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Blockchain Quick Reference

You're reading from  Blockchain Quick Reference

Product type Book
Published in Aug 2018
Publisher Packt
ISBN-13 9781788995788
Pages 350 pages
Edition 1st Edition
Languages
Concepts
Authors (4):
Mariko Amekodommo Mariko Amekodommo
Brenn Hill Brenn Hill
Profile icon Brenn Hill
Samanyu Chopra Samanyu Chopra
Profile icon Samanyu Chopra
Paul Valencourt Paul Valencourt
Profile icon Paul Valencourt
View More author details

Table of Contents (24) Chapters

Preface 1. Blockchain 101 2. Components and Structure of Blockchain 3. Decentralization Versus Distributed Systems 4. Cryptography and Mechanics Behind Blockchain 5. Bitcoin 6. Altcoins 7. Achieving Consensus 8. Advanced Blockchain Concepts 9. Cryptocurrency Wallets 10. Alternate Blockchains 11. Hyperledger and Enterprise Blockchains 12. Ethereum 101 13. Solidity 101 14. Smart Contracts 15. Ethereum Development 16. Ethereum Accounts and Ether Tokens 17. Decentralized Applications 18. Mining 19. ICO 101 20. Creating Your Own Currency 21. Scalability and Other Challenges 22. Future of Blockchain 23. Other Books You May Enjoy

51% attacks

All blockchains can suffer from consensus attacks, often referred to as 51% attacks because of the original consensus attack possible in Bitcoin. Every blockchain relies on the majority of its users or stakeholders being good actors, or at least not coordinating against the rest of the network. If the majority (or even a large minority) of the powerful network actors in a blockchain system coordinate against the rest, they will be able to launch double-spend attacks and extract large amounts of value from the network against its will.

While once theoretical, there have recently been a number of successful 51% attacks against different blockchains, such as Verge (find the link in the references). In systems that are more centralized, such as proof-of-stake systems where there may be a small number of extremely large stakeholders, it is entirely possible that similar...

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