Author: Jeremy 2015-11-06 01:56:49
Published on: 2015-11-06T01:56:49+00:00
The security assumption behind the need for decentralization in Bitcoin needs more formal analysis, according to Jeremy Rubin. The notion that "$10 in the hand of 10 people is more than $50 in the hand of two, or $100 in the hand of one" encapsulates this property which Bitcoin exploits to transact large amounts. This property is closely related to the idea that defecting will destroy all value. Validators are an important part of Bitcoin's security model as they assure security by enforcing consensus rules. In terms of decentralisation, there is a trade-off between weak miner decentralisation and good validator decentralisation. However, both being weak can be risky and currently validator decentralisation is seen as a critical remaining defence. Eric Voskuil believes that the importance of validator decentralisation is underappreciated, and weakening is not just occurring because of non-validating wallet software and centralized wallets, but also centralized Bitcoin APIs. Over time developers tend to settle on a couple of API providers for a given problem, reducing all applications and users of them to a single validator.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T00:52:54.272978+00:00