6 ms·

Can someone explain how block timing works in proof-of-stake systems? As I understand it, with proof-of-work the mining difficulty increases or decreases to mai

Can someone explain how block timing works in proof-of-stake systems? As I understand it, with proof-of-work the mining difficulty increases or decreases to maintain that each block is found in roughly the same amount of time. In proof-of-stake is there also a mechanism to regulate the time for each block to be added to the blockchain?

dirtnugget 6y ago
No, as far as I understood the time between blocks in a PoS chain is basically just a timer (e.g. 10 seconds). There is no need to adjust that dynamically because there is no "race" to solve a problem. I guess it is even more predictable if it is not dynamically adjusted.
- zadler 6y ago
  But that does have to be enforced via incentives/cryptography, and with reference to a clock.
  - dirtnugget 6y ago
    Well it is enforced by the protocol on which all node agree and there needs to be a mechanism for syncing clocks across nodes (also defined by the protocol) but they exist, e.g. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264 Not 100% sure what ETH is using here but there is a mechanism. If someone would want to fake timestamps, they would need to deviate from the protocol and would thus not be on chain.
    - Benmcdonald__ 6y ago
      You are simply raising the fundamental difficulty with blockchains. How do you know what is the true chain in an adversary environment (the internet)? You gave us the question and no answer
      - dirtnugget 6y ago
        Validation of the longest chain, agreed upon by the protocol which the nodes are running. This is the absolute fundamental of this technology. This is not new and it has been working for more than a decade.
        dirtnugget 6y ago
        * which the majority of nodes are running
        Benmcdonald__ 6y ago
        That's not how the technology networks. That naive implementation would leave you wide open for sybil attack
- hanniabu 6y ago
  This is incorrect. The difficulty is PoS adjusts to meet the target block time just like it does in PoW.
  - dirtnugget 6y ago
    I have to suspect that you are wrong. Can you provide a source? There is no mentioning of difficulty in the spec, instead there are predefined slot times: https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phase0/beacon-chain.md#time-parameters https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phas... Here is how they sync: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264 Assuming they describe the BeaconBlocks mentioned here: https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phase0/beacon-chain.md#beacon-blocks https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phas... Also, which effect would an increased difficulty have?
deleted 6y ago
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dirtnugget 6y ago

No, as far as I understood the time between blocks in a PoS chain is basically just a timer (e.g. 10 seconds). There is no need to adjust that dynamically because there is no "race" to solve a problem. I guess it is even more predictable if it is not dynamically adjusted.

zadler 6y ago
But that does have to be enforced via incentives/cryptography, and with reference to a clock.
- dirtnugget 6y ago
  Well it is enforced by the protocol on which all node agree and there needs to be a mechanism for syncing clocks across nodes (also defined by the protocol) but they exist, e.g. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264 Not 100% sure what ETH is using here but there is a mechanism. If someone would want to fake timestamps, they would need to deviate from the protocol and would thus not be on chain.
  - Benmcdonald__ 6y ago
    You are simply raising the fundamental difficulty with blockchains. How do you know what is the true chain in an adversary environment (the internet)? You gave us the question and no answer
    - dirtnugget 6y ago
      Validation of the longest chain, agreed upon by the protocol which the nodes are running. This is the absolute fundamental of this technology. This is not new and it has been working for more than a decade.
      - dirtnugget 6y ago
        * which the majority of nodes are running
        Benmcdonald__ 6y ago
        That's not how the technology networks. That naive implementation would leave you wide open for sybil attack
hanniabu 6y ago
This is incorrect. The difficulty is PoS adjusts to meet the target block time just like it does in PoW.
- dirtnugget 6y ago
  I have to suspect that you are wrong. Can you provide a source? There is no mentioning of difficulty in the spec, instead there are predefined slot times: https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phase0/beacon-chain.md#time-parameters https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phas... Here is how they sync: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264 Assuming they describe the BeaconBlocks mentioned here: https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phase0/beacon-chain.md#beacon-blocks https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phas... Also, which effect would an increased difficulty have?

deleted 6y ago

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