Author: Prayank 2021-06-27 12:01:27
Published on: 2021-06-27T12:01:27+00:00
Based on your questions, there are a few key points to understand about the role of miners and full nodes in enforcing consensus rules in Bitcoin. Firstly, without majority hash power support, activation of a soft fork simply means that a chain split will occur. This is because if the majority of miners decide to mine a chain that does not follow the consensus rules, it will result in a new chain being created that is incompatible with the existing one. Game theory can provide insight into the various outcomes possible in this scenario.Secondly, miners and mining pools do participate in discussions before signaling for a soft fork begins. However, they are still able to mine something else post-activation even if they signaled readiness for the soft fork. Thirdly, anyone can enforce a soft fork by mining or paying others to do so. Mining is essentially trading capital now for more later and everyone gets a say in the consensus rules. Therefore, it is important to not think of miners as other people. They play an integral role in enforcing consensus rules alongside full nodes. Additionally, full nodes and miners both play a role in enforcing consensus rules in Bitcoin. Full nodes enforce the rules by validating transactions and blocks according to the consensus rules, while miners add validated transactions to the blockchain and compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles to earn block rewards. Finally, soft fork signaling is often considered as voting, but it is not technically the same thing. Miners follow the consensus rules enforced by full nodes and receive subsidies and fees for their work. Signaling is simply an indication of readiness for a soft fork, but it does not guarantee its activation.
Updated on: 2023-05-21T02:54:46.818357+00:00