Published on: 2015-08-02T22:07:22+00:00
The email thread discusses proposed changes to the block size and deployment period for Bitcoin. One party suggests a starting date for the block size 30 days after 75% miner support but not before January 12, 2016. The block size will gradually increase over 16 months until it reaches 8MB on May 11, 2017. Chinese miners agree with this proposal. However, there is disagreement on whether we can currently handle larger blocks. Security concerns related to trusting miners are also discussed. Another member proposes a more gradual approach to the block size increase with a longer grace period. Pieter Wuille raises the question of what would have happened if Bitcoin had started with 8MB blocks. He suggests a compromise between BIP101 and BIP103 with a gradual increase in block size based on technology growth. The text discusses various solutions for internet service and the need for independent full nodes to maintain decentralization. Adam Back expresses concern about the trustworthiness of data-center operators and highlights the importance of understanding decentralization. The argument for decentralization security and the reality of trusting data centers are discussed. The decentralized nature of data centers and hosting providers is highlighted, as well as the difficulty for authorities to conduct widescale attacks on nodes. The email thread also discusses the security reality of hosting anything intended to be secure via decentralization or hosting in general and proposes a compromise between BIP101 and BIP103. The proposal suggests gradual growth in the block size over time and the importance of a fee market and the value of secondary layers.The article discusses the challenges of running a full node for Bitcoin in countries with repressive governments. The author argues that trusting data centers to run verified code without being hacked and responsive to court orders is delusional. Data center operators are bound to follow laws, including NSLs and gag orders, which could compromise the security of Bitcoin. However, one could establish multiple full nodes all over the world, including in offshore VPS, to ensure decentralization and avoid geopolitical risks. The email thread discusses the issue of trust in data centers and their ability to run verified code, avoid being hacked, filter traffic, and respond to court orders without notifying users. The reality of data center security breaches and policy attacks is highlighted with references to Snowden disclosures and the need for awareness of security. A compromise proposal is presented regarding the block size limit increase in Bitcoin, with details on initiation, starting date, and gradual increase in block size over a period of 16 months. The rationale behind each parameter is explained, including SSD price reduction and global bandwidth growth predictions. The author also comments on the need for a fee market but cautions against excessive fee pressure at this time when the block reward is still the main income source for miners. Finally, the author emphasizes the importance of increasing the underlying settlement system's capacity before building secondary layers such as Lightning Network.The email proposes a compromise between Gavin's BIP101 and Pieter's proposal, BIP103. The author suggests initiation through BIP34 style voting with support from 750 out of the last 1000 blocks and using the "hardfork bit" mechanism. The starting date is proposed to be 30 days after 75% miner support but not before 2016-01-12 00:00 UTC. The block size at 2016-01-12 will be 1,414,213 bytes, and multiplied by 1.414213 by every 2^23 seconds until exactly 8MB is reached on 2017-05-11. After 8MB is reached, the block size will be increased by 6.714% every 97 days, which is equivalent to exactly octuple (8x) every 8.5 years, or double every 2.9 years, or +27.67% per year. The final cap is set at 4096MB on 2042-11-17.The author suggests a faster growth in the beginning to normalize the block size and a new optimal size based on current adoption and technology. They also agree that Bitcoin needs a fee market, but the fee pressure must not be too high at this moment as the block reward is still the miner's main income source. The author respects everyone building secondary layers over the blockchain. However, they believe that if the underlying settlement system does not have enough capacity, any secondary layer built on it will fall apart. Finally, the value of secondary layers primarily comes from instant confirmation, not scarcity of block space.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T14:50:35.700912+00:00