I hope this isn't a repeat of a question previously asked, but has anyone with a test version running been able to model confirmation times? I am not a developer so I am just guessing but it seems confirmations are probabilistic, maybe based on aging of open nodes being merged to rule out doublespends.
Because there is always the possibility of receiving a double spent token, one strategy is to immediately respend the token and hope to receive value before the transaction is potentially invalidated. If a merge fails because of a conflicting transaction, is the doublespend flagged so future spends aren't mistakenly accepted?
Is there a simple way to explain how the system optimizes merging open nodes to miminize probablistic confirmation?
Sorry it this doesn't make sense but very interested in understanding how it works.
Thanks!
Seems like good questions.
How long should we expect a confirmation time to take?
More generally speaking Im seeing a lot of bullish speculation here which is always fun, but its worth remembering that IOTA still has to prove itself in the wild. Blockchain tech is as valuable as it is in part due to the fact it has proven its security model over time, and has survived hackers trying to beat it down and penetrate it.
If IOTA survives its baptism by fire and gets through a few weeks/months without calamity then the bullish speculation above will indeed be merited.
IOTA is still vulnerable to 51% attacks and the cost of attack is exponentially less than other crypto (no tx fees and no need to send IOTA at all in a tx).
It is only a matter of time before someone tries to spam, DDOS and/or double-spend the network.
How IOTA fares these tests will determine its future worth.
Security is proven over time.