Hello there! I hope you are doing great. Today is Wednesday, we are at middle of yet another week. I hope you are winning, and I wish you will keep winning.
Welcome to my series ‘Explained in a story!’ An effort to discuss interesting ideas in simple to understand English, and an interesting story.
Since, the current focus of the series is ‘Blockchain Technology’ Let me tell you a story about the Bitcoin world, where there’s something known as a “51% attack.”
Imagine Bitcoin as a vast city where transactions are like houses being built. Now, in this city, there’s a rule: to add a new house, more than half of the builders in the city must agree on its design and location.
In our story, a “51% attack” is like if a group of builders, who somehow become more than half of all the builders in the city, decide to start making rules unfairly. They could approve building houses in the wrong places or even say some houses that were already built don’t exist. This causes a lot of confusion and can shake the trust in the city’s building process.
Now, how hard is it to launch a 51% attack on Bitcoin? Imagine trying to convince more than half of the builders in a huge city to work for you. That’s a big task!
In the world of Bitcoin, it means controlling more than half of the computer power that’s used to add new transactions to the blockchain. This computer power is spread across the globe, with thousands of people and groups participating.
As of now, launching a 51% attack on Bitcoin would be incredibly challenging. It’s like needing an enormous army of builders, bigger than any existing group, with enough tools and resources to outmatch all others.
You’d need a massive amount of computing power, electricity, and money to pull it off. Not to mention, if you did manage it, it would be like setting off alarm bells in the city.
People would notice quickly, and the value of Bitcoin might plummet, making the attack a costly adventure with little to gain.
In summary, a 51% attack on Bitcoin is like trying to take over the building process in a huge, well-coordinated city.
It’s theoretically possible but extremely difficult and costly in reality. The size and strength of the Bitcoin network today make such an attack more of a tale than a likely event.
This is the beauty of Bitcoin Blockchain. I hope now you can understand, why people around the world love Blockchain. Including me. 🙂
I hope you are enjoying this series, and I hope you are learning, as we are going through it.
My friends, let us build a learning lifestyle, learn and grow, everyday. My best wishes to you.
Love and Luck.
~R
An Observer 