BITCOIN SEASON 2: The Bitcoin Attack You Haven't Heard About episode artwork

EPISODE · May 28, 2025 · 1H 18M

BITCOIN SEASON 2: The Bitcoin Attack You Haven't Heard About

from CoinDesk Podcast Network · host CoinDesk

PortlandHODL reveals how "poison blocks" can paralyze Bitcoin nodes for hours, creating profitable attack vectors for malicious miners while the network relies on policy filters for protection. You're listening to Bitcoin Season 2. Subscribe to the newsletter, trusted by over 7,000 Bitcoiners: https://newsletter.blockspacemedia.com PortlandHODL explains Bitcoin's most dangerous vulnerability: poison blocks. These malicious blocks can freeze nodes for 11+ hours on Raspberry Pi devices and 25 minutes on enterprise hardware, creating profitable attack opportunities for miners while exposing how relay policy acts as an accidental guardian of the network. Follow our guests: @PortlandHODL Notes: • Poison Blocks (denial of service) • Raspberry Pi validation: 11 hours for poison blocks • Enterprise hardware: 25 minutes validation time   • Attack gives 20% effective hash rate boost • Fix exists in Great Consensus Cleanup • Bitcoin fees currently under $1 Timestamps: 00:00 Start 00:53 Real threats to Bitcoin 04:55 How is block made? 11:46 Nodes & DOS blocks 20:03 Making DOS blocks 29:33 Arch Network 30:05 Miners & DOS blocks 36:46 Attack response time 40:47 Fixing the problem 43:25 Why not fixed yet? 54:12 Client diversity 1:01:11 Other good soft forks 1:05:12 Are you worried? 1:10:03 "Deep Thoughts" by Portland HODL - 👉 Brought to you by Arch Network! Arch brings the speed of Solana & the best of crypto UX to Bitcoin. Tap into the rich app ecosystem on Arch & try out the testnet while you’re still early! Visit arch.network to learn more. - 👋Bitcoin Season 2 is produced Blockspace Media, Bitcoin’s first B2B publication in Bitcoin. Follow us on Twitter and check out our newsletter for the best information in Bitcoin mining, Ordinals and tech! Enjoy the show? Check out our website and newsletter by clicking here. Questions or want to sponsor? [email protected] See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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BITCOIN SEASON 2: The Bitcoin Attack You Haven't Heard About

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