It's no secret that Bitcoin has enemies. There are those who'd like to kill it outright and there are those who'd like to subvert it. And, of course, Bitcoin has its fair share of the usual human problems.

The more overt attacks have pretty well failed thus far. Bitcoin, after all, is just a computer program, meaning that there's no head that can be cut off, killing it with a single blow. On top of that, Bitcoin is protected with encryption end to end, and it's more or less impossible to swing a sword, or a court order, against math. (Encryption being applied math.)

The usual types of subversion have likewise also failed to do a great deal of damage to Bitcoin and the younger cryptos. Fear of the regulator and especially the seduction of the regulator ("acceptance") have been tried at length, and while they've left a few dents here and there, nothing fundamental has been destroyed.

As for human frailties, we've had those too, mostly notably young people finding themselves suddenly rich. That comes with more difficulties than those who haven't been through it might expect. It's what we used to call "a crazy-maker."

Social Attacks

Put yourself in the position of needing to kill cryptocurrencies (for whatever reason), and not having a great deal of success. You can't cut off its head and regulating it to death isn't working very well. What choices do you have left?

Well, the next choice is to subvert via social manipulation. If you can't get at the tech directly, and if there aren't one or two humans who can sway the whole thing, you're left to run social attacks. After all, with no one to run miners, develop new applications and so on, the computer programs would sit idle. And so, the intelligent attacker must go after a large number of people at the same time. It's far from an ideal solution, but they really have no choice.

And so have come, as it seems to me, social attacks on Bitcoin and its younger siblings. I see (or think I see) two particular types that have arisen. These could have come from the negative psychology that floods the world these days – that is, without any particular intent – but I've seen this kind of thing before and underestimated it[1]. I don't want to do that again. 

Social Attack #1

Social attack #1 is something I've heard rumors about but can't verify. The story goes that three or four years ago someone tried to get some bad code into BTC by either manipulating or attacking Bitcoin Core, the primary developers. The attacks weren't physical, but they were serious.

In such a case, you survive the attack by saying, "I don't care, call me an asshole." That's a necessary stand to take from time to time, and if the rumors are true, it was a good thing for the developers to do.

Social Attack #2

So, if you can't kill it or subvert it very well… and if your first social attack fails as well, what are you to do?

Sadly, the answer is to take whatever opposite inertia was generated by Social Attack #1, and push it to its extreme.

And that's what appears to have happened. I think we've all seen "I'm a Bitcoin hard-ass" posts on Twitter. It's turning into a divide and conquer situation, pitting one part of the community against the other. And if it grows, it may slowly poison the whole.

This is a generational problem as well. The younger generation have been shoved into polarities by political types: Either they go Social Justice Warrior on the feeling side, self-righteously attacking anyone who doesn't carry their feelings, or they go caveman on the other, thinking that kindness is weakness and that insults are the path to strength and truth.

This also plays into divide and conquer.

Is some person or group fanning these flames purposely? I don't know, but it's what an intelligent villain would do.

In The End…

In the end, it doesn't much matter whether these attacks come from agents provocateurs or from human frailty. What does matter is that they are recognized and stopped.

The crypto community needs to become the adults of the financial world, not the squabbling teenagers. And we're quite capable of doing that, even if prodded toward lesser paths.

Both sides of the polarity are bad choices. We need to be hard when it's required and cooperative at all other times.

We're not going to get to the goal by being squishy or by playing hard-ass. It behooves us to find balance and to keep our focus on the goal.

* * * * *

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* * * * *

Paul Rosenberg
www.freemansperspective.com

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Bitcoin Should Get Ready For an Attack

Could an Inside Sneak Attack on Bitcoin Destroy It?