📅 Original date posted:2017-04-08
📝 Original message:Jimmy,
>> Until all miners update (firmware or hardware), the change encourages
>> large difference in mining efficiency. And IMO it gives another
>> advantage to large mining operations in general.
>
> Certainly, there would have to be changes for stratum, pool software, etc.
> But the monetary incentives align to all the changes needed.
I agree. I only wanted to make clear, that the impact would be
significant. Lot of parties would be involved with nonequivalent
starting positions.
> Remember, overt ASICBoost can get something like a 12.5% efficiency boost
> from toggling a single bit in the version (equivalent to 2 colliding work
> items), 18.5% from 2 bits (equivalent to 4 colliding work items), 23.4% from
> 4 bits (see https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1604/1604.00575.pdf). In lieu
> of an explicit allowance of overt ASICBoost, the monetary incentives lead to
> odd BIP9 signaling, especially if 4 or more proposals signal at once. There
> really isn't a practical way to block overt ASICBoost without forcing the
> version bits to be some value.
You can e.g. place the version number into a coinbase, similarly to
block height. Then, it is the same (number of operations) as modifying
the coinbase directly.
A cost of version in coinbase is 4B per block, sure, but it allows to
save all bits for "more useful" purposes. Either for BIP9 signalling
or other future purposes I cannot see now. And it removes an incentive
to mess with version bits.
Mining empty blocks and finding collisions by toggling bits there can
be prevented as well.
> In other words, the question isn't about allowing/disallowing ASICBoost at
> this point. The question is whether we want ASICBoost open or hidden.
I think the ASICBoost can and should be prevented completely.
Pavel
Pavel Moravec [ARCHIVE] /
npub1a9…uvwuq
2023-06-07 17:59:48
in reply to nevent1q…h59g
Author Public Key
npub1a9hemj8hf6exprh5q6w8y70n9mm36h6pt5vlp2wtl9gjwfzaqjrqeuvwuqPublished at
2023-06-07 17:59:48Event JSON
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"content": "📅 Original date posted:2017-04-08\n📝 Original message:Jimmy,\n\n\u003e\u003e Until all miners update (firmware or hardware), the change encourages\n\u003e\u003e large difference in mining efficiency. And IMO it gives another\n\u003e\u003e advantage to large mining operations in general.\n\u003e\n\u003e Certainly, there would have to be changes for stratum, pool software, etc.\n\u003e But the monetary incentives align to all the changes needed.\n\nI agree. I only wanted to make clear, that the impact would be\nsignificant. Lot of parties would be involved with nonequivalent\nstarting positions.\n\n\u003e Remember, overt ASICBoost can get something like a 12.5% efficiency boost\n\u003e from toggling a single bit in the version (equivalent to 2 colliding work\n\u003e items), 18.5% from 2 bits (equivalent to 4 colliding work items), 23.4% from\n\u003e 4 bits (see https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1604/1604.00575.pdf). In lieu\n\u003e of an explicit allowance of overt ASICBoost, the monetary incentives lead to\n\u003e odd BIP9 signaling, especially if 4 or more proposals signal at once. There\n\u003e really isn't a practical way to block overt ASICBoost without forcing the\n\u003e version bits to be some value.\n\nYou can e.g. place the version number into a coinbase, similarly to\nblock height. Then, it is the same (number of operations) as modifying\nthe coinbase directly.\n\nA cost of version in coinbase is 4B per block, sure, but it allows to\nsave all bits for \"more useful\" purposes. Either for BIP9 signalling\nor other future purposes I cannot see now. And it removes an incentive\nto mess with version bits.\n\nMining empty blocks and finding collisions by toggling bits there can\nbe prevented as well.\n\n\u003e In other words, the question isn't about allowing/disallowing ASICBoost at\n\u003e this point. The question is whether we want ASICBoost open or hidden.\n\nI think the ASICBoost can and should be prevented completely.\n\n\nPavel",
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