Read_438 - Blockchain Proof of Work is a Decentralized Clock [grisha]

September 10, 2020 00:49:38
Read_438 - Blockchain Proof of Work is a Decentralized Clock [grisha]
Bitcoin Audible
Read_438 - Blockchain Proof of Work is a Decentralized Clock [grisha]

Sep 10 2020 | 00:49:38

/

Hosted By

Guy Swann

Show Notes

"This explanation rests on illustrating a few interesting properties of how Proof-of-Work is used in the blockchain that are not immediately obvious and sometimes are rather counter-intuitive, for example how participants collectively solve a problem without ever communicating." - grisha

While we incessantly focus on the side-effects of the proof-of-work system in Bitcoin, the security it attributes to the Bitcoin history, the incentive structure it enables, etc, we can often forget the reason Satoshi himself stated for its use: to enable a distributed timestamp server. i.e. a decentralized clock.

An epic piece from @humblehack posted back in January 2018 on his blog at grisha.org. Check out the original and many other works at the link below:
https://grisha.org/blog/2018/01/23/explaining-proof-of-work/

Other great reads to dig further into the concepts:
The Drunkard's Walk: https://amzn.to/2Mzzr2K
Fooled By Randomness: https://www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Markets-Incerto/dp/0812975219/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=fooled+by+randomness&qid=1599781258&s=books&sr=1-1
Bitcoin Astronomy: https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_303---Bitcoin-Astronomy-Part-1---Dhruv-Bansal-e6eqo5

Thanks to Marty & Chris from TFTC for bringing this to my attention again:
Episode 188: https://anchor.fm/tales-from-the-crypt/episodes/188-Chris-Bendiksen-ein7nj

--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/bitcoinaudible/message

Other Episodes

Episode

November 29, 2023 01:34:15
Episode Cover

Read_779 - A Network of Keys

"Clients applying this reasoning should remember that, in bitcoin, no one is too big to fail. There is no government or money printer capable...

Listen

Episode

January 08, 2020 01:51:20
Episode Cover

CryptoQuikRead_337 - The Tyranny of Time Scarcity - Bitcoin Times Ed 2 - [Robert Breedlove]

“Gold, the ancient and prevailing monetary sovereignty layer (representing an unmanipulable money supply), and the internet, the ultimate engine of exchange (representing global interconnectivity...

Listen

Episode

November 01, 2024 02:49:45
Episode Cover

Roundtable_003 - Oct 2024 - Elections, Faketoshi Sues Again, Taxess, and ECB Concerned about FaiRNeSs

How will governments respond to the growing threat of decentralized money, and what are the implications for individual freedom and sovereignty? And can bitcoiners...

Listen