Author: Geir Harald Hansen 2015-12-26 00:38:06
Published on: 2015-12-26T00:38:06+00:00
Geir H. Hansen, Bitminter mining pool, has written an email to the bitcoin-dev mailing list discussing the problems with block withholding attacks and the potential impact on decentralization. Hansen argues that such attacks are not effective against larger pools, but can be used to put smaller competitors out of business. He suggests that if mining pools are killed off, small miners will have no way to achieve acceptable variance and will disappear. Hansen also believes that yelling at large open pools will not scale and there is a need for better mechanisms for keeping pools in check. However, he does not think block withholding is a good tool, as it can easily destroy small pools. Additionally, Hansen notes that Miner's Dilemma attacks are quite effective, and that we should count our blessings, not work actively to render them inoperable. He concludes by expressing his disappointment with the irrational behavior of many miners and pools and argues that block withholding only makes the situation worse.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T02:31:57.353673+00:00