Thanks for the tip link. Right now I'm mostly concerned with mined blocks (but no longer part of the longest chain).
I wish we could be absolutely certain of this, then we wouldn't ever require more than 1 confirmation, or even PoW at all
For small amounts, 1 confirmation seems to be commonly accepted.
I realise that it's uncommon, thanks to your link and some more research I can confirm that the number of "extinct" blocks dropped from several per year to only 2 in 2019, and actually none since then.
Unfortunately I can't build my system based on hope alone. How do existing payment systems handle the situation when a transaction in a previously confirmed block actually disappears (perhaps because of a malicious actor trying to double spend)?
In the end, transactions do not just disappear.
I wish we could be absolutely certain of this, then we wouldn't ever require more than 1 confirmation, or even PoW at all
For small amounts, 1 confirmation seems to be commonly accepted.
I realise that it's uncommon, thanks to your link and some more research I can confirm that the number of "extinct" blocks dropped from several per year to only 2 in 2019, and actually none since then.
Unfortunately I can't build my system based on hope alone. How do existing payment systems handle the situation when a transaction in a previously confirmed block actually disappears (perhaps because of a malicious actor trying to double spend)?