Can public cryptocurrencies remain public?
This is a simple question at the heart of the complex debate surrounding the mainstream cryptocurrency networks, where developers from projects as diverse as Ethereum, Monero and Zcash are preoccupied with how to deal with a new form of hardware that could upset the delicate balance of their decentralized communities. ...
Designed specifically to allow operators to earn a larger share of network processing rewards, "Application Specific Integrated Circuits" or ASICs (ASICs) have emerged to mine several cryptocurrencies that were previously only mined by those using GPU hardware.
Access and openness of protocols
Stepping back, it is important to highlight what happens during the “mining process”, a somewhat complex phrase that refers to the practice by which anyone can theoretically launch computer equipment for mining and ensuring the security of the blockchain.
Ethereum, Monero and Zcash can be mined today with the help of hardware GPU, graphics cards sold in large computer stores, which are available for just a few hundred dollars. More expensive asiki, unlike video cards, are specifically designed for an optimized mining process, and this is the basis of complaints about these products.
This is due to the fact that since Bitcoin has proved in the past that GPUs will not be able to coexist with ASICs, since their appearance leads to an increase in the hashrate level, making other types of mining unprofitable.
Both the threat and the opportunities that appear with ASICs are now splitting the cryptocurrency user community, many of which may have previously invested in those products that are now virtually outdated.
For example, a miner nicknamed "fpbitmine" went so far as to accuse Zcash creator Zuko Wilcox of not doing enough to support those who invested in adding value to the network. He wrote on the zcash forum:
You bite the hand that feeds you. The adoption of ASIC technologies will mean that every miner supporting the Zcash network will be restrained and forced to either change the coin or invest in new equipment.
Back and forth
Thus, many miners threaten to redirect the power of their equipment to mine another cryptocurrency or create alternative versions of the network by simply cloning the code.
Last week, the Monero Security Center performed a hard fork, a system-wide software update, to eliminate the use of ASICs for mining on the network. But in turn, the three groups of manners are divided, which led to the network splitting and the emergence of Monero Classic, Monero Original and Monero Zero. It is worth noting that ASIC mining is supported in each of these new networks.
A variety of ideas about whether the ASICs are beneficial or they pose more threat than benefits are reflected in the opinions of the communities of other currencies.
For example, the Ethereum developers have spoken out against the hard fork in response to the emergence of ASICs for their network. Vitalik Buterin even called for "no action" to be taken on this issue. However, one Ethereum miner responded by calling Buterin's point of view a "slap in the face."
He wrote:
Anyone who thinks they can convince people that the hard fork community to prevent ASIC mining is wrong.
And now the same discussion takes place in the Zcash community.
While Zcash miners warn on the forum that there are "implications" for a cryptocurrency that supports ASIC mining, Zcash founder Zuko Wilcox said he believes that leaving ASICs "could do more harm than good."
Adding to this, Phil Dianne, a researcher at IC3, said that efforts to fight ASICs are akin to censorship, while others say such efforts increase the importance of the core development team.
But all these complaints against the Asiki seem to be on the side of the minority during the debate.
As a way to measure sentiment, several Twitter polls have been conducted [1, 2, 3] which show that the majority is inclined to conduct hard forks in order to get rid of mining on asiki, which will require editing the basic cryptocurrency algorithm.
free will
However, those on the other side of the debate did not particularly catch on fire; instead, their comments seem to be a kind of “good deliverance.”
For example, Rob Stumpf, EtherMining moderator, Ethereum mining sub-credit, said:
If developers think they can improve Ethereum and want to hardfork to do so, they can do just that.
Also, Monero Core developer "rehrar" said that he has "no negative feelings" about the various Monero networks. He concluded succinctly:
This is a mental shift for people; they are not used to the fact that power is in their hands, and they can start discussions that they want to start.