Author: Gregory Maxwell 2016-05-11 22:58:48
Published on: 2016-05-11T22:58:48+00:00
On May 11, 2016, Timo Hanke via bitcoin-dev discussed the possibility of a contentious hardfork that results in the creation of an altcoin due to existing hardware being forked-out. He believed that both chains would survive since the hardware can't be used for anything else. However, he also claimed that a hardfork that forks out hardware is guaranteed to lead to the permanent existence of two chains if a contentious hardfork is suspected to do so.The existence of many altcoins was acknowledged, with new ones constantly being created. A 20% inherent advantage in perfect competition could potentially lead to mining monopoly if competition is prohibited by patent rights and mining profits are below the level of the enhancement.Preserving a vulnerability that ultimately harms decentralization for the benefit of some miners is not rational for Bitcoin users. The creation of an "asicboost" altcoin requiring licensing to mine would not be interesting. Forking out this vulnerability may not be the best move at the moment, but it's good that people are considering it carefully.
Updated on: 2023-05-19T23:26:37.956685+00:00