Re: [bitcoin-dev] Soft fork fix for block withholding attacks

[Peter Todd <pete@petertodd.org>]

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On Fri, Feb 12, 2016 at 10:31:56PM +1100, gladoscc via bitcoin-dev wrote:
> Here's a method of fixing block withholding attacks with a soft fork:

So, while you're technique I believe works, it's not a soft-fork, at
least under the definition most of the Bitcoin dev/research community
have been using.

The reason is if it's adopted by a majority of hashing power, less than
a majority of hashing power can create a chain that appears to be the
most-work chain, from the perspective of non-adopting nodes. Those nodes
would then be following a weaker chain.

A better term for what you're proposing might be a "pseudo-soft-fork",
given that you don't quite meet the requirements for a true soft-fork.
Having said that, it may be the case that overall your technique still
reduces risk compared to a simpler hard-fork implementation of the idea;
more analysis is needed there.

-- 
https://petertodd.org 'peter'[:-1]@petertodd.org
000000000000000006d243cee301d792809a7d4d00c13ac24b43d5e9548625e4

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