Author: Tomas 2017-05-04 10:38:29
Published on: 2017-05-04T10:38:29+00:00
A proposal has been made for full nodes to generate and broadcast a template block containing transaction selection, a coinbase output with a predetermined portion of the block reward to themselves, and a nonce for proof-of-work (PoW) of a predetermined hash function. This would allow miners/pools to outsource transaction selection using a different PoW, buying proof-of-uncensored-selection and proof-of-goodwill for a small fee. The template with the highest PoW since the last block would be leading, and a miner/pool can choose to use it instead of their own, adding the rest of the reward and SHA nonce themselves. This would set up a competition among full nodes, but would be voluntary and provable. In response to this proposal, Ben Thompson via bitcoin-dev expressed skepticism, suggesting that most users would likely download the blockchain from a node that was not enforcing a tip requirement, as it would seem like an unnecessary cost. He believes that adding a cost to the blockchain would lead to centralization. Another idea proposed by Erik Aronesty via bitcoin-dev is for full nodes to advertise a bitcoin address and encourage users who download the blockchain from them to send a tip to the peers that served them. Full nodes can also require a tip to download the blockchain, but this may represent a barrier to hosting one's own full node. However, if one manages to stay online, they should get their money back and more, incentivizing quality, long-term hosting. The proposal also discourages "installation spam" attacks on the network, and fees for other node operations can be considered if successful.
Updated on: 2023-06-12T00:35:51.336014+00:00