Author: Eric Voskuil 2021-09-06 07:29:01
Published on: 2021-09-06T07:29:01+00:00
In a recent discussion on the Bitcoin-dev mailing list, David A. Harding and Billy Tetrud compared the advantages of a decentralized mining pool using BetterHash or StratumV2 with payouts made via Lightning Network (LN) to a centralized mining pool. The key difference between the two approaches is that a decentralized pool does not centralize payment, which ultimately controls transaction selection (censorship).David A. Harding specifically asked for the advantages of a decentralized pool over a centralized one. While the use of LN for payouts can be beneficial in terms of speed and cost, it still relies on a centralized authority to select and validate transactions. This gives the authority control over what transactions are included, which can lead to censorship.In contrast, a decentralized mining pool that uses BetterHash or StratumV2 protocol allows miners to choose their own transactions and prevents any single entity from having control over the selection process. This can increase the security and decentralization of the network.In conclusion, while LN-based payouts can provide faster and cheaper payments, they still rely on a centralized authority for transaction selection. Decentralized mining pools, on the other hand, can increase network security and decentralization by allowing miners to choose their own transactions and preventing any single entity from having control over the selection process.
Updated on: 2023-06-15T01:16:32.230526+00:00