The glitch gave miners the impression that they had earned Bitcoin for adding to blockchain, when in actuality, the invalid blocks were not accepted.
Bitcoin.org issued a warning regarding the invalid blocks over the weekend. The notice said that an initial invalid block has been built upon by other miners, who do not fully validate their blocks. The practice, called Simple Payment Verification (SPV) mining, has caused several large mining operations to lose more than USD 50,000 in mining income so far due to the glitch.
To combat the problem, Bitcoin.org recommended that all miners update to the latest software to ensure that the invalid blocks are detected. The website also encouraged those using web-based wallets to make sure they are using the most up-to-date version as well.
SPV mining means that the verification of new blocks relies on a connection to a trusted node. However, since the software was unable to detect invalid blocks, it allowed miners to continue building strings of blocks on top of an invalid one, rendering all of them worthless.
While the effects of this glitch appear to be concentrated on mining companies, some worry that it could refuel worries about Bitcoin’s safety and security.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now