Author: Matt Corallo 2013-12-24 08:34:53
Published on: 2013-12-24T08:34:53+00:00
The email conversation in question discusses the potential security risks of adjusting Bitcoin's difficulty after a certain period of time. Ryan Carboni suggests that if only four blocks have been mined within three days, the difficulty should be adjusted downwards. However, Mark Friedenbach argues that such adjustments could introduce security risks, as attackers with low hashpower could isolate an individual from the main chain without them noticing. Friedenbach further explains that alternative difficulty adjustment algorithms are being explored by some alts, such as the 9-block interval, 144-block window, Parks-McClellan FIR filter used by Freicoin to recover from just such a mining bubble. If such a scenario were to happen to bitcoin, there would be sophisticated alternatives to turn to and enough time to make the change. The discussion also touches on the safety of running Bitcoin through a proprietary dial-up network. In response to Carboni's suggestion, Matt criticizes him for not clarifying the attack, stating that posting ideas without understanding the Bitcoin network is frowned upon. The email thread is part of the Bitcoin-development mailing list.
Updated on: 2023-05-19T17:57:33.037979+00:00