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this race for the lowest block time is completely madness! what is the use of having one confirmation if the block could go orphan and your transaction could be

by elmar 9y ago

this race for the lowest block time is completely madness! what is the use of having one confirmation if the block could go orphan and your transaction could be reversed, it's like a placebo efect.

pmorici 9y ago
Zero conf transactions are viable on blockchains that don’t have backlogs
- arthurcolle 9y ago
  How so?
  - pmorici 9y ago
    You can accept an valid signed transaction with low risk even if it hasn't confirmed yet because in a blockchain w/o regular massive backlogs the chances that it doesn't confirm are very low. So for smaller every day transactions there isn't a need to wait for an actual confirmation. In a situation as exists with Bitcoin currently it's anyone's guess whether a transaction will ever confirm because there are HUGE backlogs that haven't cleared for several months. A transaction has a high chance of being dropped regardless of the fee being paid because the backlog and fee level required to get confirmed at all is unpredictable. Bitcoin Core also has what they call RBF which increases the chance that a dishonest person can double spend an unconfirmed transaction exponentially. Makes 0-conf transactions unusable on Bitcoin Core.
dgacmu 9y ago
It's actually a good idea within limits. Faster block times reduce the variance in the time it takes to achieve a certain degree of safety. 3 confirmations on BTC takes 30 minutes in expectation, but it's very easy for it to take 60 or 90. In contrast, while it would also take expected 30 minutes to get 120 confirmations on Ethereum, the likelikhood of it going substantially longer is small. Waiting 30 minutes for a transaction is annoying, but you can plan around it. Unexpectedly waiting an hour and a half is maddening. :)
vvillena 9y ago
The standard 6 confirmations to ensure a BTC transaction is included in the chain are roughly equivalent to 10 confirmations in the Ethereum chain. Since Ethereum block times are much lower, assurance is much faster. 1 hour vs 3 minutes.

by elmar 9y ago

this race for the lowest block time is completely madness! what is the use of having one confirmation if the block could go orphan and your transaction could be reversed, it's like a placebo efect.

pmorici 9y ago

Zero conf transactions are viable on blockchains that don’t have backlogs

arthurcolle 9y ago
How so?
- pmorici 9y ago
  You can accept an valid signed transaction with low risk even if it hasn't confirmed yet because in a blockchain w/o regular massive backlogs the chances that it doesn't confirm are very low. So for smaller every day transactions there isn't a need to wait for an actual confirmation. In a situation as exists with Bitcoin currently it's anyone's guess whether a transaction will ever confirm because there are HUGE backlogs that haven't cleared for several months. A transaction has a high chance of being dropped regardless of the fee being paid because the backlog and fee level required to get confirmed at all is unpredictable. Bitcoin Core also has what they call RBF which increases the chance that a dishonest person can double spend an unconfirmed transaction exponentially. Makes 0-conf transactions unusable on Bitcoin Core.

dgacmu 9y ago

It's actually a good idea within limits. Faster block times reduce the variance in the time it takes to achieve a certain degree of safety. 3 confirmations on BTC takes 30 minutes in expectation, but it's very easy for it to take 60 or 90. In contrast, while it would also take expected 30 minutes to get 120 confirmations on Ethereum, the likelikhood of it going substantially longer is small. Waiting 30 minutes for a transaction is annoying, but you can plan around it. Unexpectedly waiting an hour and a half is maddening. :)

vvillena 9y ago

The standard 6 confirmations to ensure a BTC transaction is included in the chain are roughly equivalent to 10 confirmations in the Ethereum chain. Since Ethereum block times are much lower, assurance is much faster. 1 hour vs 3 minutes.