Author: Peter Todd 2017-01-28 18:22:25
Published on: 2017-01-28T18:22:25+00:00
In a discussion on bitcoin-dev, Andrew Johnson pointed out that Satoshi Nakamoto's vision for Bitcoin was for most full nodes to run in data centers, not for every user to run a full node. The intention of the system was to be peer-to-peer cash, not just a settlement layer for high-value transactions. However, this vision also included the use of fraud proofs (called "alerts" in the white paper) by SPV clients to detect fraudulent behavior by miners and avoid having to completely trust nodes in data centers. Unfortunately, fraud proofs are difficult to implement and offer less security than previously thought. Additionally, current SPV clients are not what Satoshi had envisioned. This is not the first time aspects of Satoshi's vision have been proven wrong, as the white paper initially referred to the "longest chain" rather than the most-work chain, requiring a hardfork to fix.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T21:18:43.495873+00:00