Bitcoin would be perfect for inter-planetary trade - page 2.

paraipan

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Quote from: CliffordM on January 01, 2012, 02:28:26 PM

One problem would be blockchain bifurcation when miners are more than a few light-seconds away.

If miners were say 1 hour apart, you would get substantial forking going on, and although in theory the longest chain would eventually dominate, you might have to wait for quite a few more confirmations.

I have always thought that /that's/ where alternative currencies come in, this time with a real purpose rather than a me-too. There could be bitcoin, plutocoin, you-name-it.

At the edges, there could be a flourishing inter-currency trade.

agree with OP, bitcoin will fit perfectly for the purpose and we almost got the communications covered too with quantum physics of course Grin

julz

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Quote from: GeniuSxBoY on January 01, 2012, 05:36:09 PM

If you're more than 100 light years away, chances are I'll be dead by the time you get my funds.

If I know about you and you're more that 100 light years away, chances are you're already dead.

sens.org is working on this problem - but unfortunately they don't accept bitcoin donations (I asked)

wareen

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Quote from: Revalin on January 01, 2012, 07:31:35 PM

Actually, that's not a problem. You just reroute the data through a relay that can see both endpoints. The internet does this all the time. I'm not sure if the inner planets go into a configuration where one can't see any of the others for an extended period, but if it's a serious problem you just park a relay satellite at Earth's L4 / L5 Lagrange points (about 60 degrees ahead/behind Earth's position), which will guarantee 100% coverage.

Yes, such a relay network would surely be in place once we're talking interplanetary blockchains

Would come in handy nowadays as well for the various Mars rovers.

Revalin

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Actually, that's not a problem. You just reroute the data through a relay that can see both endpoints. The internet does this all the time. I'm not sure if the inner planets go into a configuration where one can't see any of the others for an extended period, but if it's a serious problem you just park a relay satellite at Earth's L4 / L5 Lagrange points (about 60 degrees ahead/behind Earth's position), which will guarantee 100% coverage.

wareen

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Quote from: Revalin on January 01, 2012, 06:47:36 PM

You actually want the block rate to be slower than the max latency. 1h blocks with 1h latency wouldn't break completely, but it'd have a very high orphan rate, and worse, a very high "deep orphan" rate where you end up with abandoned chains several blocks high. It's mitigated some because average latency will be lower than the max latency, but I'd still recommend keeping the block rate several times the max latency.

I was in fact thinking of the average distance being much lower, but you're completely right of course.

Anyway, a real problem might be the "planets on opposite side of the star" situation, which prohibits any direct communication for weeks!

Revalin

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You actually want the block rate to be slower than the max latency. 1h blocks with 1h latency wouldn't break completely, but it'd have a very high orphan rate, and worse, a very high "deep orphan" rate where you end up with abandoned chains several blocks high. It's mitigated some because average latency will be lower than the max latency, but I'd still recommend keeping the block rate several times the max latency.

With a block rate of 4h the orphans would be tolerable. 6 confirms would be 1 day, which is acceptable for money being sent such long distances. It's not like FedEx delivers next day to Jupiter.

wareen

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Quote from: Revalin on January 01, 2012, 06:04:59 PM

Bitcoin eliminates the stable organization requirement, but creates a mining requirement. Mining in its present form would operate poorly on a solar-system scale, but an altchain with a slower block rate would work OK.

Exactly - the habitable zone of stars similar to our sun has a diameter below one light-hour, which would make a 60 minute time between blocks quite practical.

Nice to see people thinking ahead

Revalin

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A centralized fiat currency can be traded by wave as well. If you have a stable bank that can be trusted to manage the currency over long time periods, you just radio in your wire transfers.

Bitcoin eliminates the stable organization requirement, but creates a mining requirement. Mining in its present form would operate poorly on a solar-system scale, but an altchain with a slower block rate would work OK. Interstellar latencies would completely kill it, though. Are you going to wait for 6 confirms at 100 years per block?

I would expect trade at such distances would be performed by barter. The very slow execution and delivery times eliminate most of the advantages of abstracted currency.

GeniuSxBoY

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If you're more than 100 light years away, chances are I'll be dead by the time you get my funds.

If I know about you and you're more that 100 light years away, chances are you're already dead.

CliffordM

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One problem would be blockchain bifurcation when miners are more than a few light-seconds away.

If miners were say 1 hour apart, you would get substantial forking going on, and although in theory the longest chain would eventually dominate, you might have to wait for quite a few more confirmations.

Sovereign

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It has a very high value-to-weight ratio, thus making transactions much cheaper. It can be transmitted in different ways such as waves or physical data memory, and can survive long periods of time without inflating. In these regards, it beats all other forms of currency. Thoughts?

Topic: Bitcoin would be perfect for inter-planetary trade - page 2. (Read 6154 times)