Author: Jeremy Rubin 2022-02-20 16:29:00
Published on: 2022-02-20T16:29:00+00:00
In an email exchange between Bitcoin developers Jeremy Rubin and Peter Todd on February 19, 2022, the two debated the definition of "pinning attacks" in the context of blockchain transactions. Todd argued that pinning is formally defined as sequences of transactions which prevent or make it less likely for progress to be made in terms of units of computation proceeding. Rubin countered by stating that blockchain transactions are indeed computations according to relevant literature on non-blocking algorithms and sponsored transactions can enable progress even if they are not a preferred interleaving. Todd also corrected Rubin's understanding of how OpenTimestamps calendars work, noting that they use RBF to update timestamp transactions with a new merkle tip hash for all outstanding commitments once per new block rather than having a chain of unconfirmed transactions. The two continued to debate whether sponsoring an earlier version of a transaction could save money on fees overall.
Updated on: 2023-06-03T07:09:09.412427+00:00