Bitcoin Guarantees Strong, not Eventual, Consistency

bitcoin consistency cap March 01, 2016 at 12:15 PM Emin Gün Sirer
Some people claim that Bitcoin is eventually consistent. They are wrong. This post tries to dispel the myth and explain the right way to evaluate the consistency guarantees of distributed systems.

Bitcoin Vaults: How to Put an End to Bitcoin Theft

bitcoin security vaults February 29, 2016 at 01:15 PM Malte Möser, Ittay Eyal, and Emin Gün Sirer
Bitcoin vaults have the potential to stop Bitcoin thefts from Bitcoin clients. This post answers some frequently asked questions about them.

How to Implement Secure Bitcoin Vaults

bitcoin security vaults February 26, 2016 at 09:00 AM Malte Möser, Ittay Eyal, and Emin Gün Sirer
We have come up with a simple and elegant technique for implementing hack-proof Bitcoin vaults, to deter Bitcoin thefts.

Bitcoin's Value Derives from Users, not Miners

bitcoin voting January 05, 2016 at 10:40 AM Emin Gün Sirer
Evidently, a requirement for becoming a CEO at a Bitcoin exchange or payments company is to believe that your company has no power and works entirely at the discretion of the miners. I try once again to correct this myth.

Time for Bitcoin Users to Reclaim Their Voice

bitcoin voting blocksize January 01, 2016 at 03:40 PM Emin Gün Sirer
I make the case that Bitcoin users have just as much of a say, or more, than all the miners combined. They wield this power through exchanges, and the exchanges need to live up to their responsibilities.

When Surveillance Is Accessible by All

surveillance data breach mongo December 31, 2015 at 11:40 AM Emin Gün Sirer
The data breach involving sensitive data on 191 million voters portends a future where everyone has access to everything there is to know about everyone.

A Technique to Unite Bitcoin Factions

bitcoin blocksize December 30, 2015 at 09:30 AM Emin Gün Sirer and Ittay Eyal
In an effort to bring the fruitless Bitcoin block size debate to a close, this post outlines Bitcoin-Unified, an approach to accommodate both small and large blocks.

All Your Voter Data Are Belong To H4x0rz

nosql mongo hyperdex security data breach December 28, 2015 at 07:00 PM Emin Gün Sirer
The biggest data breach of the year. Of course, it involves Mongo.

No Such Thing as Developing a Fee Market

bitcoin blocksize December 23, 2015 at 11:00 AM Emin Gün Sirer
The phrase "developing the fee market" gets used a lot in Bitcoin circles. This post makes the case that this is a thinly veiled euphemism for jacking up the fees.

Bitcoin Runs On Altruism

bitcoin altruism game theory December 22, 2015 at 01:30 PM Emin Gün Sirer
Some people say that "if Bitcoin relies on altruism, then it has already failed." Bitcoin relies heavily on altruism, and it has not failed.