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Old 04-07-2021, 11:53 AM   #1326
karl262
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler View Post
If this in answer to my post - thanks. I still want to know about worst-case scenarios. What if CCP "bans" BTC because it is too subversive? What is the impact of that? If I put it into "cold storage", it basically means onto on off-linte HD, right? So, I still have to worry about securing that against theft, loss or failure? Sorry, if these questions seem stupid, but I have not seen clear answers to them from the experts I mentioned...
If I'm not mistaken China has officially banned bitcoin twice already to basically no effect. The majority of the btc mining is in China because of cheap electricity among other reasons.

So here's my worst-case scenario for bitcoin, admittedly a bit far fetched but maybe possible (and if this isn't technically possible that would be great):
To mine bitcoin at this difficulty level you need a specialized machine designed to do only that, its called an ASIC miner. By far the biggest manufacturers of these are hq'd in China. So one day in the future the CCP walks into these offices and orders them to remotely turn off the equipment worldwide.

I don't know what would happen when essentially all bitcoin miners are turned off besides transactions slowing to less than a snails pace, if even possible. I don't think it would be good for bitcoin.

A problem with a proof of work blockchain like bitcoin is that at some point the math solving required is so difficult that ASIC's or some other new tech becomes financially viable for which there are only a small handful of manufacturers. Even if my worst-case can't or won't happen you still have a less and less decentralized blockchain over time. There are no more home based bitcoin miners using graphics cards anymore, just large companies operating thousands of ASIC's in huge warehouses, mostly in China.

Ethereum recognizes the downsides and are moving as fast as they can to a proof of stake blockchain while some 3rd generation cryptos like Cardano began as proof of stake.
It's probably as close to future proofing against blockchain centralization as possible. But who knows?

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