Sunday, February 4, 2018

Timothy B. Lee — Bitcoin has a huge scaling problem—Lightning could be the solution

Three startups are getting ready to launch one of the most ambitious and important cryptocurrency experiments since the creation of bitcoin itself. Called Lightning, the project aims to build a fast, scalable, and cryptographically secure payment network layered on top of the existing bitcoin network.
Essentially, Lightning aims to solve the big problem that has loomed over bitcoin in recent years: Satoshi Nakamoto's design for bitcoin is comically unscalable. It requires every full node in bitcoin's peer-to-peer network to receive and store a copy of every transaction ever made on the network.
Initially, that design was vital to achieving Nakamoto's vision of a fully decentralized payment network. But as Purdue computer scientist Pedro Moreno-Sanchez told Ars, it creates a big challenge as the network becomes more popular. "We have reached a point where it's not suitable any more to keep growing," he said.…
A big hurdle in innovation is scalability. It's also fundamental to evolutionary theory. A lot of potentially good solutions fail because they are not scalable or as scalable as other solutions.

As an aside, neoliberal globalization is running into a scalability problem that its advocates are determined to overcome by force if necessary. That is increasingly the case as resistance rises from traditionalism

Ars Technica 
Bitcoin has a huge scaling problem—Lightning could be the solution
Timothy B. Lee

10 comments:

Matt Franko said...

"neoliberal globalization is running into a scalability problem that its advocates are determined to overcome by force if necessary."

Just the opposite its not the advocates its the adversaries...

we're watching it happen right before our eyes... 'nature abhors a vacuum..."

Govt libertarian douchbag morons going all around saying "we're out of money!" is not leaving enough balances of currency available for people to conduct necessary/desired economic exchange...

the technocrats will go right around them and if it results in better outcomes in real terms then that is what is going to happen... people will vote for it...

The govt status quo system is manifestly failing... so unless govt can start operating their systems better they are going to get passed by...

Matt Franko said...

Think of it like Uber... govt used to run the taxi system and nobody could get a cab and they were expensive... also the Arab drivers wouldnt even pick up a black person...

So along comes Uber... critics say "you cant do that govt regulates the cabs!"...

Uber technocrats just ignore that and proceed with the plan and are being successful...

Same thing with crypto...

Shouldnt hire trained clarinet players to run the payments system...

NeilW said...

When you look at the 'Lightning nodes' on a Bitcoin network, they look remarkably like the payment system of a bank...

Brian Romanchuk said...

Neil,
It’s a lot worse than a bank. Bank retail customers do not need to post collateral to use the payment channel.

It’s a banking system designed by tech people that know nothing about banking.

Matt Franko said...

“look remarkably like the payment system of a bank...”

Yes technically but not Philosophically...

Matt Franko said...

Brian here many banks require high minimum deposit balances which can function like collateral ... BofA just put theirs up ...

Matt Franko said...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/01/bank-of-america-celebrates-giant-tax-cut-by-raising-fees-on-poor-people

Shit like this might end up doing them all in ...

Noah Way said...

Over half of all Bitcoin has been stolen.

Matt Franko said...

Growing pains... they'll go back...figure it out... correct it... they are not morons...

Tyler said...

"Litecoin is faster, cheaper and offers the same technological innovations as BTC in the form of segwit and lightning network capability." https://www.theindependentrepublic.com/2018/02/04/litecoin-time-to-be-bullish-on-ltc/