Floating-Point Nakamoto Consensus

Summary:

Mike Brooks and Thomas had an email exchange discussing Floating-Point Nakamoto Consensus as a proposed update to the current Bitcoin network. Mike explained that the fitness value is only additive for the length of a disagreement and that it would not be calculated for 50,000 blocks of agreement. He also detailed how the consensus model incentivizes correct network behavior and makes it more expensive to replace an already mined block than to create a new one.The proposed consensus model aims to resolve ambiguity of competitive solutions, achieve global consensus more quickly, and prevent short-term disagreement that can lead to re-organization (“or-org”) of the blockchain. This is important for DeFi and smart-contract obligations as network splits can occur, leading to irreversible outcomes for transactions made through smart contracts.To prevent this kind of disagreement, a fully decentralized solution must be implemented. Floating-Point Nakamoto Consensus is one such solution, making it increasingly expensive to replace the current winning block, which helps expedite the formation of global consensus. In this method, all nodes in the network continue to conduct traditional Nakamoto Consensus, and if two solution blocks are advertised for the same height, a floating-point fitness value is calculated, and the solution with the higher fitness value is the winner propagated to all neighbors.This system incentivizes all nodes to support the solution with the highest fitness value, regardless of the order in which the proof-of-work was validated. It also makes it difficult for malicious miners to leverage a chain replacement because each successive n+1 solution variant of the same block-height must consume half of the remaining finite keyspace.Floating-Point Nakamoto Consensus is a fully decentralized solution that prevents disagreements in blockchain networks, creating an environment where global consensus can be reached efficiently. The complete implementation of Floating-Point Nakamoto consensus is available on GitHub, and an example implementation has been submitted as a PR to the bitcoin core which is free to be adapted by other networks.

Updated on: 2023-06-14T15:41:04.315983+00:00