Author: Jorge Timón 2014-01-10 18:50:36
Published on: 2014-01-10T18:50:36+00:00
In the context, Peter Todd discusses merged mining and its potential impact on altcoins. He notes that there aren't many pools out there, and Ixcoin and Devcoin have been lucky enough to survive long enough to get the support of a reasonably big pool. Once a coin gets that kind of support, potential attackers must consider public relations. Todd worries that people planning to implement random altcoins may conclude after reading that what they need is not merged mining but yet another independent scrypt coin or even worse, yet another PoW algorithm. Todd mentions he has been approached many times with questions like "How much would it cost to create a new altcoin?" and tries to explain to them that there are more currencies beyond p2p currencies, such as local currencies, colored coins, or open transactions, that probably fit their needs much better without the need to bootstrap an entire economy with a network of computers that consume plenty of resources. He recommends merged mining because it is more secure for them, more secure for Bitcoin, and better for the environment and everyone in general. Still, for some reason, a new non-merged mined chain is the most popular choice; less efficient, less secure, more popular. Todd does not believe that a secure chain is more valuable than a less secure chain, all other things being equal. He thinks that a secure chain is no more useful than a less secure chain. A secure chain will not be more valuable than a less secure chain.
Updated on: 2023-06-07T23:18:46.060459+00:00