3 ms·

Thanks I didn't know of that 'cheat', it sounds from the spec though that the difficulty of the block yet to be found would be reduced but it would then go back

• simias 9y ago
  It's computed over 6 blocks: "the MTP of the tip of the chain is 12h or more after the MTP 6 block before the tip". So it takes 6 consecutive blocks to be found "fast enough" (that is, within a 12h window) to return to the normal difficulty algorithm.
  • Santzes 9y ago
    Couldn't big miners play this by mining 6 blocks of Bitcoin Cash and then letting it rot without blocks?
    • simias 9y ago
      Only possible if the colluding miners have almost all the hashing power to themselves (to mine 6 consecutive blocks faster than everybody else). If that's the case then those miners can do anything they want anyway, including double-spending money[1]. Furthermore if they really only wanted to slow down BCC and nothing else it still wouldn't be very efficient. They'd just postpone the scaling for the next 6 blocks and then the rule would kick in again. So they'd have to keep make sure that they're always just at the limit of 6 blocks per 12 hours... but at this point you're actually mining block and contributing to the ecosystem, so there's no problem. [1] https://bitcoin.org/en/glossary/51-percent-attack https://bitcoin.org/en/glossary/51-percent-attack
      • Santzes 9y ago
        Ahh I thought this 20% drop per 6 blocks was only after the split block and would end after the first 6 blocks mined in 12h, would have been too easy to game that one. Looks like though they're getting blocks now, 4 blocks in less than two hours.