Published on: 2017-04-17T22:34:55+00:00
John Hardy proposes the implementation of Malicious Miner Reactive Proof of Work Additions (MR POWA) as a solution to the issue of miner centralization in Bitcoin. This proposal suggests introducing multiple new proofs of work (PoW) that have been proven in altcoin implementations, such as Scrypt, Ethash, and Equihash. The goal is to diversify hardware and reduce the impact of subsidized or inexpensive electricity in certain regions.MR POWA would be activated as a hard fork in response to a malicious attempt by a hashpower majority to introduce a contentious hard fork. Instead of completely eliminating SHA256 as a hashing method and changing the PoW algorithm, Hardy recommends adding new PoWs to diversify hardware. This approach would improve decentralization.Under MR POWA, there would be four proofs of work with a 40-minute block target difficulty for each. Additionally, a rule could be implemented where two different proofs of work must find a block before a method can start hashing again. This ensures that only 50% of hardware is hashing at any given time, preventing a sudden gain or drop in hashpower from significantly impacting the network.Hardy believes that MR POWA would serve as a deterrent to malicious actors attempting to abuse their position and create a huge risk for them. If consensus were to form around a future hard fork, nodes would be able to upgrade, and MR POWA would have no economic significance on non-upgraded nodes, resulting in an immediately abandoned vestigial chain with no miner incentive.Overall, Hardy sees MR POWA as a proactive measure to prevent malicious use of hashpower and emphasizes that Bitcoin's strength lies in the ability of the economic majority to find solutions to emerging challenges.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T19:47:38.144810+00:00