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The document is littered with references to CPUs, including the phrase "one CPU one vote." I think a Bitcoin where CPUs were doing the blockchain processing wou

by cwyers 9y ago

The document is littered with references to CPUs, including the phrase "one CPU one vote." I think a Bitcoin where CPUs were doing the blockchain processing would be much different that the current one dominated by farms of dedicated hardware. I don't know if it would be better, but I think this is a pretty stark reminder that Bitcoin is not behaving as intended.

the_real_sparky 9y ago
This has turned into an interesting question since some coins now are specifically designed to be resistant to ASICs. The downside for those coins is that botnets or general purpose hardware (that can be purchased or rented for an attack and then resold for other uses later) are a serious threat to the network. A potential benefit for Bitcoin is that the network may actually be more secure with custom ASICS because the people investing millions into developing the custom hardware stand to lose everything if they attack or seriously harm the network. That equipment would be useless for any other purpose, and that same dominating hardware makes the Bitcoin network immune to attack from general purpose hardware.
- cwyers 9y ago
  If you need a relatively small handful of people to control the ecosystem to make it secure from large numbers of decentralized users, then what the heck do you need Bitcoin for?
  - the_real_sparky 9y ago
    I think that the mistake here is believing that the miners control the network, when most likely the miners simply work for the decentralized network. When the miners become centralized there is little they can do that the users/nodes can’t unwind with a software update, even up to the point of firing those miners completely if necessary (changing the proof of work so that their current hardware is worthless). I think that long-term the incentives are aligned for them to simply do their job.

by cwyers 9y ago

the_real_sparky 9y ago

This has turned into an interesting question since some coins now are specifically designed to be resistant to ASICs. The downside for those coins is that botnets or general purpose hardware (that can be purchased or rented for an attack and then resold for other uses later) are a serious threat to the network. A potential benefit for Bitcoin is that the network may actually be more secure with custom ASICS because the people investing millions into developing the custom hardware stand to lose everything if they attack or seriously harm the network. That equipment would be useless for any other purpose, and that same dominating hardware makes the Bitcoin network immune to attack from general purpose hardware.

cwyers 9y ago
If you need a relatively small handful of people to control the ecosystem to make it secure from large numbers of decentralized users, then what the heck do you need Bitcoin for?
- the_real_sparky 9y ago
  I think that the mistake here is believing that the miners control the network, when most likely the miners simply work for the decentralized network. When the miners become centralized there is little they can do that the users/nodes can’t unwind with a software update, even up to the point of firing those miners completely if necessary (changing the proof of work so that their current hardware is worthless). I think that long-term the incentives are aligned for them to simply do their job.