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CH12: Add note about settlement being time-based not conf-based

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David A. Harding 2023-05-25 13:33:35 -10:00
parent a0fc8f62eb
commit c10f5664a3
1 changed files with 23 additions and 3 deletions
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@ -1697,10 +1697,30 @@ Whereas a one-block fork might occur every day, a two-block fork occurs
at most once every few weeks.
Bitcoin's block interval of 10 minutes is a design compromise between
fast confirmation times (settlement of transactions) and the probability
of a fork. A faster block time would make transactions clear faster but
fast confirmation times and the probability
of a fork. A faster block time would make transactions seem to clear faster but
lead to more frequent blockchain forks, whereas a slower block time
would decrease the number of forks but make settlement slower.((("",
would decrease the number of forks but make settlement seem slower.
[NOTE]
====
Which is more secure: a transaction included in one block where the
average time between blocks is 10 minutes, or a transaction included in
a block with nine blocks built on top of it where the average time
between blocks is one minute? The answer is that they're equally
secure. A malicious miner wanting to double spend that transaction
would need to do an amount of work equal to 10 minutes of the total
network hash rate in order to create a chain with equal proof of work.
Shorter times between blocks doesn't result in earlier settlement. It's
only advantage is providing weaker guarantees to people who are willing
to accept those guarantees. For example, if you're willing to accept
three minutes of miners agreeing on the best block chain as sufficient
security, you'd prefer a system with 1-minute blocks, where you could
wait for there blocks, over a system with 10-minute blocks.
====
((("",
startref="Bassemble10")))((("", startref="MACassembling10")))((("",
startref="forks10")))((("", startref="BCTfork10")))