📅 Original date posted:2018-01-19
📝 Original message:Actually here's something we could possibly do:
Fork off a blockchain that accepts Bitcoin blocks with strictly less
than max difficulty. Because it does not accept max-difficulty blocks,
it is a soft fork. Additionally, if difficulty of a block is set to
max, then the difficulty field is extended so that it represents a
higher max difficulty under a different hashing function, maybe SHA512.
Because this blockchain also accepts differently-formatted blocks, it is
also a hard fork.
The idea is that this blockchain is identical to Bitcoin until the
difficulty goes too high, at which point it diverges.
Transitioning from the current SHA256 to a higher-difficulty hashing
function could be difficult, since they might be solvable at
proportionally different hashrates. In other words, max difficulty for
SHA256 might be significantly faster than forcing the first 256 bits of
a SHA512 hash...
On 1/17/2018 4:31 PM, Jefferson Carpenter wrote:
> Bitcoin's difficulty will be maxed out within about 400 years, by
> Moore's law. (After that - supposing the software does not crash when
> difficulty overflows - block time will start decreasing, and it will not
> take long before blocks are mined faster than photons can be sent across
> the planet).
>
> Bitcoin is the dominant cryptocurrency today, as the first mover: the
> perfectly fair worldwide game of inventing the cryptocurrency has been
> played and won. However, unfortunately, it has a built-in end date:
> about 400 years from now. After that, it won't necessarily be clear
> what the dominant cryptocurrency is. It might be a lot like VHS vs
> Betamax, and a lot of people could lose a lot of money. It seems to me,
> this could be mitigated by planning today for what we are going to do
> when Bitcoin finally breaks 400 years from now.
>
> Are there any distinct plans today for migrating to a PoW supporting an
> even higher difficulty?
Jefferson Carpenter [ARCHIVE] /
npub1fp…laext
2023-06-07 18:09:52
in reply to nevent1q…9h9s
Author Public Key
npub1fplfq7ze5a0ry9pmx2kv79nm25u27ve84l887wxjnsl5quy7ndjsclaextPublished at
2023-06-07 18:09:52Event JSON
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"content": "📅 Original date posted:2018-01-19\n📝 Original message:Actually here's something we could possibly do:\n\nFork off a blockchain that accepts Bitcoin blocks with strictly less \nthan max difficulty. Because it does not accept max-difficulty blocks, \nit is a soft fork. Additionally, if difficulty of a block is set to \nmax, then the difficulty field is extended so that it represents a \nhigher max difficulty under a different hashing function, maybe SHA512. \nBecause this blockchain also accepts differently-formatted blocks, it is \nalso a hard fork.\n\nThe idea is that this blockchain is identical to Bitcoin until the \ndifficulty goes too high, at which point it diverges.\n\nTransitioning from the current SHA256 to a higher-difficulty hashing \nfunction could be difficult, since they might be solvable at \nproportionally different hashrates. In other words, max difficulty for \nSHA256 might be significantly faster than forcing the first 256 bits of \na SHA512 hash...\n\nOn 1/17/2018 4:31 PM, Jefferson Carpenter wrote:\n\u003e Bitcoin's difficulty will be maxed out within about 400 years, by \n\u003e Moore's law. (After that - supposing the software does not crash when \n\u003e difficulty overflows - block time will start decreasing, and it will not \n\u003e take long before blocks are mined faster than photons can be sent across \n\u003e the planet).\n\u003e \n\u003e Bitcoin is the dominant cryptocurrency today, as the first mover: the \n\u003e perfectly fair worldwide game of inventing the cryptocurrency has been \n\u003e played and won. However, unfortunately, it has a built-in end date: \n\u003e about 400 years from now. After that, it won't necessarily be clear \n\u003e what the dominant cryptocurrency is. It might be a lot like VHS vs \n\u003e Betamax, and a lot of people could lose a lot of money. It seems to me, \n\u003e this could be mitigated by planning today for what we are going to do \n\u003e when Bitcoin finally breaks 400 years from now.\n\u003e \n\u003e Are there any distinct plans today for migrating to a PoW supporting an \n\u003e even higher difficulty?",
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