Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: How does block size harm decentralization?
by
squatter
on 08/02/2019, 06:56:42 UTC
There's still a larger problem here that most people don't discuss. Even if hardware advancement allows us to significantly increase block sizes over time, that doesn't address whether doing so is compatible with Bitcoin's hard cap on supply.

Without inflation, the system needs fee revenue to continue incentivizing miners. The block size limit is the only means we have to enforce scarcity of block space, which guarantees fee revenue. Otherwise, Bitcoin's Byzantine fault tolerance may be threatened as block rewards decline in value. You can't have a network worth many billions or trillions of USD where miners have no incentive to secure the network.

in my opinion higher fees will kill bitcoin so if block size scarcity is enforced in the future*, remember that bitcoin was meant to be a decentralized currency not something people only trade or store value in so they don't care if they pay a high fee to transfer it. it may also nullify what you are saying since people would stop using bitcoin and consequently the price would drop and there wouldn't be any more profit for them miners anymore.

bigger capacity also means more transactions, and that means more transaction fees in total.

* note that i am saying in the future, as of today and in the close future we don't need block size increase or even fees to replace the block reward since it is quite high still and will remain high for many years.

Right now, the cost per confirmed transaction (based on actual mining expenditure) is much higher than the fees users are paying. Miners are subsidizing that cost because their revenues are temporarily being subsidized by inflation. However next year, inflation will drop to 12.5% of the original reward and it quickly drops off after that. When should we expect fees to begin making up the difference? The design can't remain completely dependent on fiat speculation forever. At some point, users need to pay the actual cost of transactions if they expect miners to continue securing the chain. The sooner users get used to higher fees, the smoother the transition to a deflationary Bitcoin will be.

If we keep increasing block size, "more transactions" doesn't imply a requisite increase in fees. That all depends on how limited block space is. If we increase block size beyond demand because technology advancement allows it (Like Bitcoin Cash), fees will drop towards zero. We need full blocks and a constant transaction backlog, otherwise there is no fee pressure.

Now, what evidence do you have that "higher fees will kill Bitcoin?"