Author: Eric Voskuil 2017-05-31 06:17:59
Published on: 2017-05-31T06:17:59+00:00
The discussion on bitcoin-dev mailing list revolves around the topic of the ASICBOOST patent and its impact on Bitcoin mining. The conversation begins with a question regarding the situation if there were no patent. It is argued that blocking ASICBoost would decrease everyone’s hashrate by the same amount, and then everyone would be back to making the same profit. However, it is countered that the ease of implementation is offset by its returns and that the cost of implementation is irrelevant. The conversation moves on to consider whether an ASIC patent would have the same essential formulation as an ASICBoost patent. It is agreed that the harm in both cases results from the patent and not the optimization. The conversation concludes that it is very possible that an unblockable mining patent advantage can arise in the future. The discussion then turns towards the possibility of a state licensing regime for miners, applied in the same scope as a patent but absent any patent. It is considered that extracting money in exchange for permission to use an optimization is a tax on the optimization and that any optional technology with license fees cannot be made available to all miners on equal terms. The point is made that mis-attributing the threat is not helpful, and this is one narrow example of the general, foreseen, primary threat to Bitcoin - or any hard money. The defense against a patent is to ignore the patent, and berating people for doing so is counterproductive. The Bitcoin defense against a patent is to reduce risk through risk-sharing and decentralization. However, it is concluded that Bitcoin cannot generally prevent state patent/licensing/tax regimes and thus needs to find solutions to cope with them.
Updated on: 2023-06-12T01:22:19.671344+00:00