Author: Kenshiro [] 2019-07-31 14:40:50
Published on: 2019-07-31T14:40:50+00:00
The proposal to add a "moving checkpoint" to the Bitcoin protocol was made by Kenshiro []. The rule is already implemented in NXT coin. According to the proposed rule, a node will ignore any new block under nodeBlockHeight - N. Thus, the blockchain becomes immutable after N blocks, even during a 51% attack which cannot rewrite history older than the last N blocks. However, Alistair Mann raised a question about how a potentially state-sponsored netsplit lasting longer than N would be handled. The community responded that it would be detected much before reaching the reorg limit of N blocks (24 hours) so nodes could stop until the netsplit is fixed. In the extreme case where no one noticed the network split during more than N blocks (24 hours) and there are two permanent forks longer than N, nodes from one branch could delete their local history so they would join the other branch.
Updated on: 2023-06-13T20:40:17.463682+00:00