Bitcoin researchers question Luke Dashjr's new Proof-of-Work algorithm selection mechanism, which may be vulnerable to manipulation

Odaily Planet Daily News: Bitcoin News posted on X platform that Luke Dashjr today proposed a plan to select a new Proof-of-Work algorithm for his proposed Bitcoin hard fork at 14:00 UTC. Dashjr stated that the algorithm will be determined based on the last character of the hash of the next block on Bitcoin Testnet4 after the deadline, with previously submitted mapping files assigning each possible character to a candidate algorithm. He claimed that no one, including himself, currently knows which algorithm will ultimately be selected, and published the SHA256 hash of the mapping file to prove that the mapping was pre-determined. Bitcoin researchers criticized this process, arguing that Testnet4's hash power near the known timestamp could be manipulated, thereby influencing the final algorithm selection. Antoine Poinsot (@darosior) stated that using Testnet4 with a pre-determined timestamp is "completely unreasonable"; @mononautical argued that hiding the mapping itself indicates that the parties involved acknowledge the selection process could be manipulated.