Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by knorker 1512 days ago
How does blockchain solve the Byzantine General's problem without relying on a (corrupt) central authority?

Math or not, police & courts overrule them.

Actually, blockchain isn't even mathematically a solution to BGP, is it? You need to define your actors better, here.

A 51% attack means communication can be denied. And there's still the question of how does A know that B has seen that A has seen, that B has seen…

Am I missing something?

The fact that communication happens on the blockchain doesn't mean it's not communication.

I just read a couple of articles about blockchain and BGP, and I think they all misunderstood what BGP is.

I'm A, and see that B is "committed on the blockchain to attack, assuming A is too". I can then add my block that says "I see B commits to attack. I agree let's both do this. I'll attack if you attack".

Ok. So now B sees that. Do they attack?

If you think the answer here is clear, then you've misunderstood BGP.