Author: mike at powx.org 2021-05-18 11:05:44
Published on: 2021-05-18T11:05:44+00:00
In a recent email exchange between ZmnSCPxj and devrandom, the two discussed the potential externalities of adopting a new proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm. While ZmnSCPxj argued that any new PoW ultimately leads to the same negative externalities related to energy production as the current PoW, devrandom argued that there may be less externalities associated with CAPEX, such as R&D and construction. However, ZmnSCPxj pointed out another important externality that could arise from adopting a new PoW: the risk of exclusive patents for optimizations of the algorithm. He noted that while SHA256d has been in use by Bitcoin for 12 years and has already seen an optimization like ASICBOOST, any alternative PoW algorithm risks an unknown optimization that could be patented and enforced by its owner. This puts the entire ecosystem at direct conflict with legacy government structures. Devrandom responded by explaining that oPoW, the PoW algorithm proposed in the original email, only uses SHA3 and low precision linear matrix multiplication, both of which have been extensively studied and optimized in various industries, including Mythic, Groq, Tesla, Google TPU, and optical companies mentioned in the BIP, such as Lightmatter. This reduces the risk of exclusive patents for unknown optimizations.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T21:58:56.893516+00:00