Re: Blockchain Auction Software "needs" discussion

Also, in many auctions there is no "end time". The auction continues until nobody is willing to beat the highest bid (aka "going once going twice SOLD!!!"). Perhaps another option would be to end the auction after X blocks have passed since the last highest bid?

This is a nice idea. For instance: Auction lasts as long there are blocks with higher bids than the previous high. This may also solve "bids to close to the wire to be included" problem. In your opinion, should the system show the bids from the current (Edit: unsolved) block or publish them after the block is found?

I would say only bids included in solved blocks to avoid shenanigans.

I do prefer shenanigan free auctions.

What sort of shenanigan can you envision if non-confirmed bids are presented in the dashboard?

I haven't thought too much about it but one bad example would be the operator of a large pool like BTCguild would have the advantage of hiding their bids by including their transaction in their next block without transmitting it to the entire network. Or they could "bid up" their own auctions by transmitting a very high bid but then negating it by include a different transaction in their next solved block. Other bidders would see the high bid and try to outbid it while that transaction actually gets rejected, if that makes sense. I'm sure far more clever people could think of more sinister ideas Tongue