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From: "David A. Harding" <dave@dtrt.org>
To: Dave Scotese <dscotese@litmocracy.com>,
	Bitcoin Protocol Discussion
	<bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org>
Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] Block solving slowdown question/poll
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2020 03:54:15 -0400	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20200322075415.3xttkgldluzqyv4g@ganymede> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CAGLBAhcS5oxGvrcG7QdO7Ya6X2n1=H_nzx5Eh=69rcje6SQpgA@mail.gmail.com>

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On Sat, Mar 21, 2020 at 11:40:24AM -0700, Dave Scotese via bitcoin-dev wrote:
> [Imagine] we also see mining power dropping off at a rate that
> suggests the few days [until retarget] might become a few weeks, and
> then, possibly, a few months or even the unthinkable, a few eons.  I'm
> curious to know if anyone has ideas on how this might be handled

There are only two practical solutions I'm aware of:

1. Do nothing
2. Hard fork a difficulty reduction

If bitcoins retain even a small fraction of their value compared to the
previous retarget period and if most mining equipment is still available
for operation, then doing nothing is probably the best choice---as block
space becomes scarcer, transaction feerates will increase and miners
will be incentivized to increase their block production rate.

If the bitcoin price has plummeted more than, say, 99% in two weeks
with no hope of short-term recovery or if a large fraction of mining
equipment has become unusable (again, say, 99% in two weeks with no
hope of short-term recovery), then it's probably worth Bitcoin users
discussing a hard fork to reduce difficulty to a currently sustainable
level.

-Dave

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  reply	other threads:[~2020-03-22  7:55 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 15+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2020-03-21 18:40 [bitcoin-dev] Block solving slowdown question/poll Dave Scotese
2020-03-22  7:54 ` David A. Harding [this message]
2020-03-22 11:58   ` LORD HIS EXCELLENCY JAMES HRMH
2020-03-22 16:54     ` Eric Voskuil
2020-03-22 18:17       ` Dave Scotese
2020-03-23 12:59         ` Andrew Cann
2020-03-23 18:39           ` Dave Scotese
2020-03-24  7:42             ` ZmnSCPxj
2020-03-25 15:23               ` Andrew Cann
2020-03-26  1:42                 ` ZmnSCPxj
2020-03-27  9:17                   ` Andrew Cann
2020-03-28  2:12                     ` ZmnSCPxj
2020-03-29  8:11                       ` [bitcoin-dev] Block solving slowdown Andrew Cann
2020-03-30  2:59                         ` ZmnSCPxj
2020-03-31  2:06                           ` ZmnSCPxj

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