On August 15, 2010, the digital currency field witnessed a 'life and death catastrophe'— Bitcoin had an excess of 184 billion coins due to a code vulnerability! This amount is nearly 90,000 times the total supply of Bitcoin (21 million coins), instantly igniting panic in the early community. This incident, known as the '184 billion vulnerability', nearly destroyed Bitcoin's credit system, causing the entire network to collapse overnight.

However, it was this crisis that not only became Bitcoin's darkest moment in history but also a turning point for its rise. Today, let us revisit this thrilling journey of redemption.

How did the vulnerability erupt: where did the 184 billion Bitcoins come from?

The incident originated from Bitcoin's block number 74638. Due to an integer overflow vulnerability in the code, attackers successfully bypassed the limits and directly generated 184 billion Bitcoins!

The emergence of this vulnerability severely threatened Bitcoin's scarcity and value:

  • Collapse of Scarcity: The additional 184 billion Bitcoins made the '21 million cap' a mere empty talk.

  • Market Trust Crisis: Prices fell, and community confidence nearly collapsed.

In that early stage, supported by only a handful of developers and miners, Bitcoin's fate hung by a thread.

Satoshi Nakamoto takes action: Hard fork and the 'life and death contest' lasting 19 hours

Faced with the sudden crisis, Bitcoin's anonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto quickly joined forces with the community:

  1. Fix the vulnerability: Immediately update the code to block the 'overflow' issue.

  2. Hard fork rollback: By hard forking, revert to the blockchain state before the vulnerability occurred and destroy the excess 184 billion Bitcoins.

The implementation of the hard fork led to a brief split in the Bitcoin network:

  • Old Chain: Retaining the vulnerability and excess Bitcoins.

  • New Chain: Fixing the vulnerability, returning to scarcity.

The miners voted with their computing power, and after 19 hours, the repaired new chain successfully replaced the old chain, becoming the main chain. This process restructured 53 blocks and is regarded as the largest rollback correction in Bitcoin's history.

Miraculous rebound: From crisis to rebirth

After the vulnerability was fixed, Bitcoin's price quickly recovered from its lows:

  • Before the incident: $0.07

  • By the end of the year: $0.30, an increase of over 300%!

This event not only did not destroy Bitcoin but instead garnered it more attention:

  • More powerful technology: After fixing the vulnerability, the code became more secure.

  • Stronger trust: Community collaboration demonstrated the power of decentralized governance.

Crisis Revelation: Bitcoin's Risk Resistance

The '184 billion vulnerability' made Bitcoin overcome its biggest hurdle during its growth and revealed the unique charm of decentralized systems:

  1. Community collaboration is the soul: without timely actions from Satoshi Nakamoto and the developers, the vulnerability could have destroyed the entire network.

  2. Decentralization also has power: the miners' choices ultimately determined the direction of the network, and this 'computing power democracy' is worth pondering.

  3. Trust surpasses everything: security issues can be fixed, but rebuilding community trust is the key for Bitcoin to continue moving forward.

Written at the end: Bitcoin, the legend after the crisis

Reflecting on this history, do you realize: even Bitcoin, hailed as 'Gold 2.0', almost fell from grace due to a vulnerability. However, it was this '184 billion crisis' that showcased Bitcoin's resilience and hope, achieving its legendary status today.#2025有哪些关键叙事？ $BTC

💡 Leave a comment for discussion: What do you think about Bitcoin's handling of this crisis? What does trust really mean in a decentralized system? 👇