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: January 6, 2024 19:49 UTC

The email presents a critical analysis of the reasoning behind the current state of affairs concerning blockchain technology, specifically questioning the effectiveness and consequences of certain decisions.

The critique first points out the issue with spam transactions congesting the blockchain. The author references SegWit Resources to illustrate that, contrary to its intended purpose, the witness space has become a repository for irrelevant data, either due to general misuse or deliberate obstruction by adversarial miners.

Furthermore, the anticipated increase in blockchain capacity—to accommodate more transactions—has not materialized as expected. Pieter Wuille's commentary on pathological cases is cited to emphasize this point, noting that even in extreme scenarios where capacity could reach 4MB per single transaction, the reality is that legitimate transactions are being overshadowed by spam.

The promise of significant reductions in transaction fees through a discount for witness data has also not been fulfilled. Instead, fees have surged to unprecedented levels, contradicting the intended cost-saving benefits. Additionally, there is a mention of the unintended growth of the UTXO set, which should have decreased with fewer simple transactions. However, this is not the case, as the UTXO set continues to expand.

Lastly, the email highlights the ineffective consolidation incentive that was supposed to help manage small UTXOs. Due to the high transaction fees, many smaller UTXOs have become unspendable, often referred to as "unspent dust," which has arisen from the mispricing of SegWit. The sender questions whether these points address the recipient's concerns regarding the situation at hand.