"Future proofing" is the process of trying to anticipate future developments, so that action can be taken to minimize possible negative consequences, and to seize opportunities. As such, a system which is described as "future proof" has passed such validation. This tag should be used for questions related to the future-proofing of Bitcoin (and related projects).
Questions tagged [future-proof]
33 questions
70
votes
11 answers
Will Bitcoin suffer from a mining Tragedy of the Commons when mining fees drop to zero?
One issue that I haven't seen clearly addressed is the possible Tragedy of the Commons in Bitcoin's future (see this answer). 40 years into the future, the only significant direct benefit for honest miners is transaction fees, as the block reward is…
ripper234
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How to generate a valid bitcoin address for destroying bitcoins?
(Following up to this question.)
In order to put a bitcoin beyond use, the answer was to select a made up address. As this isn't a formal destruction of bitcoins, there's a risk that the private keys could be found to spend those "destroyed"…
billpg
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Can a bitcoin be destroyed?
Its the hypothetical future and BTC2 is being designed. Everyone loves BTC2 and no-one wants the old BTC1 any more.
People who have BTC1 would be annoyed that their assets are suddently worth a lot less because there's no demand for their BTC1 any…
billpg
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18
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5 answers
Is Bitcoin future-proof?
As I understand things, the security and integrity of Bitcoin rely on the assumption that its hashing is "hard" in some sense. However, in the past, processing power has increased exponentially. This has made some problems solvable in a reasonable…
Michael McGowan
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3 answers
Can the number of transactions per second ever overwhelm the network?
I'm coming at this from a point of view that assumes Bitcoin has been widely adopted as a currency worldwide and is essentially mainstream. Every day people are using Bitcoin in the same way that they use their credit cards today.
Will the…
Gary
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2 answers
What happens when NameCoins stop being generated?
When Bitcoins stop being generated it won't be a problem: prices can gradually be lower. Namecoins, however, have a more-or-less set price, which is the domain register price. If Namecoins stop being generated, but people of course still want to…
o0'.
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4 answers
Scenario: disaster splits the Internet into dozens unconnected fragments
Major US cities restore connectivity locally for a couple of days, but the internet islands are separated (or have very poor interconnectivity). Two days later, connectivity is restored resulting in, say 50 separate blockchains full of…
sigma02
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12
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2 answers
What if a country 100% denominated in a cryptocurrency loses internet connectivity to the rest of the world?
Please assume a small island nation becomes 100% denominated in a cryptocurrency.
Now please assume that for some reason the rest of the world manages to cut if off from the rest of the internet for some extended period of time, eg 1 year or…
user5107
11
votes
3 answers
What is the absolute minimum amount of information required to have access to a bitcoin balance and or a wallet file?
As far as I gather a wallet can remain offline indefinitely transactions are being sent to it. The network will keep track of the transaction so that the next time it is connected it will catch up.
Is the entire wallet file necessary for this…
barrymac
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3 answers
How does Proof of Burn work?
I have been trying to make a comparison between PoW, PoS and Proof of Burn. While I understood the other two, I want to know how exactly Proof of Burn helps in attaining the consensus.
One burns coins by sending it to an address where it cannot be…
trollster
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8
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2 answers
Can the Bitcoin system be changed?
Are we stuck with what is here now? or if 10 years down the road serious changes need to be made to the system; can that be done with a decentralized system? How would you make changes to a decentralized system like this?
Bill
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6
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1 answer
What are the upcoming scaling and privacy improvements for Bitcoin past 2021?
Taproot is coming in 2021-Nov, but its been worked on for the last couple of years. What are upcoming improvements to Bitcoin that are just being talked about or being tested?
Patoshi パトシ
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Must mining be profitable for Bitcoin to succeed? If no, what are the mitigations?
It is clear that mining is responsible for securing the network, and it is incentivised by block payouts and transaction fees.
I've also seen discussions regarding different incentives for miners in the event block payouts and transaction fees are…
makerofthings7
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4
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3 answers
How can market-based transaction fees scale?
Can someone please explain to me what I am missing?
I don't see how variable, market-based transaction fees can scale. I go to a merchant's website to buy, how do I select a mining peer to pay transaction fee to? Do I attach some bounty that any…
Shelby Moore III
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Future-proofing a deflationary currency from future counterfeiting
Say someone locks away a wallet in durable storage for 100 years and BitCoins are still actively used.
Are those BitCoins still going to be valid if they haven't been traded in/upgraded to the newer protocols?
I've seen other answers on this site…
Jason Kleban
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