Author: Jorge Timón 2015-08-05 23:24:03
Published on: 2015-08-05T23:24:03+00:00
The belief that block propagation times are the only metric to consider for evaluating the usefulness of the block size maximum consensus rule in limiting mining centralization is challenged by a thought experiment. The scenario envisions the invention of superluminal communication and free, infinite bandwidth for everyone, negating the need for block propagation times. However, even under these ideal conditions, the consensus block size maximum still serves a purpose in limiting mining centralization.Assuming miners no longer mine transactions with fees lower than 1 satoshi, there will still be physical limitations that benefit large mining players. For example, if miner A can process 100 M tx/block while miner B can only handle 10 M tx/block, removing the consensus maximum block size would favor miner A. This is because miner A's block reward would be greater than miner B's, ultimately leading to miner B going bankrupt or stopping mining. Therefore, the block size maximum will always be useful in limiting mining centralization, as there will always be some physical limitation that benefits larger mining players.
Updated on: 2023-06-10T18:19:56.396033+00:00