The world of cryptocurrency assets is a utopian playground where coders, developers and futurists imagine completely incredible technological concepts. With smart smart contracts, asset digitization, supply chain tracking, quality certificates that cannot be faked, with secure custody of property rights.
Even the craziest ideas can be realized on this site. It is like a rabbit hole, having fallen into which we, like Alice, need only take what is happening for granted and not be surprised by anything. Crypto enthusiasts are confident that blockchain technology will drive the next industrial revolution and unlock the true potential of the Internet.
But not everything is as rosy as it seems at first glance.
According to research from Gartner Inc., global cybersecurity spending totaled more than $90 billion in 2017, not including costs incurred as a result of fraud or cyberattacks—which some estimate in the trillions.
And the biggest problem we face with cryptocurrency is security.
Although many altcoins have found ways to improve on some of the shortcomings of their progenitor - increasing speed, programmability and enterprise capabilities - the sad fact is that none of them have managed to create a more secure blockchain than the Bitcoin blockchain. Many of these blockchains have decided to sacrifice security in favor of other metrics. For the sake of speed, they create centralized schemes, and for the sake of security they often sacrifice scalability.
Many developers and crypto enthusiasts criticize Bitcoin and cite high energy consumption and scalability issues as reasons why it will not achieve general adoption. In fact, these two features make Bitcoin the most reliable and secure crypto asset in the world.
Although today there is no guarantee that Bitcoin will become the main blockchain of the future, there is no denying the fact that in the nine years of its existence, it has proven that this protocol cannot be hacked. Large energy costs for mining and proof-of-work consensus make Bitcoin the safest cryptocurrency.
And although not all cryptocurrencies are much inferior to Bitcoin in security, many of the largest projects have had cases of serious information leaks or loss of user funds. Or all at once. Even Ethereum will most likely never stand a chance outperform Bitcoin in terms of security.
One of the very first smart contracts developed on the Ethereum blockchain had a loophole in the code that allowed a person to steal funds entirely within the terms of the smart contract.
The Ethereum protocol may not be the culprit, but it is is aimed at smart contracts, and they are quite easy to hack. Therefore, the concept of Turing completeness is not as secure as many thought. However, this does not detract from the advantages of Ethereum. This is rather an example of the fact that many are in vain in criticizing Bitcoin for the slow pace of development without the risks of unpredictable consequences.
This is the same Alice’s dream in which “you need to run as fast as you can just to stay in place.” and to get somewhere, you have to run at least twice as fast!"
As smart contracts develop, and the level of their implementation in the Ethereum network develops, they will begin to realize their true potential. This applies to any cryptocurrency asset platform, be it EOS, NEO, Cardano or Bitcoin.
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