Author: Gavin Andresen 2015-11-09 16:27:22
Published on: 2015-11-09T16:27:22+00:00
In an email exchange between Bryan Bishop and Gavin Andresen, Bishop asked for clarification on the definition and meaning of "key-holder [decentralization]." Andresen responded that it refers to both the absolute number of key-holders and the number of transactions they make. He explained that if there are only a few possible transactions, then the number of key-holders is limited. For example, if there were a small maximum block size, the system would be limited to institutions with very large-value transactions. The Lightning Network does not help with this problem because every transaction within the network is a set of Bitcoin transactions ready to be dropped onto the main chain, and if those transactions do not have enough fees, the security of the Lightning Protocol falls apart. Andresen provided a link to a video of the Poon/Dryja talk for further information.
Updated on: 2023-06-11T00:53:42.409762+00:00