Author: Luke Dashjr 2015-10-02 21:31:21
Published on: 2015-10-02T21:31:21+00:00
In a thread on the bitcoin-dev mailing list, a user asked about the developers' stance on altering the Proof of Work (PoW) protocol to protect against ASIC/FPGA optimization. The user noted that while this could greatly benefit decentralization by allowing for more desktop/cellphone mining, it would also be a contentious hard fork given the large investments made by some miners into their industrial farms. Another user commented that an ASIC-proof algorithm is theoretically impossible and that even a PoW using RAM-as-the-ASIC would not be good in the long term for decentralization, as botnets could bankrupt legitimate miners. However, restarting mining with a new algorithm as a defense against centralization caused by hoarding of mining ASICs could be acceptable, as hoarding-miners do not participate in the economy in any meaningful way.
Updated on: 2023-06-10T23:39:28.104825+00:00