Author: Eric Voskuil 2017-03-27 20:01:41
Published on: 2017-03-27T20:01:41+00:00
The relation between block size and propagation speed has been decoupled with the use of xthin/compact blocks, which allows miners to send a small version of a block that is recreated using the memory pool. This eliminates the need for the old problem of having to validate them again when a block was mined. However, all transactions being publicly available cannot be assumed. There is no downside to a miner creating a bigger block as long as all transactions are in the mempool. Withholding transactions still maintains the economic advantage of latency as a function of block size, which can lead to centralization pressure. Making blocks big enough to include low-cost transactions nullifies the benefits of fast relay techniques as a rational miner will just substitute withheld transactions. It can be concluded that no matter how much space is created, it will always be filled by a rational miner due to the centralizing effect of latency.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T22:37:23.814107+00:00