Yes, that could be a problem. In an efficient market the total mining costs for the network (and thus the cost to achieve 51% of mining power) will tend to be slightly less than the value received from block rewards and fees. It's also the main reason I don't foresee alt-coins proliferating. People will prefer the most secure network.
Comments
Yes, that could be a problem. In an efficient market the total mining costs for the network (and thus the cost to achieve 51% of mining power) will tend to be slightly less than the value received from block rewards and fees. It's also the main reason I don't foresee alt-coins proliferating. People will prefer the most secure network.
There are other ways to "fund" the network security: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Funding_network_security https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=157141.msg1665332#ms... I don't know if these schemes would work if the value drops too low though.