Written by William Subergstaff writerReviewed by Igor Belkinformer editorAsicBoost Exploit Claims Put Bitmain in Hot Water
Latest NewsPublishedApr 6, 2017
A vulnerability in Bitcoin’s proof-of-work system has enabled miners to save costs using so-called ASICBOOST technology.
Bitcoin gained $40 in two hours on Wednesday evening as news broke that a bug was allowing miners - specifically Bitmain - to unfairly economize on costs.
Through the use of so-called AsicBoost technology, Bitmain’s miners were able to exploit a loophole in Bitcoin’s proof-of-work system.
Jihan Wu, the company’s CEO, is a known staunch opponent of Segregated Witness as a solution to Bitcoin’s scaling problem, with sources now asserting that the AsicBoost benefits could lie at the heart of his position.
The vulnerability was first discovered and relayed to Core members by Blockstream’s Greg Maxwell.
Bitmain was not initially mentioned, with cryptocurrency journalist Kyle Torpey subsequently confirming its involvement.
In case there was any dispute, I confirmed with a source that the mining hardware manufacturer discussed in gmaxwell’s post is Bitmain. — Kyle Torpey (@kyletorpey) April 5, 2017
“I hope that even those of us who would strongly prefer that ASICBOOST be blocked completely can come together to support a protective measure that separates concerns by inhibiting the covert use of it that potentially blocks protocol improvements,” he wrote.
Community commentators such as Tone Vays praised Maxwell’s detection and offer to resolve the problem, calling it a “huge confidence boost for [supporting SegWit].”
#ASICBOOST exploit being found & fix suggested by @Blockstream CoreDev GMax is a huge CONFIDENCE boost for #SupportSegwit & #Bitcoin $BTCUSD pic.twitter.com/Bvm77LrLKJ — Tone Vays (@ToneVays) April 6, 2017
At the same time, Wu appeared to become embroiled in a scandal, facing accusations of tweeting about the AsicBoost issue then deleting the content several times.
Jihan tweets twice about #asicboost and then deletes them.
Hmm... Popcorn tonight?#bitcoin $btc pic.twitter.com/5FJyzT8Pgd — Collin Crypto (@CollinCrypto) April 6, 2017
Subscribe to daily byte-sized crypto news from Cointelegraph
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
