Author: Gavin Andresen 2011-09-14 14:45:36
Published on: 2011-09-14T14:45:36+00:00
The block timestamp checking system assumes that the node is using the Bitcoin clock and not the real clock, leading to issues when changing to network time protocol (NTP). As the current block timestamp rules provide hours of wiggle-room for timestamps, modifying them could result in a chain split. The proposed solution is to add unreasonable timestamps to a discouraged list and modify the getwork code to build on the second-from-tip block if the first-on-tip block is on the discouraged list. The majority of pools/miners will need to adopt the "discourage blocks with stale timestamps" rule to prevent cartels from playing with difficulty. However, this change will cause problems for at least one pool operator. Despite this, Gavin Andresen prefers more security over the convenience of a single pool operator.
Updated on: 2023-06-04T19:32:30.619399+00:00