Bitmain was caught up inward a disputation surrounding its recent while on its opened upwards root codebase. The Bitcoin community harshly criticized Bitmain for developing malware which has the potential to nigh downward lxx pct of Bitcoin miners.
The Antbleed backdoor is a type of firmware that enables Bitmain to surveil on the client sales as well as delivery records of Antminer users. According to Antbleed.com, the remote service of the firmware tin furnish “false,” which ultimately can halt its miners from mining.
Approximately lxx pct of the world’s mining community rely on Bitmain’s Antminer to confirm Bitcoin transactions. Hence, Bitmain has the ability as well as capacity to nigh downward 70 pct of Bitcoin miners inward an instant.
As the community outraged over the regain of the Antbleed malware, Bitmain released its official argument on Apr 27. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 department of the argument read:
“This characteristic was designed as well as coded past times the same squad that is responsible for the firmware of Antminers. As the firmware has ever been open-source, the characteristic was never intended to hold out malicious.”
The intent is non important
The intent of the Bitmain evolution squad is of less importance. Frankly, it does non affair if the Bitmain evolution squad introduced the Antbleed firmware update amongst goodness intentions because it creates the possibility of the bulk of the Bitcoin mining community, which serves an of import locomote inward maintaining Bitcoin security, of shutting downward inward an instant.
However, it is unclear whether Bitmain tin justify the intent of the activation of Antbleed on whatsoever dry reason or reason if it was designed specifically to surveil on its customers. Simply put, Bitmain developed a specific type of firmware to command its miners as well as customers, amongst the intent of centralizing the industry. Thus, to explicate that the initial intent of the Bitmain squad was to convey positive deport upon to Bitcoin is quite illogical as well as irrational.
Andreas Antonopoulos, safety as well as Bitcoin expert, explained:
“I honestly incertitude Antbleed was inward whatsoever mode malicious. It shows the intention to centrally command customers, is reckless as well as poorly implemented.”
Antonopoulos farther noted that the conclusion of Bitmain to implement firmware designed to centralize its customers as well as the mining manufacture was reckless as well as incompetent. He said, “reckless implementation combined amongst the intent to centrally command customers is a real unsafe thing inward a decentralized system.”
More experts including Slush, the Pb architect of hardware wallet Trezor as well as CEO of Satoshi Labs, the nurture companionship of Trezor, stated that Antbleed is dangerous, regardless of the intent of the Bitmain evolution team.
“ASICBoost as well as Antbleed are existent as well as exercise a threat to Bitcoin. I'm non certain if they're only incompetent or malicious but they're dangerous,” said Slush.
More importantly, to Bitmain’s official reply to the allegations, wherein the companionship claimed to accept never completed the Antbleed feature, Slush explained that the characteristic is inward fact real complete.
