Instant Transaction Fraud: An Explanation

Instant Transaction Fraud: An Explanation #bitcoin

It is very important to note that this does not undermine the security of Bitcoin as a whole, outside of a very limited number of applications . There are two forms of “confirmation” in the Bitcoin system. The first, which takes about two to five seconds to complete, is simple network propagation; a valid transaction will find its way through the Bitcoin network and make its way to the node controlled by the merchant. The second, which takes about ten minutes, is a block confirmation; here, the miners that maintain the Bitcoin network place the transaction in a block and perform a proof of work computation on the block, which takes a massive amount of computing power to forge. Most Bitcoin-accepting businesses wait for one block confirmation before releasing the product, and this attack does nothing against transactions that have a block confirmation. In the case of vendor...

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