Published on: 2013-02-24T01:06:51+00:00
In a future where subsidies for miners are low, fees will become their main source of income. This opens up the possibility for large miners to intentionally mine a block that would orphan the current best block in order to increase their profits. However, this strategy faces limitations when there are restricted block sizes that can only accommodate a certain number of transactions.To counter this issue, the best strategy for miners is to accept the current best block and move on. However, there is a way to defeat this profit-seeking strategy by utilizing nLockTime. Clients can create their transactions with nLockTime set in such a way that only the next block can include the transaction, or even farther into the future if the transaction is not time-sensitive.By implementing nLockTime in this manner, miners would need to mine two blocks in order to gain the transactions from the block they orphaned. This puts more pressure on the block as it becomes full. Utilizing nLockTime in this way does not harm clients and actually provides benefits in the long run.Using nLockTime also helps protect clients from potential losses resulting from deliberate actions by miners. By setting nLockTime appropriately, clients can safeguard themselves against any attempts by miners to orphan blocks and claim their fees.This concept was discussed in 2013 between Peter Todd and an anonymous source. They recognized that fees would become the primary income for miners in a low-subsidy future, leading to the possibility of intentional block orphaning. While a hypothetical scenario involving a 1000BTC fee transaction was mentioned, more realistic examples could arise due to a significant number of transactions with decent fees.Concerns have been raised about slow convergence as miners compete to orphan each other's blocks instead of sniping profitable fees. However, Peter Todd pointed out that if there is already a sufficient backlog or immature nLockTime of transactions with fees exceeding the maximum block size, the incentive for miners to orphan blocks in search of more fees is greatly diminished or eliminated.In summary, the shift towards fees as the main income for miners in a low-subsidy future raises the possibility of intentional block orphaning. However, by utilizing nLockTime and creating transactions with appropriate time locks, clients can protect themselves from potential losses resulting from these actions. Furthermore, if there are already enough high-fee transactions waiting to be added to the blockchain, miners will have no reason to orphan blocks in search of additional fees.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T04:27:42.892911+00:00