Author: ZmnSCPxj 2021-05-18 11:58:44
Published on: 2021-05-18T11:58:44+00:00
The conversation between Michael and ZmnSCPxj revolves around the technical description of ASICBOOST. They discuss how it works by selectively varying bits in the first block of SHA256 while reusing the computation of the second block, which reduces power consumption for the same number of hashes attempted. ZmnSCPxj shares an important writeup that explains the concept in detail and suggests that anyone who dreams of changing PoW algorithms should read and understand it. Michael proposes a solution to mitigate the issue of ASICBOOST by phasing in oPoW slowly starting at a low percentage of rewards. However, ZmnSCPxj points out that this mechanism is an additional complication and there may be further layer-crossing violations possible. He adds that additional layers mean additional possibility of layer-crossing violations like ASICBOOST.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T21:57:27.149198+00:00