delvingbitcoin

Thoughts on scaling and consensus changes (2023)

Thoughts on scaling and consensus changes (2023)

Original Postby jungly

Posted on: January 26, 2024 08:15 UTC

The email touches on the concept of designing a system wherein only a subset of participants is needed to generate off-chain activity, which could potentially circumvent the need for all participants to sign.

This idea is still in the research phase and its feasibility remains uncertain. However, the possibility of successfully implementing such a solution without a covenant is considered to be highly beneficial.

The writer speculates about the use of a peer-to-peer (P2P) network running FROST (Flexible Round-Optimized Schnorr Threshold) participants as an alternative to federated minting systems like Fedimint. The challenge with this approach lies in ensuring the honesty of participants within the P2P network. The author proposes an intriguing solution where miners could double as P2P mint participants. Miners would qualify for this role by demonstrating proof of work shares and maintaining good behavior, which in turn would secure their payouts. Good behavior, in this context, is defined broadly as actions deemed positive by the majority, drawing a parallel to the consensus mechanisms in Bitcoin.

These initial thoughts are viewed through the lens of a P2P mining pool and indicate that considerable development and research are still required to refine these ideas into workable solutions.