If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose thier bitcoins in cold storage? - page 2.

shorena

copper member

Activity: 1498

Merit: 1528

No I dont escrow anymore.

Quote from: Robert Paulson on June 13, 2014, 12:25:55 PM

Quote from: cuddaloreappu on June 13, 2014, 11:37:14 AM

If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose bitcoins in cold storage or in hot wallet..

what can a normal non technical user do to save himself from this danger?

yes, in a worst case scenario a 51% attack can erase all transactions since the last checkpoint, unless you got your bitcoins before that then you will lose them.
nothing can be done against this except hoping that ghash.io will stop controlling most of the hashing power in the network.

Huh? When was the last checkpoint?

Robert Paulson

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

Quote from: cuddaloreappu on June 13, 2014, 11:37:14 AM

If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose bitcoins in cold storage or in hot wallet..

what can a normal non technical user do to save himself from this danger?

yes, in a worst case scenario a 51% attack can erase all transactions since the last checkpoint, unless you got your bitcoins before that then you will lose them.
nothing can be done against this except hoping that ghash.io will stop controlling most of the hashing power in the network.

david123

legendary

Activity: 1022

Merit: 1004

Quote from: joshraban76 on June 13, 2014, 12:01:42 PM

Are you sure about this ?

You just have to read how bitcoin works.. In order to initiate a new transaction, you need the
private key. Otherwise you cannot sign that transaction. Technically you could build on
blocks containing wrongly signed transactions if you own the majority of the hashing speed, but then
it's no longer Bitcoin but someones private coin^^

You can fork and thus reverse transactions without knowing a private key. This would be bad news
for someone of course, but it has nothing to do with collecting coins belonging to someone else.

BitCoinDream

legendary

Activity: 2394

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The revolution will be digital

Quote from: joshraban76 on June 13, 2014, 12:01:42 PM

Quote from: Melbustus on June 13, 2014, 11:44:27 AM

Quote from: cuddaloreappu on June 13, 2014, 11:37:14 AM

If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose bitcoins in cold storage or in hot wallet..

No!!

A 51% could theoretically allow the attacker to double-spend coins that *they* already have.

YOUR coins are safe. No one can sign transactions for your coins, unless you've given them your private keys.

Are you sure about this ?

Yep, unless they reverse the Tx from where u got your coins Wink

joshraban76

sr. member

Activity: 252

Merit: 250

Quote from: Melbustus on June 13, 2014, 11:44:27 AM

Quote from: cuddaloreappu on June 13, 2014, 11:37:14 AM

If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose bitcoins in cold storage or in hot wallet..

No!!

A 51% could theoretically allow the attacker to double-spend coins that *they* already have.

YOUR coins are safe. No one can sign transactions for your coins, unless you've given them your private keys.

Are you sure about this ?

david123

legendary

Activity: 1022

Merit: 1004

What issue? Nothing needs to be resolved here.. Everything is fine. We should be happy about this opportunity
to grab some cheap coins

megashira1

legendary

Activity: 1146

Merit: 1000

Why is it so hard to solve this issue?

coinmaster222

hero member

Activity: 756

Merit: 500

Quote from: ?? on ??

Quote from: joshraban76 on June 13, 2014, 11:41:15 AM

Always expect the worst case scenario, so yes, it could happen.

Maybe you could wait to see how we are going to pass this issue, as it's for the first time ever to happen.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

You guys should have a look at the wiki. The information is out there for you to access. Coming here to ask won't help much.

Beliathon

hero member

Activity: 784

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https://youtu.be/PZm8TTLR2NU

Take a deep breath, your money is safer in crypto cold storage than anywhere else in this solar system.

Melbustus

legendary

Activity: 1722

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Quote from: joshraban76 on June 13, 2014, 11:41:15 AM

Always expect the worst case scenario, so yes, it could happen.

No! See my post above.

Quote from: joshraban76 on June 13, 2014, 11:41:15 AM

...as it's for the first time ever to happen.

Also no. Deepbit had around 50% a couple years ago. Miners switched pools. It passed.

david123

legendary

Activity: 1022

Merit: 1004

No, this cannot happen. Only he who has the private key can initiate transactions.
What *can* happen is that a past transaction gets reversed. E.g. if you put your coins
on your cold wallet just yesterday and there is someone with almost 100% hashing power
and seriously determined to do so, he could fork and orphane all blocks from this transaction on.
Then the coins will be there where they used to be before they ended up in your cold wallet.

I'd say this is a purely theoretical threat, though. If you are the only one who has the private key,
you are the only one who has control over your coins.

Melbustus

legendary

Activity: 1722

Merit: 1004

Quote from: cuddaloreappu on June 13, 2014, 11:37:14 AM

If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose bitcoins in cold storage or in hot wallet..

No!!

A 51% could theoretically allow the attacker to double-spend coins that *they* already have.

YOUR coins are safe. No one can sign transactions for your coins, unless you've given them your private keys.

madmat

legendary

Activity: 966

Merit: 1000

Quote from: cuddaloreappu on June 13, 2014, 11:37:14 AM

If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose bitcoins in cold storage or in hot wallet..

what can a normal non technical user do to save himself from this danger?

As far as i understand, no one can take your bitcoins without the private keys. So you are safe with cold storage.

Why could happen is double spending.

ljudotina

legendary

Activity: 1260

Merit: 1029

If 51% attack happens, noone will steal your BTC. They will just be worth 0$....so no...you can not protect em...noone can except miners turning away their mining machines away from ghash. I hope devs are watching this and planning how to stop this from happening again.

joshraban76

sr. member

Activity: 252

Merit: 250

Always expect the worst case scenario, so yes, it could happen.

Maybe you could wait to see how we are going to pass this issue, as it's for the first time ever to happen.

cuddaloreappu

hero member

Activity: 756

Merit: 502

If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose bitcoins in cold storage or in hot wallet..

what can a normal non technical user do to save himself from this danger?

Topic: If a 51% attack actually happens, could one lose thier bitcoins in cold storage? - page 2. (Read 1679 times)