Bitcoin’s Security: A Comedy of Errors and Ticking Time Bombs! 💣😂

by

Ah, dear reader! Gather ’round as we delve into the curious case of Justin Drake, a researcher from the Ethereum Foundation, who boldly proclaims that the security model of our beloved Bitcoin network is as broken as a clock stuck at midnight! 🕛 It seems the transaction fees have failed to reach even a modest fraction of the total network earnings, including the ever-elusive block subsidy.

Once again, the security budget of Bitcoin finds itself in the glaring spotlight, much like a hapless actor on a stage, desperately trying to remember their lines. Justin Drake, with a flourish of his pen, declares that Bitcoin, in its current state, is a ticking time bomb! 💣 The current security budget, he insists, is as sustainable as a paper umbrella in a rainstorm, relying heavily on the block subsidy bestowed upon miners.

Drake, with the wisdom of a sage, argues that transaction fees, which are expected to rise like a loaf of bread in the oven as the block subsidy fades away, have failed to climb to the heights necessary to support the network’s operation. Since the year of our Lord 2016, these fees have only represented a meager 1% of all the revenue earned by miners per block. A veritable pittance! 🍞

Imagine, if you will, a world where fees were the sole source of miner revenue today. The revenue and hashing infrastructure would plummet by a staggering 100 times, leaving the network vulnerable to the dreaded 51% attacks! Drake warns that if Bitcoin were to soar to a million dollars with the same level of fees collected today, it would only represent a paltry 10% of what miners currently receive. “Bitcoin would be a $20 trillion asset secured by a mere 1/10th of today’s hashing infrastructure,” he elaborates, shaking his head in disbelief.

Drake, ever the realist, states that fees would need to rise a hundredfold to maintain today’s operability in the future. “So far, every attempt to produce transactional utility on Bitcoin has failed to drive sustained fee volume,” he remarked, with a hint of sarcasm, considering this unlikely in the short term. A true comedy of errors! 🎭

For Bitcoin to survive in the future, Drake suggests that the 21 million BTC limit be lifted, perhaps adding tail issuance to the network, or simply making the grand leap from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus. A transformation worthy of a fairy tale! 🧚‍♂️

“Bitcoin is meant to be antifragile,” he concludes, “Yet the elephant in the room is not being addressed.” A rather large elephant, indeed! 🐘

Meanwhile, Bitcoin Core developer James O’Beirne has also voiced his concerns regarding this very issue. He states that in the future, miners and the Bitcoin community might have to introduce tail emissions, changing Bitcoin’s supply schedule to compensate for their dwindling income, thus undermining Bitcoin’s property rights. A twist in the tale, if ever there was one!

Read More

2025-05-30 13:57