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Re:Crypto-currency craze 'hinders search for alien life' by xg15 on Wednesday February 14, 2018 @11:07AM (#16376786)
Yes, however, it already is enormously difficult to double-spend. If this were the actual motives of miners adding ever-more hash power, we ought to discuss at some point how secure is "secure enough" and at which point the added security has a higher cost than benefit.

Otherwise the whole thing sounds like the paperclip maximizer justifying its actions: "But if I burn this forest, we will have even more paperclips!"

Re:Crypto-currency craze 'hinders search for alien life' by clarkmoody on Wednesday February 14, 2018 @11:47AM (#16377120)
The only motive of miners is profit. This is by design. How else could you incentivize a bunch of random people to find partial SHA-256 collisions?

Security is ensured by the economic incentives baked into the protocol. Security is the by-product of economically selfish behavior.