Published on: 2013-07-16T03:54:23+00:00
In recent discussions among Bitcoin developers, the risks associated with starting an alt-chain based on proof of work were addressed. Peter Todd expressed concerns about pool operators attacking such chains. He also mentioned the controversy surrounding sacrificing something outside of Bitcoin's chain and the appearance of new BTC. Merged-mining was brought up as a more profitable alternative, emphasizing the importance of following the rules and mining the other coin. Todd criticized those who consider something sellable for BTC as having "negative value." The concept of proof-of-sacrifice being opaque to the master blockchain was discussed, along with SCIP-based merged mining, which was deemed a dream.Jorge Timón, in an email exchange from 2013, provided his perspective on Bitcoin mining. He argued that one-way sacrifice (BTC to Zerocoin) is not controversial because it requires no modifications to Bitcoin. However, he pointed out that sacrificing something outside of Bitcoin's chain and the appearance of new BTC is indeed controversial. Timón focused on merged mining and stated that miners not participating in merged mining Namecoin are irrational agents. He also mentioned Prime Proof of Work and SCIP-based mining, highlighting variations in value for miners in different jurisdictions.Peter Vessenes discussed the issue of market liquidity for alternative currencies that do not peg to Bitcoin. He suggested automated BitcoinZerocoin P2P trading as a solution that would also enhance privacy.Luke-Jr proposed implementing a Zerocoin with no-reward/PoSacrifice merged mining during a discussion on creating an alt-coin. However, Peter Todd questioned Luke-Jr's credibility due to past involvement in 51% attacks on alt-coins. The concept of bi-directional sacrifice for Zerocoin was explained, where a Zerocoin is created by proving that a Bitcoin was sacrificed in a specific way. The potential impact of long-term Bitcoin deflation if Bitcoins are permanently sacrificed was discussed, along with the need for consensus on the Bitcoin blockchain for Zerocoin verification.Adam and John Dillon had a conversation responding to Jorge Timón's argument in favor of Zerocoin. The group discussed merged mining and the importance of the cost of mining invalid blocks. Pieter Wuille and Luke-Jr raised concerns about merge-mining's potential risk on blockchain security, particularly the possibility of miners mining invalid blocks without a cost. The assumption of mining security and the significance of having a cost associated with mining were debated.Overall, these conversations shed light on various perspectives related to Bitcoin mining, including alt-chain risks, merged mining profitability, proof-of-sacrifice, and merge mining's security implications. The discussions also touched upon liquidity, privacy, and the costs involved in mining invalid blocks.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T05:16:57.707740+00:00