Author: Michael Dubrovsky 2021-05-19 14:07:53
Published on: 2021-05-19T14:07:53+00:00
The discussion in the bitcoin-dev thread is centered around Proof of Work (PoW), Optimized Proof of Work (oPoW), and Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs). The thread suggests that topics such as Proof of Stake (PoS) and Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) should be discussed on other threads. It is important to distinguish oPoW from other alternatives to Hashcash, as oPoW contains SHA and does not alter the core game theory or security assumptions of Hashcash. Erik Aronesty suggests a working proof-of-burn protocol, where VDFs would only be used for timing and blind-burned coins of specific ages would replace proof of work. The required "work" per block would simply be a competition to acquire rewards, and miners would have to burn coins well in advance and hope that their burned coins would get rewarded in some far future. The point of burned coins is to mimic the value gained from proof of work without some of the security drawbacks. New burns can't be used, old burns age out, and other requirements on burns might be needed to properly mirror the properties of PoW. Erik believes that it is possible that a "burned coin + vdf system" might be more secure in the long run, and if the entire space agreed that such an endeavor was worthwhile, a test net could be spun up, and a hard-fork could be initiated. Zac Greenwood clarifies that he is not suggesting VDFs as a means to save energy, but solely as a means to make the time between blocks more constant. ZmnSCPxj suggests that another weakness of VDFs is that they are not inherently progress-free, and a miner which focuses on improving the amount of energy that it can pump into the VDF circuitry could potentially get into a winner-takes-all situation, leading to worse competition and more energy consumption. Michael Dubrovsky, the founder of PoWx, signs off on the thread.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T21:25:46.139801+00:00