Subject: Re: [Bitcoin-development] Coinbase reallocation to discourage Finney attacks

From: Gareth Williams <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 14:31:05 +1000

On 25/04/14 00:28, Mike Hearn wrote:
> Why are we here? We are here because we were brought together by shared
> goals.
> 
> What are those goals? They were defined at the start of the project by
> the creator of the project.
> 
> Why do we issue 21 million coins and not 42? Because 21 million is the
> goal everyone signed up for.

Mike: the blockchain is a public document, with a very public and well
defined interpretation, which we've all signed up for too.

What's the point of piling PoW on top of some data to make it difficult
to modify if the interpretation itself is open to modification?

There is an important distinction to draw between a hard fork via a
change in block validation rules, and a hard fork via a change in the
/interpretation of the blockchain itself/.

Bitcoin validates data /before/ it makes it into a block; we can all be
confident that, short of a reorg, /if it's in a block, it's the law/. As
much as the 21m cap is the law anyway.

Proving that you can convince the economic majority that the
interpretation of existing blocks is in any way up for grabs would set a
dangerous precedent, and shake some people's faith in Bitcoin's overall
robustness and security (well, mine anyway.)

My 2 bits.

-Gareth