Bitcoin Network Doubles to 2 PH/s in Four Weeks; the First 1 PH/s Took 4.7 Years

When this lunacy ends and people are left with racks of useless miners, is there anything they can be repurposed for?

I think most people are missing the bigger picture implication here: if 1 or 2 companies can double the bitcoin network in 4 weeks, then the network is not and probably never will be safe from attacks by the likes of the NSA and such.

cache:<p><a href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fthegenesisblock.com%2Fbitcoin-network-doubles-2-phs-four-weeks-first-1-phs-took-4-7-years%2F&amp;btnG=Search&amp;hl=en&amp;safe=off" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;webcache.googleusercontent.com&#x2F;search?q=cache%3Ahttp%...</a>

My question would be: How will the blockchain stop attacks when all the bitcoins have been mined, but computing power continues to increase thereafter, even at a slowing rate?<p>Couldn&#x27;t someone develop better ASICs, long after mining has ended, to launch a 51% attack? Granted it would be expensive, wouldn&#x27;t that expense decrease continuously?

And 3PH is just around the corner! <a href="http://bitcoin.sipa.be" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;bitcoin.sipa.be</a>

Am I correct in saying this is good news for BTC, as it makes a 50% network attack more and more expensive to execute?<p>Going into the future, when difficulty is high enough or all Bitcoins are mined, would some of this computing power shut down?

Ahh that is kinda how &quot;exponential growth&quot; works. But clearly the exponential part is recent because if you project backwards at doubling every 4 weeks you find the hash rate started at one hash every 28 days. ;-)