5 ms·

Some hubris in this post. Claims ASIC resistant PoW is "Solved as far as we can", with Ethash being the near end-all of hashing. Random-X is a significant step

Some hubris in this post. Claims ASIC resistant PoW is "Solved as far as we can", with Ethash being the near end-all of hashing. Random-X is a significant step towards ASIC resistance, requiring near general purpose computation to perform efficiently (i.e. if you can build a better CPU than Intel/AMD/ARM, you've already won). https://github.com/tevador/RandomX/blob/master/doc/design.md https://github.com/tevador/RandomX/blob/master/doc/design.md (Random-X requires code JITting, large CPU caches, compliant floating point, SIMD, hardware AES, as well as large amounts of system RAM, and other things.) Innovation continues. If you stop having ideas, step aside.

3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y ago
This is what I really dislike about owning crypto long term as a store of value. It's a cat-and-mouse game with hardware and software development, and there's a lot of faith in maintainers to stay ahead of the threats.
- ses1984 7y ago
  >there's a lot of faith in maintainers to stay ahead of the threats. Isn't that true of basically all software?
  - notahacker 7y ago
    Not all software purports to be a store of value
    - ses1984 7y ago
      It doesn't have to be a store of value to be critical to fortunes greater than bitcoin wallets, or even life and limb.
    - hanniabu 7y ago
      Banking software and all the algorithms that power the global economy are vulnerable. Every 10 years or so there's a major crash because of dinne oversight and the result is "this will never happen again", yet it continues to happen again. At least here we can build an economy off an economic model instead of what we do now which is build an economic model off of the economy.
- Hendrikto 7y ago
  I‘d rather put my trust in an open source community than in centralized banks.
  - sagichmal 7y ago
    A fool and his money are soon parted :)
  - Nextgrid 7y ago
    Just wondering, unless you’re doing something illegal or are targeted by the government and your money is at risk of seizure, why would you keep it in crypto with all its associated risks instead of in a bank? Banks are highly regulated and so can’t just run away with your money.
    - hippich 7y ago
      Couple points: 1) If we are talking about central banks such as FED - non-QE QE happening right now in the USA could be good example of why one would not be want to be part of the game. 2) If we are talking about centralized banking as a group of banks operating under the rule of the government - similar question to yours could apply to the general cryptography - why you need it (unless you are a criminal) if the state protects your rights? We seen countless examples where it doesn't quite work like that. I really want you to consider that desire to not be forced to use the only one available medium of exchange does not mean someone wants to do something illegal (also, try to define illegal in the very general way, that would apply equally in the USA and in Venezuela, and in Russia, and in Somalia =))
      - jgalt212 7y ago
        > 1) If we are talking about central banks such as FED - non-QE QE happening right now in the USA could be good example of why one would not be want to be part of the game. Crypto doesn't get you away from this. Not to sound like a mediocre Ashton Kutcher film, but it's all connected. In short, too much fiat, cryto prices in terms of fiat will go up and the converse is true as well. The only way crypto wins or is THE place to put your money is if the entire world stops using fiat money.
- josu 7y ago
  Bitcoin's software development could completely freeze right now, and it would still be useful. Most other projects require constant upgrades and tweaks, since they are very far from the stage they promised when they started. This is especially true for Ethereum.
lawn 7y ago
For context Random-X will soon activate on Monero. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up in the real world.
Avamander 7y ago
> Random-X requires code JITting How can this be a requirement?
- qes 7y ago
  The name itself might give you a clue, or just look at the code: https://github.com/tevador/RandomX https://github.com/tevador/RandomX
  - Avamander 7y ago
    Yes, but how can JIT be a requirement, people sufficiently determined could keep the JIT output and then there's no need for it any more.
    - optimiz3 7y ago
      Each hash input generates a code sequence that has to be executed 1000s of times in an inner loop. The code sequence is different for each input meaning there is no reason to save the JITted code as the next hash will use a new code sequence which you cannot predict. data = input; for (1..10) { JITtedCode = CodeGen(CryptographicHash(data)); for (1..100000) { data = JITtedCode(data); } data = CryptographicHash(data); } output = data;

3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y ago

This is what I really dislike about owning crypto long term as a store of value. It's a cat-and-mouse game with hardware and software development, and there's a lot of faith in maintainers to stay ahead of the threats.

ses1984 7y ago
>there's a lot of faith in maintainers to stay ahead of the threats. Isn't that true of basically all software?
- notahacker 7y ago
  Not all software purports to be a store of value
  - ses1984 7y ago
    It doesn't have to be a store of value to be critical to fortunes greater than bitcoin wallets, or even life and limb.
  - hanniabu 7y ago
    Banking software and all the algorithms that power the global economy are vulnerable. Every 10 years or so there's a major crash because of dinne oversight and the result is "this will never happen again", yet it continues to happen again. At least here we can build an economy off an economic model instead of what we do now which is build an economic model off of the economy.
Hendrikto 7y ago
I‘d rather put my trust in an open source community than in centralized banks.
- sagichmal 7y ago
  A fool and his money are soon parted :)
- Nextgrid 7y ago
  Just wondering, unless you’re doing something illegal or are targeted by the government and your money is at risk of seizure, why would you keep it in crypto with all its associated risks instead of in a bank? Banks are highly regulated and so can’t just run away with your money.
  - hippich 7y ago
    Couple points: 1) If we are talking about central banks such as FED - non-QE QE happening right now in the USA could be good example of why one would not be want to be part of the game. 2) If we are talking about centralized banking as a group of banks operating under the rule of the government - similar question to yours could apply to the general cryptography - why you need it (unless you are a criminal) if the state protects your rights? We seen countless examples where it doesn't quite work like that. I really want you to consider that desire to not be forced to use the only one available medium of exchange does not mean someone wants to do something illegal (also, try to define illegal in the very general way, that would apply equally in the USA and in Venezuela, and in Russia, and in Somalia =))
    - jgalt212 7y ago
      > 1) If we are talking about central banks such as FED - non-QE QE happening right now in the USA could be good example of why one would not be want to be part of the game. Crypto doesn't get you away from this. Not to sound like a mediocre Ashton Kutcher film, but it's all connected. In short, too much fiat, cryto prices in terms of fiat will go up and the converse is true as well. The only way crypto wins or is THE place to put your money is if the entire world stops using fiat money.
josu 7y ago
Bitcoin's software development could completely freeze right now, and it would still be useful. Most other projects require constant upgrades and tweaks, since they are very far from the stage they promised when they started. This is especially true for Ethereum.

lawn 7y ago

For context Random-X will soon activate on Monero. It'll be interesting to see how it holds up in the real world.

Avamander 7y ago

> Random-X requires code JITting How can this be a requirement?

qes 7y ago
The name itself might give you a clue, or just look at the code: https://github.com/tevador/RandomX https://github.com/tevador/RandomX
- Avamander 7y ago
  Yes, but how can JIT be a requirement, people sufficiently determined could keep the JIT output and then there's no need for it any more.
  - optimiz3 7y ago
    Each hash input generates a code sequence that has to be executed 1000s of times in an inner loop. The code sequence is different for each input meaning there is no reason to save the JITted code as the next hash will use a new code sequence which you cannot predict. data = input; for (1..10) { JITtedCode = CodeGen(CryptographicHash(data)); for (1..100000) { data = JITtedCode(data); } data = CryptographicHash(data); } output = data;