Author: Gregory Maxwell 2014-10-30 23:34:25
Published on: 2014-10-30T23:34:25+00:00
In an email thread on October 30, 2014, Rusty Russell discussed a potential algorithm to limit confirmation latency by allowing weaker blocks after a certain time. Russell provided in-depth details about the algorithm and asked if anyone had considered it before or knew of any flaws. It was noted that irregularity is required for convergence, as an exact interval would cause fragmentation and prevent convergence. Bitcoin testnet has implemented a rule that allows lower difficulty blocks after a delay of 20 minutes, but this is not secure or intended to be so. At least one altcoin has copied this behavior and been exploited. However, if faster evidence that the network is working on a particular transaction set is needed, this is already possible through mechanisms like the p2pool sharechain. Citations were promised to be provided later.
Updated on: 2023-05-19T19:27:09.224349+00:00