The Lightning Network Could Solve The Bitcoin Block Size Limit
The Bitcoin block size is a hot topic in Bitcoin. Gavin Andresen has been at the center of the heated discussion of how to scale Bitcoin to accommodate higher transaction volumes. The Lightning Network has garnered much support as a possible solution to this problem. The co-authors of the Lightning Network white paper, Joseph Poon and Tadge Dryja, gained credibility with the release of their ideas. Many projects have already seen the benefit of something like Lightning Network to their projects. And, according to Joseph Poon, this will be an easy thing for them to do. "Most companies can....
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In this article I will explain how the size of Bitcoin blocks is determined in the absence of an arbitrary size limit. Oleg has already written an excellent post on this topic, but I have a few things to add and I wish to relate the discussion to the current debate over increasing the block size. If the maximum limit on block size is removed, it is not the case that blocks will simply grow without limit. There is a natural size that is determined by the market. The block size will change until the marginal revenue of adding more transactions approaches the marginal cost; this could happen....
Fresh out of jail on bail for embezzlement, disgraced Mt. Gox CEO Mark Karpeles poked fun at the Bitcoin community’s for their lack of resolution in the block size limit issue. Karpeles, in a tweet sent shortly after his release from jail, expressed his detachment from and disdain for the current state of Bitcoin, including a jab at the persisting one-megabyte block size limit debate: Block size limit still an issue, though drama has died down. The issue of whether or not to raise Bitcoin’s block size limit is a contentious one, responsible for a “splinter subreddit,” /r/btc, to emerge....
Bitcoin Core Developer Jeff Garzik has introduced Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 202, proposing that the Bitcoin community and miners take small and economically sound steps in increasing the maximum Bitcoin block size to 2 megabytes. Over the past few months, bitcoin core developers have proposed a number of BIPs including BIP 100 and 101, to increase the Bitcoin block size up to 8 megabytes. However, Bitcoin experts have criticized such proposals with concerns that it may "break" the Bitcoin code. "Bitcoin's block size limit needs to be increased in order to achieve wide Bitcoin....
This week, bitcoin Jesus Roger Ver weighed in on the block size debate stating that the block size limit should be increased if it is technologically achievable. Specifically, Ver tweeted: The block size debate has been underway for some time now and a lot of developers including Bitcoin Core Developers and the Bitcoin community are getting exasperated with the current impasse. In addition, many developers are now spending a lot of time and money seeking alternative solutions. If every 1MB block were always full, it would take over 55 years to fill my new HD. Let's raise the block size....
One of the main reasons why the Bitcoin block size debate has been attracting so much attention is that there is a growing number of network transactions that need to be validated. By increasing the Bitcoin block size limit, more transactions can be included in every network block. According to Gregory Maxwell, there is no real need to include more....