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There are two ways to secure the blockchain with a guaranteed level of security. Proof-of-work, and proof-of-stake. I use the second term very broadly, and I'
by jaekwon 12y ago
There are two ways to secure the blockchain with a guaranteed level of security. Proof-of-work, and proof-of-stake. I use the second term very broadly, and I'm not referring to the consensus schemes that NXT or BitShares use. Anybody who says otherwise today regardless of the "marketcap" of their coin doesn't know what they're talking about from a CS/game-theory point of view, or they're ignoring the costs of proof-of-work schemes.
Proof-of-work is expensive and will ultimately be replaced with better consensus schemes that require no mining, namely those that only rely on cryptographic signatures, a good balance of incentives and penalties, and an underlying byzantine consensus algorithm.
Disclaimer: I'm one of a handful of people working on new consensus algorithms.
- eric_bullington 12y agoWhat proof-of-stake blockchain is presently working and stable without checkpoints? Are there any (serious question)?
- jaekwon 12y agoNone are working yet. They're being developed. No centralized checkpoints.
- woah 12y agoProof of stake, while probably achievable technically within the next few years, has a major incentive problem. Anyone can show up and start mining a proof of work coin, and earn some. In contrast, all coins ever available in a proof of stake system must be given out by someone at some point. Most people distrust a system that claims to be decentralized, but has a central group or person giving out all tokens that will ever exist at the beginning.
- wmf 12y agoYou have to buy hardware to mine. Arguably buying stake directly is simpler.