From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (smtp1.linux-foundation.org [172.17.192.35]) by mail.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D6C6EFF4 for ; Wed, 17 Jan 2018 22:32:03 +0000 (UTC) X-Greylist: whitelisted by SQLgrey-1.7.6 Received: from mail-io0-f173.google.com (mail-io0-f173.google.com [209.85.223.173]) by smtp1.linuxfoundation.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8E49B477 for ; Wed, 17 Jan 2018 22:32:03 +0000 (UTC) Received: by mail-io0-f173.google.com with SMTP id f6so22656548ioh.8 for ; Wed, 17 Jan 2018 14:32:03 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20161025; h=to:from:subject:message-id:date:user-agent:mime-version :content-language:content-transfer-encoding; bh=chQAesukBMCuEkT5/ChntMxexnn7HeM+joPgGWYrW5k=; b=kG+8EgEFFMptouW9SNmB8HLctautOaXUrDs6Pj1PUp+Nh5WMWf16tjb+gFH7+cQV/3 RIeA9X7S0kqhF0xVkypdlEf9Au9jUOAHT0CR7QNqX/D7ti4roYhcoUch0tHb2l03Jv4l grNyYQqUVYZJN8hgc4VZLCyNUz0bm9l493ZOcM5hs9sGJT13AOd9K9g2GroZEw5Fi6l7 rl+G3j52QyyeVm+vnFCtmco3XcU5INObchVg91Dd24Ee1NyBT5YOHc5+PUCjDbTrH0SA GX4gUuG3IUXHwIqpl9+lhtLtfSug6w1MYPjA0ECc3qxjUIpKLAiwESom+ixtl94HIQy/ 9rbA== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20161025; h=x-gm-message-state:to:from:subject:message-id:date:user-agent :mime-version:content-language:content-transfer-encoding; bh=chQAesukBMCuEkT5/ChntMxexnn7HeM+joPgGWYrW5k=; b=EotXZggwdJVx6RS5m+2forGAwAcCdSNriW/Itn2fBmrZGdgE0PKYkykkNBXqHwy4El /ab6ciVJ0NhM1lLDULXv1P/+mzTe+1ckqZLD5fLXuj5eR4/I1GOgyatK4MPZPB6Bvgcw ig2uL6LRKT2me9SR0pOE3UT+Opj26XQJOg4S6ZolDDyV2fg0biu/MKhA4BpdLYKRFUtH Td8GinCz1DoPjpyG2SlQtF+VJXXxu1v27SwO8Q0kbk8GxjcgbYvggVTp0+4ove12zO+0 v3FpH1KilzKtDTUdMb2t9U3rI8gVNdsn9M+i14Yh0UyHj/0iOEuy0tnXAQf4yKHPZktp 0kvg== X-Gm-Message-State: AKwxyte4lzeneOScp5TfiUPPDOK/mno2ODxFwS3RU9EPoIlxx+vjm1wi brFPrcfB9ffChuowWVKAi30lr4/W X-Google-Smtp-Source: ACJfBoshw/wTCampjbg8ZZf4GGXBC96NXxpxk/ioWlR64ItnMS9AuFLUPW4o5R0J3p2FbZnZkK5jvQ== X-Received: by 10.107.78.5 with SMTP id c5mr721046iob.120.1516228322679; Wed, 17 Jan 2018 14:32:02 -0800 (PST) Received: from ?IPv6:2601:441:8680:4631:3475:fe68:c9b0:3fc4? ([2601:441:8680:4631:3475:fe68:c9b0:3fc4]) by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id o138sm2990336ioo.21.2018.01.17.14.32.01 for (version=TLS1_2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128); Wed, 17 Jan 2018 14:32:01 -0800 (PST) To: Bitcoin Protocol Discussion From: Jefferson Carpenter Message-ID: <58fa85b8-cba3-ee34-8c96-41c6c7bfbf9c@gmail.com> Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2018 16:31:52 -0600 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/52.5.2 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed Content-Language: en-US Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.7 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID,DKIM_VALID_AU,FREEMAIL_ENVFROM_END_DIGIT,FREEMAIL_FROM, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=no version=3.3.1 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.3.1 (2010-03-16) on smtp1.linux-foundation.org X-Mailman-Approved-At: Wed, 17 Jan 2018 22:47:38 +0000 Subject: [bitcoin-dev] Upgrading PoW algorithm X-BeenThere: bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.12 Precedence: list List-Id: Bitcoin Protocol Discussion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2018 22:32:04 -0000 Bitcoin's difficulty will be maxed out within about 400 years, by Moore's law. (After that - supposing the software does not crash when difficulty overflows - block time will start decreasing, and it will not take long before blocks are mined faster than photons can be sent across the planet). Bitcoin is the dominant cryptocurrency today, as the first mover: the perfectly fair worldwide game of inventing the cryptocurrency has been played and won. However, unfortunately, it has a built-in end date: about 400 years from now. After that, it won't necessarily be clear what the dominant cryptocurrency is. It might be a lot like VHS vs Betamax, and a lot of people could lose a lot of money. It seems to me, this could be mitigated by planning today for what we are going to do when Bitcoin finally breaks 400 years from now. Are there any distinct plans today for migrating to a PoW supporting an even higher difficulty?