Is the Ethereum Community Ready for ASICs?
Editor's Note: This article comes fromGolden Finance, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Editor's Note: This article comes from
Golden Finance
Golden Finance
, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
On December 15th, Beijing time, some developers in the Ethereum Magician Forum discussed the issue of ASICs again. Discussions about ASICs have been carried out many times before. According to the discussion of the author, although ASIC does not have a decisive impact on the mining of Ethereum, because of the proportion of computing power of ASIC, the dispersion of GPU and the concentration of ASIC are always in opposition. Furthermore, changes in computing power of the network and the possibility of migration are also key factors for discussion.ETH。
The following is the content of the discussion, with some deletions:
CryptoBlockchainTech, August 9:
What a $5M ETC 51% Attack Means for Ethereum, What Does the Community Think? Is this a test and a way for someone to get enough money to attack Ethereum? Even if the attacker has no plans to attack Ethereum, the means of execution is public and available to the next attacker.
We already know that Ethereum mining is very close to being centralized, as ASICs now control over 45% of the hash. Rent 6% more and you can make billions! As we get closer to POS, we don't want attacks like this to happen in a last-ditch effort to steal as much as possible before the POW lights go out
When the 4GB dag size arrives later this year (referring to ETC's upgrade), serious consideration needs to be given to scheduling the algorithm change until a more powerful ASIC is released, which is the best time to switch.
Because as ASIC manufacturers gain more control of the network, it becomes more vulnerable to 51% attacks every day? Using GPUs to put mining back into the hands of millions of gamers around the world is the safest way to ensure POW decentralization until POS is ready.
Lirazsiri：
elliot_olds, August 16:
elliot_olds：
Does the ETC attack at all indicate the need to make the algorithm more GPU-friendly to help avoid the attack?
Timolson：
ETC attacks are not launched by normal ETC miners, but rented hashes. With a more GPU-friendly algorithm, the attacker can still rent hashes.
Typically, rentable GPU capacity will be higher than rentable ASIC capacity because there are too many GPUs on the rental market. This attack occurred because ETC’s mining rewards were low, and the attacker noticed an imbalance in the required transaction confirmation time compared to the cost of renting hash power on ETC.
Proceeds from the ETC 51% attack are likely to be used to fund a massive attack on Ethereum.
gcolvin：
In my opinion, this is unlikely as the ETC attack appears to be a crime of opportunity due to the extremely low ETC mining rewards. Are you interested in betting whether a similar attack will happen in ETH before the end of the year?
CryptoBlockchainTech：
ASIC miners have to pay a heavy price to successfully mine their own blockchain. If anything, it is GPU-backed PoW that is subject to this "rent attack". GPU miners can switch coins at will, and if they are not mining, the hardware is still valuable. ASICs don't have "defection is the last move in the prisoner's dilemma", only GPU mined PoW does.
Lirazsiri, October 28:
I suspect most pro-GPU people just want to mine "free money" at home and don't really care about coin security.
I suspect you are wrong.
I also suspect you are wrong. As a GPU Ethereum miner for over 3 years, I have invested half of the tokens I earn into Ethereum 2.0 so I can continue to support network security on both chains.
I've been willing to risk 1/2 of the tokens I've earned for projects of interest over the past 3 years, if you think mining is free money, you're wrong.
Like anything worthwhile in life, it takes hard work, long-term planning and a solid business plan. The intrusion of ASICs on the network over the past three years has caused problems for our business model because we can avoid some of the things promised in the Yellow Paper.
If anything, the inability of the GPU mining community to make algorithm changes only speaks to the community's real weakness due to years of substandard profitability. If you think this is more secure, you are again mistaken.
Timolson, December 2:
CryptoBlockchainTech：
I also did mass mining. My contention is that GPU points to whatever coin is currently making money, and they don't really care about the community. This has been a huge problem for smaller coins, however, ASIC miners have to care about the health and community of their coins as they don't have the option to switch to another coin. ASIC miners are locked. They are monogamous. GPU miners don't love you, they go from coin to coin in a week to get the highest profit for the week and don't care if it dies or not.
