Author: Gavin Andresen 2015-05-28 15:53:41
Published on: 2015-05-28T15:53:41+00:00
Gavin Andresen has suggested that the hard block size limit should be a function of the actual block sizes over some trailing sampling period. The median block size among the most recent 2016 blocks could be taken and multiplied by 1.5. This would make the maximum size limit more dynamic and able to handle increased transaction volume around major holidays and react more quickly if an economically irrational attacker attempted to flood the network with fee-paying transactions. An average over 144 blocks (last 24 hours) would be better able to handle the change in transaction volumes. Gavin's proposal suggests the maximum size would be 2x the average size over last 144 blocks, calculated at every block. However, when he proposed this idea privately to other core committers, the objection was that it gives miners complete control over the maximum block size. Gavin disagrees, saying until there is size-independent new block propagation, there is an incentive for miners to keep their blocks small, and we see miners creating small blocks even when there are fee-paying transactions waiting to be confirmed. If he is wrong, then miners will have a strong incentive to collectively impose whatever rules are necessary to make the system healthy again.
Updated on: 2023-06-09T20:08:34.495201+00:00