Is It Possible To Hack Bitcoin?

Getting into cryptocurrency doesn't need to be scary. As long as you follow a few simple rules, you will be much better off than if you chose not to follow those few simple rules. You may have heard of all sorts of things going on in the media, like crypto websites being hacked, crypto exchanges being hacked, and cryptos being hacked. So is it really possible to hack Bitcoin?

First up, I would encourage you to take these all too often sensationalized media reports with a grain of salt, there is a lot more to the truth than many of them convey, or that the author of the article may understand. That is not said lightly as many people still do not understand what crypto is and how it works.

I'm not going to do a deep dive into my explanation here about the mechanics of the Bitcoin network, the links in this post will provide more than enough depth in the key areas to help you. Besides, it is much better to find other sources of information and validate the message yourself, rather than blindly trust what is written here. I would rather you weighed up the facts for yourself, and learn how to fish proficiently in the crypto sea.

Can You Hack Bitcoin?

To put your mind at ease with cryptocurrency and Bitcoin from a security perspective, cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, themselves are highly unlikely to be able to be hacked. The stories about Bitcoin being hacked at this time are simply bogus. Bitcoin has never been hacked, and most likely never will be, even with the advancements hardware, better chips, and the advent of quantum computing.

Websites, such as exchanges that hold large amounts of Bitcoin, and other valuable cryptos like NEM, have been hacked in the past, but that is nothing to do with the Bitcoin protocol (or the actual Altcoin) itself. This is largely an attack on a website that is motivated by the financial gain that is seen as a reward for a hacker. It is much easier to hack a single website compared to hacking the entire proof of work system that Bitcoin operates on.

There are specific measures taken within the network, as outlined by Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin whitepaper to reduce the potential for a hack to be successful with Bitcoin, which is where the decentralized aspect of the cryptocurrency and the network methodology that it operates on plays a part.

Consider this; when Bitcoin was at a high of over $20,000 USD in early 2018, that would have been sufficient motivation for every hacker in the world to rack their brains about how to game the system and hack themselves a nice little bag of Bitcoins. Yet no one has been able to hack Bitcoin to this date.

Given that Bitcoin and the Bitcoin network has been around for over ten years now, and that there has not yet been a successful hack on Bitcoin or the Bitcoin network, I''m feeling particularly confident in the security of the network and Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency.

Can Wallets Be Hacked?

Wallets are certainly able to be hacked, particularly if they are hot wallets. Cold wallets are not open to the same type of attacks and are really only exposed if you disclose to other people the sensitive nature of the information contained within them. There are some key difference between hot and cold wallets, and you should only rely on them once you know how they operate.

Wallets can be hacked, but it is most likely that a hot wallet is the one that will be hacked. In some cases, it is also possible for a cold wallet to be hacked, but this depends on the storage of the cold wallet which may result in what you think is cold actually being termed as a warm wallet.

DNS Hack

A DNS hack is not a Bitcoin hack, it is when someone hijacks the Domain Name Server for a website and points the traffic to a site that looks a lot like the true site. This happened recently with My Ether Wallet, and over the time that the DNS hack was in operation, thousands of people using the site may have been potentially exposed to revealing their private keys (wallet passwords) to the hacker unknowingly.

Always check that the website you are visiting is the real deal. Never click on a link that is sent to you via email to access your account. You will find links embedded in some posts on this website that are affiliate links that have URLs such as https://www.binance.com/?ref=19232102 which is our affiliate link to Binance.

In any links you access always make sure that there is a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and that the spelling of the address is what it should be. There have been some elaborate phishing attempts over the years with big corporations having their identities stolen, so always be on the lookout.

Depending upon the version of the browser, and the type of browser you are using, the SSL lock which is pictured in the image on the left as a padlock, may be a different color. In this case, I am using the Brave Browser which blocks ads and scripts unless I give them permission. The lock here is grey, and it indicates that the website is secure.

However, you still need to check that the spelling of the URL is correct. I could easily register www.coinmakretcap.com, and an SSL to it and make it look like www.coinmarketcap.com. If you didn't stop to check the spelling of the URL and blindly trusted the site, you could leave yourself exposed to a hack. These are normally the type of things you'll see in links that are sent out to you, or embedded on dodgy websites.

There are no doubt dozens of other ways that hacks cab be initiated. These are just a few of the more common ones, and as stated in the opening, it is not possible to hack Bitcoin, at least not at this point in time. Not that I think there will ever truly be a point when someone will be able to actually hack Bitcoin in the future.

This article was recenty posted on my website TechMagy and shared here with the Steemit community to add value.