Published on: 2016-11-27T07:47:00+00:00
On November 26, 2016, Peter R via bitcoin-dev suggested that miners should set the same block size limit and signal it reliably, similar to what Bitcoin Unlimited (BU) miners do. This concept was recently implemented in Classic, which will now respect the EB limit and put it in the coinbase. Tom Zander mentioned that there may be a significant difference in cost versus expected earnings of creating a block. Sergio and Tom discussed how miners setting their block size limits above or below the "effective BSL" can disadvantage them. The conversation also highlighted that it is in the best interest of miners to all set the same block size limit and signal it reliably in their coinbase TX.Sergio Demian Lerner wrote an email expressing concern about the false premise of his reasoning and conclusions about BU block size policies for miners. He believes that all miners need to follow the same block size policy to prevent short forks. The conversation between Sergio and Tom emphasized the importance of miners announcing and following the same block size policy to prevent short forks. They also discussed the possibility of improvements to be made to the policy that BU uses.Bitcoin developers are discussing the possibility of unlimited block size in the Bitcoin Core implementation of the consensus protocol. Sergio expressed concern about the riskiness of this change without detailed analysis. Tom responded that he did not see it as a change, but rather miners would simply choose a rule that maximizes their revenue. The concept of proof-of-work was discussed, highlighting that the longer a chain, the higher the probability that it will be extended. The issue of having a 3 or 4 deep fork was acknowledged as a problem in Bitcoin, but it hasn't happened for ages and miners prefer it that way.The email conversation between Sergio and Peter focused on the acceptance of payment in BU when the gate policy of 51% miners is not known. Sergio suggested that miners should advertise their gate block size and acceptance depth in their coinbase field to provide clarity. Peter responded by providing a link to an article that explains how Bitcoin Unlimited's excessive-block logic works from the perspective of a single node. He also mentioned that BU's market-based solution to the block-size limit is gaining support and hopes to write a follow-up article describing how this behavior facilitates the emergence of a fluid and organic block size limit at the network scale.In summary, the discussions revolve around miners setting the same block size limit, preventing short forks, the concept of proof-of-work, the possibility of unlimited block size, and the workings of Bitcoin Unlimited. The conversation also explores the idea of miners advertising their gate block size and acceptance depth, and the potential improvements to be made to BU's policy.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T19:15:13.163617+00:00