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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next prev parent 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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