Author: Ruben Somsen 2021-05-04 12:51:14
Published on: 2021-05-04T12:51:14+00:00
In a recent email exchange, Ruben Somsen and ZmnSCPxj discussed the concept of blind merged mining (BMM) and its potential drawbacks. ZmnSCPxj expressed concern that sidechain functionaries would not earn anything once there are at least two functionaries, as they are doing all the work of validating the sidechain blocks but gain nothing in return. Ruben explained that even if one entity consistently creates all the spacechain blocks, they can only do so as long as they consistently leave 0 profit on the table for others. This means that the entity is not censoring anyone, and as soon as they try to abuse their position with censorship, it's easy for anyone to step in and outbid them. Ruben went on to explain that there is very little difference between being a spacechain miner and a spacechain user. Both are expected to run full nodes, and the only difference is that the miner has some BTC available and is willing to use it to "mine" the block reward in the spacechain. Ruben also mentioned that he prefers not to call a "BMM chain" a sidechain because in his eyes, it's not a sidechain if the chain has its own altcoin. The spacechain design comes closer to being a sidechain in that regard, but even then, the use of the term "sidechain" is debatable.ZmnSCPxj continued to express concern about BMM on the mainchain, stating that sidechain functionaries will not earn anything once there are at least two functionaries. This is because, in a scenario with two functionaries, the bidding war for sidechain blocks would result in all earnings going to mainchain miners who are not actually validating anything in the sidechain. Even if there is only one sidechain functionary, the entire sidechain would depend on this one functionary. Overall, Ruben and ZmnSCPxj explored the potential drawbacks of blind merged mining and discussed how the spacechain design could avoid some of these issues.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T20:08:04.013929+00:00