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The 10 second confirmation time seems to solve a major problem with Bitcoins for casual transactions - the need to wait 30 minutes before you are certain that y

The 10 second confirmation time seems to solve a major problem with Bitcoins for casual transactions - the need to wait 30 minutes before you are certain that you've actually been paid. Another win is the emphasis on Transaction fees as the mechanism to incentivize people to ensure the integrity of the block chain, and note transactions.

tinkerrr 12y ago
True. That's a big part towards the move to proof of stake systems. Some people argue that the 'delegates' can collude to destroy the system, but this is more of a problem in Bitcoin, where just two major mining pools can collude to double-spend. In addition, since delegates are 'voted' by the people holding the currency, if anything funny is noticed people will immediately withdraw their votes (they have an economic incentive to do so), and thus the delegate ceases to be a delegate anymore and cannot extend the blockchain.
- brighton36 12y ago
  Of the many problems with Proof of Stake, "Centralization" and the trivial-ness of a rollback are probably the two largest. (Though the "nothing is at stake" argument is very compelling) It's likely that Stake-chains are a wonderful way to run a company. It's probable that Stake-chains won't secure enough trust to maintain 'platforms' amongst anonymous and antagonistic holders. IMO
brighton36 12y ago
In PoW chains 10 second confirmations are a bug, not a feature. If Bitcoin's confirmation times were 10 seconds, you would have 1/60th the amount of hashing power/energy securing a block to the chain, which would be trivial to compromise. The solution to instant confirmations are in the form of 'latency insurance', underwritten by a trusted provider. This is implemented in Bitcoin via BIP70. It will provide 'instant' transactions.
- maxerickson 12y ago
  So are those trusted providers going to be cheaper than Visa? Not just cheaper than what Visa charges merchants today, cheaper than what Visa can charge and still make money.
  - brighton36 12y ago
    Yes. Probably they will be free. Bitpay offers BIP70 for free to its merchants.
    - maxerickson 12y ago
      So that means they build the cost into their pricing, right?
      - brighton36 12y ago
        Yes. If you want a more exact number, it's probable that the charges will be significantly less than typical miner tips. It may even be absorbed by miners in order to give the miner a better lead-time on entries in the mempool.

tinkerrr 12y ago

True. That's a big part towards the move to proof of stake systems. Some people argue that the 'delegates' can collude to destroy the system, but this is more of a problem in Bitcoin, where just two major mining pools can collude to double-spend. In addition, since delegates are 'voted' by the people holding the currency, if anything funny is noticed people will immediately withdraw their votes (they have an economic incentive to do so), and thus the delegate ceases to be a delegate anymore and cannot extend the blockchain.

brighton36 12y ago
Of the many problems with Proof of Stake, "Centralization" and the trivial-ness of a rollback are probably the two largest. (Though the "nothing is at stake" argument is very compelling) It's likely that Stake-chains are a wonderful way to run a company. It's probable that Stake-chains won't secure enough trust to maintain 'platforms' amongst anonymous and antagonistic holders. IMO

brighton36 12y ago

In PoW chains 10 second confirmations are a bug, not a feature. If Bitcoin's confirmation times were 10 seconds, you would have 1/60th the amount of hashing power/energy securing a block to the chain, which would be trivial to compromise. The solution to instant confirmations are in the form of 'latency insurance', underwritten by a trusted provider. This is implemented in Bitcoin via BIP70. It will provide 'instant' transactions.

maxerickson 12y ago
So are those trusted providers going to be cheaper than Visa? Not just cheaper than what Visa charges merchants today, cheaper than what Visa can charge and still make money.
- brighton36 12y ago
  Yes. Probably they will be free. Bitpay offers BIP70 for free to its merchants.
  - maxerickson 12y ago
    So that means they build the cost into their pricing, right?
    - brighton36 12y ago
      Yes. If you want a more exact number, it's probable that the charges will be significantly less than typical miner tips. It may even be absorbed by miners in order to give the miner a better lead-time on entries in the mempool.