Published on: 2014-05-21T15:52:45+00:00
Stephen Reed, a user from Austin, Texas, has completed a whitepaper proposing a proof-of-stake version of Bitcoin. The proposed system utilizes a single nomadic verifiable mint agent and distributed replication of a single blockchain by compensated full nodes to achieve 6-hop, sub-second transaction acknowledgement times. Unlike the current system, this version would pay dividends to holders instead of miners, resulting in lower subsidized transaction fees.While the paper presents an interesting idea, it is worth noting that the code for this proposed system has not yet been written. Therefore, the concept is still in its early stages of development. Reed acknowledges the complexity of the proposed system and suggests incentivizing full nodes instead.Reed's plan is to hard fork the Bitcoin blockchain in early 2016, but only after a year of public system testing and wide approval. This cautious approach ensures that the proposed changes are thoroughly evaluated before implementation. In order to gather feedback and promote transparency, Reed encourages readers to comment on the project thread, which will serve as a development diary.It is important to highlight that referring to the subsidy for miners as "wasting it on miners" may not be well received within the Bitcoin community. The email includes a link to the whitepaper and project thread for those who wish to reference or contribute to the ongoing discussion.Overall, while Reed's whitepaper offers an intriguing vision for the future of Bitcoin, it is clear that significant work remains before implementing such drastic changes. The proposed proof-of-stake system could revolutionize transaction speeds and reduce costs through dividend payments to holders. However, it remains to be seen how the wider Bitcoin community will respond to these ideas.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T09:21:47.633203+00:00