Author: Eric Voskuil 2018-01-23 04:57:46
Published on: 2018-01-23T04:57:46+00:00
The discussion on the bitcoin-dev mailing list centered around the idea that if two chains have similar value and difficulty, miners will be equally distributed between them. However, this argument is flawed as mining difficulty only controls block period, not miner return on capital. Profitability is controlled by competition, and miners seek the same level of profitability for any coin, regardless of difficulty. The assumption that the two chains have the same initial or final value is also unrealistic, as even the smallest change in number of merchants or human perception can lead to one being slightly better and gaining dominance. It is argued that having one money is inherently better than two due to the exchange cost between them, and the better money will naturally be used in the absence of exchange controls.
Updated on: 2023-06-13T00:03:48.118800+00:00