Author: Bob McElrath 2020-10-08 18:43:00
Published on: 2020-10-08T18:43:00+00:00
In this article, the author discusses the use of two quantities, work (w) and fitness (f), in Bitcoin consensus. Work is an unbiased statistical estimator for the number of sha256d computations performed by the network while fitness is a biased estimator for the same thing that introduces statistical bias without providing any additional valuable information. The question posed in this article is whether the historic block hash h should be introduced as a consensus-critical parameter. The author argues that it should not be introduced, as fitness is purely random and does not favor the honest chain nor identify it. Furthermore, the amount of bias between two competing chains with the same number of blocks and amount of hash power will oscillate at constant difficulty, sometimes favoring one side and sometimes favoring the other. Therefore, the introduction of h would introduce unnecessary randomness into the chain selection process and could even create a new game for miners to play. As a consensus-critical change, it is incredibly risky to push through without serious advantage, which this does not have.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T15:38:39.265092+00:00