Bitcoin testnet griefing attack draws ire from developers

Jameson
Lopp,
co-founder
and
Chief
Security
Officer
of
the
crypto
self-custody
platform
Casa,
has
claimed
responsibility
for
a
griefing
attack
on
the
Bitcoin
testnet
network
that
disrupted
its
normal
functioning.

A
griefing
attack
involves
intentionally
spamming
transactions
on
a
network,
increasing
its
workload
and
disrupting
its
usual
operations,
often
frustrating
other
network
users
without
necessarily
providing
financial
benefit
to
the
attacker.

In
a
post
on
the
decentralized
social
media
platform
Nostr,
Lopp

stated:

“My
griefing
attack
on
Bitcoin
testnet
has
resulted
in
over
165,000
blocks
(3
years
worth)
generated
in
the
past
week.
😏”

Hashrate
and
block
difficulty
data
on
the
Bitcoin
network
testnet
showed
hashrate

spiking
to
2,315
TH/s
on
April
19,
before
gradually
returning
to
346
TH/s
on
April
28.
Asked
by
commentators
whether
the
griefing
attack
was
worth
doing,
Lopp
responded
that
the
whole
operation
only
cost
him
$1
worth
of
electricity
to
run.

While
the
Bitcoin
testnet
itself
did
not
tide
over
any
significant
harm
from
Lopp’s
griefing
attack,
some
figures
in
the
crypto
community
thought
that
the
attack
was
misplaced,
resulting
to
wasted
time
for
Bitcoin
app
developers.

Whoever
has
been
fucking
with
testnest
is
a
douchebag
looser.
Cool
bro
you’re
able
to
attack
a
network
with
no
economic
incentives
and
literally
the
only
damage
done
is
fucking
with
the
tests
of
open-source
Bitcoin
application
builders
and
wasting
their
time.
What
kind
of…

—
FRANCIS
–
BULLBITCOIN.COM
(@francispouliot_)

April
29,
2024

Lopp
claimed
that
the
“testnet
shenanigans”
proved
how
“scammers
[who
are]
running
exchanges
and
trading
testnet
tokens
for
real
value”
noticed
the
discrepancies
almost
immediately
when
he
began
the
attack.
On
the
contrary,
Lopp
pointed
out
that
actual
Bitcoin
developers
who
were
working
with
legitimate
tests
only
noticed
it
by
the
time
that
he
claimed
responsibility.
Lopp
went
on
to
say
that
Bitcoin
developers
should
consider
the
attack
as
a
“free
stress
test”
on
the
network,
drawing
ire
from
the
crypto
community.

Lopp’s
griefing
attack
interrupted
node
syncing
on
the
Bitcoin
testnet,
resulting
in
thousands
of
new
blocks
per
hour.
This
prompted
developers
like
Leo
Weese,
technical
lead
at
Lightning
Labs,
to
suggest
that
permissionless
testnets
should
be
abandoned.

Weese’s

response
may
indicate
that
new
parameters
on
who
has
access
to
test
networks
on
Bitcoin
could
be
set
after
developers
agree
on
adjustments.

Lopp
later

responded
that
he
will
be
publishing
an
essay
with
full
details,
defending
his
actions
as
something
that
shouldn’t
have
“come
as
a
surprise”
given
that
he
sent
a
warning
email
to
the
Bitcoin
development
mailing
list
weeks
prior
to
the
griefing
attack.