delvingbitcoin

[BUG]: spammers get Bitcoin blockspace at discounted price. Let's fix it

[BUG]: spammers get Bitcoin blockspace at discounted price. Let's fix it

Original Postby GregTonoski

Posted on: February 7, 2024 19:35 UTC

The concept of the "witness discount" was introduced as a mechanism aimed at reducing the impact of certain bytes on nodes through consensus rules.

However, it appears that this measure did not achieve its intended effect of discouraging the use of "bytes that are more impactful" to nodes. This outcome is evident from the data presented in a chart by Jameson Lopp, which illustrates the significant increase in the size of the UTXO set over time. The growth of the UTXO set is a critical concern as it directly impacts the operational efficiency and scalability of the blockchain network. The failure of the witness discount to mitigate this growth highlights the need for alternative strategies or improvements in managing the UTXO set size to ensure the long-term sustainability and performance of the network.