JAN3 chief Samson Mow has debunked a Pentagon-backed report which known as into query the decentralization and safety of the Bitcoin community.
The Path of Bits report makes a lot of flawed claims which have been uncritically parroted by some sections of the media, together with different crypto shops.
To dig deeper, Be[in]Crypto caught up with Mow as he ready to handle attendees at upcoming crypto conferences in Panama and Mexico, and requested the JAN3 chief for his perspective on the Pentagon’s newest analysis venture.
Clarifying mining pool confusion
One of many key tenets of the report is that mining swimming pools will be handled as centralized entities, and that controlling only a handful of mining swimming pools would permit a malicious actor to regulate all the Bitcoin community.
That argument may immediately provoke skepticism among the many crypto literate, however the report nonetheless treats these mining swimming pools as susceptible monoliths. Mow defined why making an attempt to hijack these mining swimming pools just isn’t so simple as Path of Bits would recommend.
Nuance essential in understanding Bitcoin safety
“Reviews comparable to this one typically gloss over quite a lot of nuance essential to type an correct opinion on Bitcoin’s safety,” Mow advised Be[in]Crypto.
“Whereas it’s true that 4 or 5 mining swimming pools can comprise 51% of Bitcoin community hashrate, a vital level is that miners can change swimming pools right away. The feasibility of taking management of 4 swimming pools and mounting an assault with no pool operator and no miner noticing is close to zero.
“Any assault would must be an ongoing and extended initiative, throughout which miners wouldn’t be paid. Good luck with that. It doesn’t matter if the pool operator was careless and brought over, or malicious and colluding to assault, the miners would shortly swap away.”
Having supplied some much-needed readability on the safety of the Bitcoin community, Be[in]Crypto sought to find what Mow’s plans have been for the remainder of the 12 months.
Mow created JAN3 in April, an organization targeted on accelerating “hyperbitcoinization” – driving Bitcoin adoption, and relying on whom you ask, Bitcoin dominance.
Since then, the previous Blockstream man has been working in El Salvador to assist develop the nation’s Bitcoin technique. Even because the work in El Salvador continues, Mow is transferring to drive adoption elsewhere.
Arriving in Panama at present, the CEO plans to handle attendees on the Blockchain Summit Latam. From there, Mow will journey on to the Expertise Land convention in Mexico.
As Be[in]Crypto beforehand reported, the race to nation state Bitcoin adoption is just simply starting. We now collect that Panama and Mexico will determine prominently in Mow’s efforts over the approaching 12 months.
Following the bitcrumbs
The report Are Blockchains Decentralized? was written by a staff of Path of Bits workers and was commissioned by the analysis department of the U.S. Division of Protection, the Protection Superior Analysis Tasks Company (DARPA).
Path of Bits is a safety agency primarily based in New York Metropolis which goals to offer “high-end safety analysis with a real-world attacker mentality.”
