All concepts
Concept
Consensus
The Honest-Majority Assumption
First appeared Oct 2008
Why it matters
It defines exactly what Bitcoin does and doesn't guarantee. The white paper's core proof is that honest majority makes rewriting history exponentially unlikely.
What it is
Bitcoin is secure as long as honest miners control the majority of hash power. A party with more than 50% could reorder or censor recent transactions — the famous "51% attack" — but cannot steal coins or break the supply cap.