Author: Andy Parkins 2011-11-23 15:11:07
Published on: 2011-11-23T15:11:07+00:00
On November 23, 2011 Christian Decker suggested a possible way to revoke all transactions and claim all the mined coins since you forked. He had brainstormed an idea where he would pick any old block, create a chain fork by creating simpler blocks on top of his chosen one, which would not be accepted by others until he found an incredibly hard block that made his forked chain the hardest one in the network. Once that happened, all his blocks were valid and he could force people to switch to his forked chain. However, it was noted that this notion of the "hardest chain" is not simple. The problem with making the "hardest chain" is that if successful, all existing transactions would be reverted. The method used to calculate total chain work was questioned, although it was acknowledged that a higher difficulty beats a lower difficulty. This makes the chain more secure, not less. The difficulty of invalidating a chain was discussed and it was noted that the difficulty is not reduced with a time window approach. Hashes are hashes and a given difficulty isn't required, but a higher difficulty beats a lower difficulty.
Updated on: 2023-06-04T21:32:04.307584+00:00