Author: Thomas Kerin 2015-12-04 16:46:34
Published on: 2015-12-04T16:46:34+00:00
The propagation of new information in gossip networks can be disrupted if the information is deemed to be invalid. Therefore, it is important to relay all information to peers as soon as possible. Although full nodes may receive headers first, it may still be beneficial for SPV wallets to hear about all contending chains in order to make informed decisions. The difference between a block and its header is simply the list of transactions, and since there isn't anywhere else to put the flag besides the header's version, clients typically receive headers first. A recent BIP suggests including an indicator in the header to signal whether or not the miner has validated the chain. This would not involve any proof, but rather act as an optional indicator for clients to use or ignore. It is important to note that if clients were to accept such proof, they may ignore blocks they should pay attention to. In a discussion on Bitcoin-dev, it was suggested that one node could choose not to validate in order to reduce latency. However, this approach could cause problems with the propagation of information in gossip networks.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T01:36:40.123773+00:00