Author: James Hilliard 2016-12-11 00:40:25
Published on: 2016-12-11T00:40:25+00:00
The proposal suggests managing Bitcoin's block size the same way difficulty is managed, by adjusting it every two weeks based on the average block size of the previous 2016 blocks. The target capacity over 2016 blocks would be 75%, and if the last 2016 blocks are more than 75% full, the difference is added to the max block size. The system aims to keep blocks at 75% total capacity over each two-week period, as difficulty tries to keep blocks mined every ten minutes. This method allows the max block size to grow in response to transaction volume predictably and reasonably quickly, preventing wild swings in block size or transaction fees. However, some concerns have been raised that the proposed system could cause runaway block size growth and encourage much more miner centralization. Miners are incentivized to mine maximum size blocks to maximize transaction fees since there is very little marginal cost to including extra transactions, and they can even mine their own transactions without any fees. Additionally, there are concerns about block propagation time and orphan rates increasing unpredictably due to larger block sizes, especially if the internet speed varies across geographic regions. Furthermore, the system could be gamed by filling the network with transactions, and there must be a maximum block size that the network will allow as a consensus rule. Despite these concerns, the proposal offers a way to manage the block size automatically without human intervention.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T20:51:43.541851+00:00