Published on: 2017-09-13T09:09:52+00:00
The proposal put forward suggests a new method to synchronize nodes with the Bitcoin blockchain, offering advantages such as faster syncing, reduced disk space usage, and the option for slow downloading of remaining blocks. This would be achieved through the implementation of new protocol messages that facilitate requesting and sending the UTXO set. A new services bit called NODE_NETWORK_RECENT would indicate if a node possesses all blocks since the most recent snapshot. To prevent network partitions caused by re-orgs, soft checkpoints are proposed. Security concerns are addressed in the proposal, stating that soft forks are inherently backward compatible and cannot result in coin theft. In order to maintain archive nodes, it is recommended that blocks should not be deleted unless they are at least three years old. Additionally, there should be a setting to specify the maximum amount of disk space utilized. The proposal highlights the importance of maintaining archive nodes to avoid network splits and ensure agreement on new network rules.Bitcoin's decentralization is hindered by the increasing size of the blockchain, which currently stands at 160GB. This discourages new participants from joining the network. To tackle this issue, two softforks are suggested. The first involves hashing a snapshot of the UTXO set periodically, while the second entails writing the UTXO hash in the consensus code after a certain time period, creating a new genesis block. These softforks offer benefits like faster syncing for new nodes, reduced disk space requirements for full non-pruning nodes, increased difficulty for future chain analysis, and a frozen old history in one new genesis block to prevent reorgs prior to that point. Ancillary advantages include cleaning up outdated consensus code.However, there are drawbacks to consider, including the consumption of a small amount of space on the blockchain, the need for every node to perform calculations, and the inability of full nodes with old software to sync with the existing network. To address security concerns, thorough testing and inspection of the proposed softforks will be conducted, with the process divided into two separate steps to allow for community testing. Once the first softfork is locked in, any mismatches in hashes would be easily identifiable.In summary, the proposed softforks aim to address the issue of Bitcoin's growing blockchain size, enabling easier synchronization and participation for new nodes while maintaining security measures.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T21:52:03.122157+00:00