The Internet of Money Volume Two: A Collection of Talks by Andreas M. Antonopoulos by Andreas M. Antonopoulos

Author:Andreas M. Antonopoulos [Antonopoulos, Andreas M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Computers, Internet, General, Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies, Economics
ISBN: 9781947910065
Google: s3kKtAEACAAJ
Amazon: 194791006X
Publisher: Merkle Bloom LLC
Published: 2017-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

7.3. Bitcoin, the Sewer Rat

You’re probably thinking, Well, if permissioned ledgers and closed intranets are Bubble Boy, then the wild internet and bitcoin are like a kid eating mud cakes. A system that has immunity, something that is exposed to pathogens. Well, almost. That might have been the analogy I wanted to go for, but you know me—I’ll go a bit further.

Bitcoin isn’t the kid that eats mud cakes. Bitcoin is a swarm of sewer rats—gnarly things missing eyes, claws, and tails, like those pigeons you see in Trafalgar Square hopping around with this mutant arm stump. And what do they eat? They eat raw sewage, they eat your trash, they eat the most virulent things on the planet. There is nothing in this world that has more strength in its immune system than a New York rat or pigeon. Or even, god forbid, a squirrel. Those things are horrible.

A sewer rat is not going to have allergies. It’s not going to sneeze because of a bit of pollen. This thing is already carrying three variations of the plague, and it shrugs it off. That’s exactly what bitcoin is. Issues like transaction malleability? The rat evolves.

Attacks, like DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) on open port 8333? The rat says “Come and get me!" Is anybody trying? Hell yes, everyone is trying, for six years. The best and the brightest, the meanest and the most malicious, are throwing everything they can at this deformed swarm of sewer rats—these thousands of bitcoin nodes who are listening and are exposed to the vagaries of the wild internet. And they survive.

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