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From: Peter Todd <pete@petertodd.org>
To: Luke Dashjr <luke@dashjr.org>
Cc: bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org
Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] Hardfork to fix difficulty drop algorithm
Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2016 13:20:28 -0500	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20160302182028.GA7783@savin.petertodd.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <201603021456.15820.luke@dashjr.org>

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On Wed, Mar 02, 2016 at 02:56:14PM +0000, Luke Dashjr via bitcoin-dev wrote:
> To alleviate this risk, it seems reasonable to propose a hardfork to the 
> difficulty adjustment algorithm so it can adapt quicker to such a significant 
> drop in mining rate. BtcDrak tells me he has well-tested code for this in his 
> altcoin, which has seen some roller-coaster hashrates, so it may even be 
> possible to have such a proposal ready in time to be deployed alongside SegWit 
> to take effect in time for the upcoming subsidy halving. If this slips, I 
> think it may be reasonable to push for at least code-readiness before July, 
> and possibly roll it into any other hardfork proposed before or around that 
> time.
> 
> I am unaware of any reason this would be controversial, so if anyone has a 
> problem with such a change, please speak up sooner rather than later. Other 
> ideas or concerns are of course welcome as well.

Changing the difficulty adjustment algorithm significantly changes the
security of the whole system, as it lets attackers create fake chains
with a lot less hashing power.

Given as tx fees rise this problem will hopefully be a one-time issue, a
simple fixed difficulty adjustment probably makes sense. No need to
bring in new algorithms here with controversial new security tradeoffs.

-- 
https://petertodd.org 'peter'[:-1]@petertodd.org
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  parent reply	other threads:[~2016-03-02 18:20 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 31+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2016-03-02 14:56 [bitcoin-dev] Hardfork to fix difficulty drop algorithm Luke Dashjr
2016-03-02 15:05 ` Pavel Janík
2016-03-02 15:14   ` Luke Dashjr
2016-03-02 15:24     ` Jérémie Dubois-Lacoste
     [not found]     ` <CAE-z3OUR8So2EM_EBeEerW-UPs0KY+whVB=jjFAHkW3xZPF2Hw@mail.gmail.com>
2016-03-02 15:54       ` Tier Nolan
2016-03-02 15:42 ` Luke Dashjr
2016-03-02 16:27   ` Paul Sztorc
2016-03-02 18:07     ` Tier Nolan
2016-03-02 19:01       ` Eric Voskuil
     [not found]         ` <56D74859.3090609@gmail.com>
2016-03-02 20:44           ` Eric Voskuil
2016-03-02 23:02         ` Peter Todd
2016-03-03  5:11           ` Dave Scotese
2016-03-03 10:14           ` Patrick Shirkey
2016-03-03 20:54           ` Eric Voskuil
2016-03-04 10:27             ` Tier Nolan
2016-03-02 15:48 ` Dave Hudson
2016-03-08 22:05   ` Bob McElrath
2016-03-09 18:30     ` Dave Hudson
2016-03-09 20:21       ` Bob McElrath
2016-03-09 23:24         ` Dave Hudson
2016-03-09 20:26       ` Paul Sztorc
2016-03-02 16:17 ` Bryan Bishop
2016-03-02 17:14 ` David A. Harding
2016-03-02 17:53   ` Gregory Maxwell
2016-03-02 19:34     ` David A. Harding
2016-03-03  1:06     ` Paul Sztorc
2016-03-09 17:58       ` Paul Sztorc
2016-03-02 18:20 ` Peter Todd [this message]
2016-03-03 18:27 ` Corey Haddad
2016-03-04  8:41   ` Henning Kopp
     [not found]     ` <CA+XQW1gfnXxxCod6cL=caGnEc66YOvaF6SJL=omUbMqwLNDP7g@mail.gmail.com>
2016-03-09 20:43       ` Paul Sztorc

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