Re: [Bitcoin-development] Proof-of-Stake branch?

[Troy Benjegerdes <hozer@hozed.org>]

Do it. Someone will scream harm. The loudest voices screaming how it would
be harmful are doing the most harm.

The only way to know is build it, and test it. If the network breaks, then
it is better we find out sooner rather than later.

My only suggestion is call it 'bitstake' or something to clearly differentiate
it from Bitcoin. This also might be an interesting application of the side
chains concept Peter Todd has discussed.

On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 04:32:15PM -0700, Stephen Reed wrote:
> Hello all.
> 
> I understand that Proof-of-Stake as a replacement for Proof-of-Work is a prohibited yet disputed change to Bitcoin Core. I would like to create a Bitcoin branch that provides a sandboxed testbed for researching the best PoS implementations. In the years to come, perhaps circumstances might arise, such as shifting of user opinion as to whether PoS should be moved from the prohibited list to the hard-fork list.
> -----
> 
> A poll I conducted today on bitcointalk, https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=581635.0 with an attention-grabbing title suggests some minority support for Bitcoin Proof-of-Stake. I invite any of you to critically comment on that thread.
> 
> "Annual 10% bitcoin dividends can be ours if  Proof-of-Stake full nodes outnumber existing Proof-of-Work full nodes by three-to-one. What is your choice?"
> 
> "I do not care or do not know enough." - 5 (16.1%) 
> "I would download and run the existing Proof-of-Work program to fight the change." - 14 (45.2%) 
> "I would download and run the new Proof-of-Stake program to favor the change. " - 12 (38.7%) 
> Total Voters: 31 
> -----
> 
> Before I branch the source code and learn the proper way of doing things in this community, I ask you simply if creating the branch is harmful? My goal is to develop, test and document PoS, while exploring its vulnerabilities and fixing them in a transparent fashion.
> 
> Thanks for taking a bit of your time to read this message.




-- 
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Troy Benjegerdes                 'da hozer'                  hozer@hozed.org
7 elements      earth::water::air::fire::mind::spirit::soul        grid.coop

      Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel,
         nor try buy a hacker who makes money by the megahash