Where Does The Social Layer Count In The Security Of Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is yet to convince the users of its security. The funny thing about bitcoin in the second half of 2018 was that there weren’t many using it or at least operating their accounts in Coinbase. While tokens and blockchains were supposed to revolutionize the financial system, nothing of that sort has happened since then.

Cryptocurrency  is here to rule.

On the other hand, cryptocurrency has a mass appeal that is recognized as freedom from human fallibility. No regulatory agency and no politics in money supply. All these are enough to make the crypto popular.  Crypto developers have succeeded in keeping people away. The so called ‘social layer’ is important when crypto has to attract users than inventing ways to save it from the probable attackers. For crypto users, human link is the strongest. The demographics and ideologies do matter being the line of defense  and ultimate decision maker on direction and narrative.

Ethereum erased with a fork, the fiasco that the decentralized venture fund claimed and imploded when finding  a loophole. In the event of a security failure, developers, miners and investors are the ultimate layer of defense. The collective commitment for a trust minimized monetary system makes Bitcoin strong. 

Bitcoin developers maintain the network’s dominant client software, shaping the road map and the story of its use cases. In case of Ethereum, minimal trust is different, with a public facing leadership group. In both these models, the social layer counts. The wisdom and ability of the crowd to foresee the illegitimate power grab, makes it vulnerable to criticism from the public.

Protecting Bitcoin’s codebase

Bitcoin has a number of developers, best and experienced, yet they are vulnerable and some work pseudonymous. It would be probable that they could be fallible or may slip in some sort of vulnerability that can prove Bitcoin a lot lower in security.

The government is yet to take any security measures that makes it tolerant towards the continued growth of Bitcoin. The Bitcoin culture of crypto is hostile to these attacks.

How does social layer contribute to the security of crypto?

Bad and unsecure ideas could promote societies being hacked and not only technical hacks. If your network has a whole lot of vulnerable members, this is going to be the probable question of security.

Many white papers have lengthy sections depicting possible attacks and how network’s internal crypto economic system of incentives and penalties could render them bootless. This vast digital fortress could by now build a strong platform for many developers.

The question remains as to why anyone would want to enter this fortress, let alone attack it. It is important to build a network to bring in people rather than frighten them away and security should not be an afterthought.

It all rests in the hands of developers 

The developers who are intend in bringing out the best, need to have an ethical approach towards it. Stringent action should be brought in case of any misuse. This implies that regulatory action becomes inevitable and is the need of the hour. While there are more than what is necessary, Bitcoin mining attracts many due to its freedom or use without any central bank. The responsibility lies in the hands of the developers to understand the vast audience it has.

Make sure the network has members who do not misuse it

The members of the network are responsible to make good use of the crypto. Essentially no one would want their network hacked. So make sure the internal forces are trustworthy and can be reliable. No governing body makes it the most vulnerable to cyber attacks. We trust in the robustness o cryptography alone. But with the current inventions of quantum computing, this is also in stake. So all that we can do now is make sure it brings home a secure network well organized and easy to use like what is available now.

Find out the loopholes before the enemies do.

The market is ripe with many cryptocurrency and the competition is on to secure the top most position. This makes Bitcoin vulnerable to cyber attacks that could undermine its value in the market. The government policies intending to apply regulatory measures just because it recognizes it as stock rather than a currency is another challenge for the crypto . There are measures to be taken to make sure the crypto are saved from all these vulnerabilities. This responsibility rests in the social layer of the Bitcoin.