iCreateOFX
Aug 26, 2017 · 1 min read

I think a lot of emphasis has been placed on difficulty adjustment for the sake of it without considering what effect it has, in the case of Bitcoin Cash, on the deflationary nature of the token. The EDA was initially applauded as a triumph, and yes it was and still is, until it was realised that being susceptible to gamed also brought forward the halvening of block rewards (another supposedly seemingly unexpected spanner in the works). On the whole, I believe the EDA (and difficulty adjustment algorithms in general) post HF seek to maintain the forked chain as useable.

For these reasons I think (and since the proposed new DA algorithm also requires a HF), it’s worth contemplating the possibility of introducing into the consensus rules a new block type that does NOT create new coins / create zero coins in the coinbase transaction, but rather simply confirms transactions (TO_BLOCKS). These blocks would only be valid after the EDA locks in (a downward) adjustment at that locked in difficulty. When the EDA activates, then, as it is now, blocks mined at the adjusted difficulty can continue to generate new coins. There can also be a limit to the number of TO_BLOCKS that can be accepted for example based on block count intervals (say every 5 blocks until EDA locks in).

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