usethebitcoin.com
Istanbul, the next Ethereum upgrade meant to cut across the Ethereum blockchain, has the likelihood of including the Progressive Proof-of-Work (ProgPoW) mining algorithm.
Project managers working on the Ethereum blockchain, the second largest blockchain after Bitcoin, included the Ethereum Improvement proposal 1057 which contains the details of the Progressive Proof-of-Work as a sub-agenda during a recent meeting.
Why It’s A ‘May be’
The implementation of the mining algorithm has never achieved unanimous approval. One camp believes it’s necessary to keep a balanced control between ether miners. On the hand, another camp notes that its implementation does not achieve much in keeping the large miners in check.
Since whether or not to include the mining algorithm in the upcoming system-wide upgrade was not the main agenda, one participant during the recent meeting with project managers suggested that it will feature as a full agenda on the next call. The call is scheduled to take place at the end of this week. Discussions around ProgPoW are heating up just days after the Ethereum blockchain underwent a hard fork.
However, the push for the inclusion of the Progressive Proof-of-Work mining algorithm in the next system-wide upgrade is subject to two independent audits.
Hudson Jameson, community relations manager, Ethereum Foundation, said that the audit is meant to “benchmark and examine” the efficiency of a ProgPoW ASIC.
The community relations manager added:
“The audits would serve to make sure it is even worth it to implement ProgPoW or if ASCs can be made super quickly (like less than nine months) and with more speed.”
With Ethereum planning to completely shift from a Proof-of-Work algorithm to a Proof-of-Stake algorithm, investors Martina Long and Dovey Wan, argue that blocking ASICs from the Ethereum platform is a “non-issue.”
Tim Beiko, a participant during the Ethereum blockchain project manager’s meeting, said that:
“In the worst case, if the audit comes with a huge red flag in it, we can pull that EIP out before Istanbul but assuming that everything goes well, we’ve already done the work…and the audit is just validation afterwards.”