>Please note that the attack costs do not include the money you earn in the form of block rewards, so in many cases the costs will actually be substantially lower.
If mining is supposed to be profitable, shouldn't it be profitable to control 51% of the network? Seems like economies of scale should lead to a clear industry leader. Whats stopping this from being the natural progression of bitcoin?
Right now there are 3-4 parties that together control more than 51% of mining power. I believe they've avoided merging because if there is a single entity openly controlling a majority of mining power it undermines trust in bitcoin, devaluing the currency.
If mining is supposed to be profitable, shouldn't it be profitable to control 51% of the network? Seems like economies of scale should lead to a clear industry leader. Whats stopping this from being the natural progression of bitcoin?