Author: Mike Hearn 2012-11-29 17:31:24
Published on: 2012-11-29T17:31:24+00:00
The rationale for having merchants broadcast transactions is multi-fold. Firstly, it reduces the load on P2P nodes by avoiding the need for thin clients to connect and disconnect when sending transactions. Instead, users only need to talk to the network when receiving money. This helps preserve P2P network sockets as a limited resource in the long term. Secondly, some users may not have network connectivity at all, particularly while traveling or attending Bitcoin conferences. To address this, buyers can communicate with sellers via Bluetooth, WiFi Direct, or other mobile radio protocols. This communication is one-way only, but it works well for cases where users load up their wallets before setting out and then buy things.Lastly, people may choose to not broadcast transactions at all in some cases as a longer-term solution. Since getting transactions into the chain has a cost, users may keep fee-less transactions around "in their pocket" if they trust the sender not to double spend. They can pass along these un-broadcast transactions until a payment crosses a trust boundary, at which point the receiver adds their own transaction that spends back to themselves with a fee and broadcasts them all together as a unit. This way, only those who genuinely fear double spends pay for security.
Updated on: 2023-06-06T08:52:06.578100+00:00