1 2017-05-25 03:38:46 <earlz> Hi, not sure this is the place to discuss, but I know Bitcoin has a hard-fork wishlist. Will anything beyond 2Mb blocks be included in the new agreement for segwit+2Mb block hardfork?
 2 2017-05-25 12:19:45 <graingert> earlz: 2Mb can be done with a soft fork
 3 2017-05-25 12:20:02 <graingert> earlz: bitcoin blocks are currently 8Mb
 4 2017-05-25 12:20:23 <graingert> luke-jr: can you make a segwit+2Mb bip?
 5 2017-05-25 12:21:30 <graingert> luke-jr: eg 0.25 * the size
 6 2017-05-25 14:44:44 <DrakeLuce> I hope this isn't a beat-down or unallowed question, but:
 7 2017-05-25 14:45:26 <DrakeLuce> I'm interested in writing my own cryptocurrency, from scratch, without using any existing source code. I've got a good understanding of the language I'm writing it in, so no worries there
 8 2017-05-25 14:46:06 <DrakeLuce> Just curious if there's any existing good articles on the mechanisms of a scrypt (or sha256) currency, and how they interact
 9 2017-05-25 14:46:19 <DrakeLuce> Not looking for a step-by-step tutorial or anything. :)
10 2017-05-25 14:54:46 <DrakeLuce> (this is for educational purposes, I'm not looking to make a serious altcoin or anything. Just want to more intimately understand cryptocurrencies)
11 2017-05-25 15:26:47 <graingert> DrakeLuce: maybe make a bitcoin client?
12 2017-05-25 15:26:53 <graingert> DrakeLuce: that's from scratch
13 2017-05-25 15:29:45 <graingert> is it possible to change PoW with a softfork?
14 2017-05-25 15:30:34 <graingert> eg clone bitcoin except it's got a different PoW, and you only get 10% of the block reward. Call this chain B. then all bitcoin blocks must mirror blocks from chain B.
15 2017-05-25 15:30:49 <graingert> except they get 90% of the block reward
16 2017-05-25 15:32:48 <graingert> then the main bitcoin chain can't go faster than chain B. and we can gradually move the block reward to 100% on chain B. and the bitcoin blockchain difficulty should just drop to 0
17 2017-05-25 15:33:09 <graingert> eg after 7 years
18 2017-05-25 15:33:42 <DrakeLuce> graingert: Well, a client and associated chain, I mean
19 2017-05-25 15:33:57 <graingert> DrakeLuce: why not just be a bitcoin client
20 2017-05-25 15:34:08 <graingert> then you get all the fun and it's a legit currency
21 2017-05-25 15:34:37 <DrakeLuce> Because I want to learn the intricacies of hashing, merkle trees, proof of work, etc
22 2017-05-25 15:34:42 <DrakeLuce> I'm in it to learn
23 2017-05-25 15:34:43 <DrakeLuce> :p
24 2017-05-25 15:35:28 <graingert> but if you make it a bitcoin client you'll get help in this channel
25 2017-05-25 15:35:29 <graingert> maybe
26 2017-05-25 15:35:48 <DrakeLuce> I suppose, but that's not really what I'm after
27 2017-05-25 15:35:51 <DrakeLuce> Haha
28 2017-05-25 15:37:41 <DrakeLuce> Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean
29 2017-05-25 15:37:52 <DrakeLuce> Do you mean, a client that operates on the existing bitcoin blockchain?
30 2017-05-25 15:59:19 <graingert> DrakeLuce: yes
31 2017-05-25 16:09:28 <graingert> BlueMatt: pow change soft fork ^ ?
32 2017-05-25 16:39:07 <goatpig> you could but it's damn ugly
33 2017-05-25 16:39:27 <goatpig> and requires a lot of shoving data in the coinbase
34 2017-05-25 16:39:32 <goatpig> which is already crowded enough
35 2017-05-25 16:39:45 <goatpig> it's fairly unsafe too
36 2017-05-25 16:42:28 <BlueMatt> graingert: its not really a "soft fork", cause the old-pow part can move faster than the "new-pow" chain to nodes which are not enforcing the soft fork
37 2017-05-25 16:42:43 <BlueMatt> so you're like slowly phasing in a hf, and hoping incentives work out to make it a soft fork for a while
38 2017-05-25 16:43:39 <graingert> goatpig: you don't need any data in the coinbase because the block should just mirror the B chain
39 2017-05-25 16:44:33 <graingert> so there's an implicit releationship preserved by nodes enforcing the soft fork
40 2017-05-25 16:44:38 <graingert> BlueMatt: true
41 2017-05-25 16:44:45 <graingert> oh well I'll keep mulling on it
42 2017-05-25 16:45:13 <graingert> BlueMatt: are there any discussions for this sort of thing where people have already done that?
43 2017-05-25 16:45:23 <goatpig> regardless of how you deliver the the new pow, it's unsafe because nodes that aren't aware of the SF will see a weak old chain
44 2017-05-25 16:45:28 <graingert> already thought through and discussed the problems *
45 2017-05-25 16:45:36 <goatpig> and suddenly there's a whole lot of hardware for hte legacy pow laying around doing nothing