7/ PoW is the invention that allows us, for the first time in history, to emulate physical properties like Immutability & Scarcity (*keyword: emulate). These properties previously only exist in rare & unforgeable metals.
-
Show this thread
-
8/ These metals were created from the nucleosynthesis process billions of years ago (ht
@realLudvigArt). PoW is our feeble attempt at emulating this amazing phenomenon in nature. If anything, energy spent in PoW is *not enough*, in terms of securing the chain against changes.2 replies 1 retweet 11 likesShow this thread -
9/ Once we understand Proof-of-Work, it’s easy to see that what Proof-of-Stake proponents call “finality” or “immutability” is simply an illusion. A PoS ledger is immutable to the degree that some people in the group say that it is immutable.
1 reply 1 retweet 14 likesShow this thread -
10/ In order to maintain the illusion of immutability, a member has to maintain contact with this group at all time. This is apparent in assumption #3 in the original Ouroboros paper, and the "weak subjectivity" concept Vitalik talked about in Casper- which is a BS terminology.
1 reply 0 retweets 11 likesShow this thread -
11/ When a member of such a group gets detached from the group (maybe for reasons beyond his control), he risks breaking this illusion, each & every time.
1 reply 0 retweets 4 likesShow this thread -
12/ When a temporarily detached member joins back in, he has no way to determine which PoS chain is the canonical chain, unless he has a trusted 3rd party. A PoS system cannot be truly permission-less.
2 replies 1 retweet 11 likesShow this thread -
13/ No matter how many layers of obscurity & bullshit you sprinkle on top, PoS can never overcome this fatal weakness.
1 reply 0 retweets 12 likesShow this thread -
14/ IMO the mistake PoS researchers often make, is to look at Bitcoin as a purely distributed system problem. But Bitcoin is more than that.
1 reply 0 retweets 5 likesShow this thread -
15/ Bitcoin is a distributed system *with physical properties*. You can emulate the distributed components (leader election, randomness, hashing, etc.), but you can’t cheaply emulate physical properties.
1 reply 0 retweets 14 likesShow this thread -
16/ Looking at Bitcoin purely through the lens of distributed system research is like a caveman seeing a stethoscope for the first time & conclude it’s useless for fixing people. Or a medieval man seeing a radio & think it’s a worthless piece of brick.
1 reply 2 retweets 11 likesShow this thread
17/ The old mental models are usually insufficient to fully understand the significance of new technology.
-
-
18/ It’s kinda sad to see so much time & effort being spent on these PoS systems, that are to me an obvious dead-end. So much ado about nothing.
1 reply 2 retweets 18 likesShow this threadThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

