Lately there has been a lot of discussion around the mining-pool Ghash.io. Consistently achieving high hash rate (above 40%), the pool was considered by many in the society as a bad player. Why is this so important? Because, when the pool reaches 51% of network hash rate, it may be able to perform malicious attacks.
These include the ability to change and withdraw transactions, and much more. but now, amid all the negative press reviews, Ghash.io pool and its subsidiary exchange company Cex.io released a statement on the matter that they will remain below the level of 39.99 per cent of the total hash rate.
Goodwill gesture was accompanied by the following statement, published in the Cex.io blog:
At a closed meeting, held in London on July 9, Ghash.io decided that they will not exceed 39.99% of the total bitcoin hash rate. If the poolapproaches to the border, it will actively ask miners to remove the equipment from the Ghash.io pool and mine in the other pools.
None of the existing solutions against the threat of 51% are able to solve the long-term problem, taking into account the interests of theexisting mining pools, individual miners and bitcoin community. Thus, the adherents of bitcoin should focus on temporary acts, until permanent solution is found.
Ghash.io and Cex.io are to create a committee that includes the “major players on the bitcoin market”, in addition to voluntary companies and other mining pools. The idea is to find a long-term (or life) solution of the 51% problem.
The original document that describes the operational processes of the committee, will be presented in the near future. The committee will conduct closer cooperation and collaboration between developers working on bitcoin protocol and solution of the 51% problem, and organizations are extremely interested in the expansion of the industry, and to promote the advancement of Bitcoin among wider audience.
Cex.io and Ghash.io asked for other mining-pools, so that they also stated that they will not exceed the mark of 40%. We believe that the pools should support our claim, since any of them can take the lead and be in a situation that Ghash.io is in.
With its own structure without commissions and with the system of instant payments Ghash.io remains the most popular pool for miners.Whether they will keep their word or not, we will see in the future.