Author: Billy Tetrud 2021-05-21 20:11:27
Published on: 2021-05-21T20:11:27+00:00
The author proposes a transitionary period for switching consensus protocols, including switching to a different hash function for proof of work. This period should be long, perhaps years, to give miners time to switch over. There would need to be some manually determined estimate of equivalence hard coded into the software as there would be no trustless mechanism to relate the amount of work done between the two mechanisms. The idea is to have a smooth switch over from blocks created by the old mechanism to blocks created by the new mechanism, eventually reaching 0% for the old and 100% for the new. However, this change could be fraught with perils if the miners using each mechanism don't cooperate to ensure that equivalence is set fairly. A soft fork may be possible, but it would depend on how it's defined.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T20:16:12.209403+00:00