About this episode

This episode discusses the critical issues in Bitcoin mining and the importance of distinguishing between hashers and miners.

What is the most important project in Bitcoin? It isn't BIP 110 or some shiny new payment protocol. We actually have a massive security vulnerability sitting at the base layer: Bitcoin mining isn't really mining anymore. Right now, we have millions of hashers but barely a handful of real miners deciding what transactions make it into a block. And that means a few centralized pool operators could easily censor the network. In this Take, I explain why the critical distinction between a hasher and a miner matters. But more importantly, I outline how newer protocols are finally fixing a decade-long mistake. Chapters (00:00:00) - The most important project (00:00:29) - Hashers vs miners (00:01:35) - Pools choose transactions (00:03:06) - The few pools who can censor (00:04:21) - Nodes and block templates (00:06:15) - Holding your own keys (00:06:55) - Datum and Stratum V2 (00:08:50) - The single giant pool risk (00:11:31) - Spam, Slipstream, BIP110 (00:13:22) - Ocean, DMND, and what's next Affiliate Links Become sovereign, hold your keys, be censorship resistant with the Bitbox hardware wallet. Get 5% off everything in the store with code GUY (Link: https://bitbox.swiss/guy/ ) Get 10%…

People in this episode

Host: Guy Swann

Topics covered

• Bitcoin mining
• security vulnerabilities
• hashers vs miners
• transaction censorship
• decentralization
• new protocols

Keywords

• Bitcoin
• mining
• security
• censorship
• protocols
• hashers
• miners
• decentralization

Sponsors

Bitbox, The Free Market Kids

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BIP 110, Datum, Stratum V2, Ocean, DMND

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