Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: The Golden Ratio Attack. Blocks more than half full lead to mining monopoly.
by
d4n13
on 16/07/2015, 08:10:23 UTC
Good post, totally get the math... all in on the theory...

Thinking it over a bit (beer++)

Let's work the math.  If 2/3 of the transactions actually processed are "real", then whoever is maintaining the backlog is paying the tx fees for 1/3 of every block. If this is someone with half the mining power then they get half of their third back, so their average cost per block is the fees for 1/6 of the block.  If we are talking about someone with half the mining power, their average return per block is 1/2 the fees for a block.  Because 1/2 is greater than 1/3, they are making a profit.  

I think I found your bug....

You fail to account for the revenue of the other pools.  You state the profit per block won but not the loss per block lost.

Proof:


In the end the spammer (Bob) ends up making more money for the honest miner (Alice).

It's a zero sum game.  Bob is the only one dumping extra money into a system that both Bob and Alice draw from.