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dnerdy|12 years ago|reply
http://www.imponderablethings.com/2013/07/how-bitcoin-works-...
[+] [-] yeukhon|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jayfuerstenberg|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] michaelchum|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yogrish|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dionyziz|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sktrdie|12 years ago|reply
[+] [-] durrrrrr|12 years ago|reply
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