Bitcoin’s mining software received its first major update since 2012 this week. This will make mining more convenient, as the update includes support for working with an unstable internet connection, as well as improved security algorithms to ensure that miners receive adequate rewards for their work.
Image source: Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters
The Bitcoin blockchain works according to the proof-of-work algorithm. This means that miners around the world need powerful hardware to mine new coins and validate transactions. In addition to production equipment, bitcoin mining is accompanied by the consumption of a large amount of energy and the use of specialized software.
Currently, instead of directly accessing the Bitcoin protocol, the vast majority of miners work through the intermediate protocol Stratum v1, which facilitates communication between blockchains, miners and mining pools that combine the computing power of the equipment of thousands of people around the world. . Miners use this protocol to provide proof of work and receive rewards.
This week, a coalition of developers announced the launch of a new version of the Stratum v2 protocol. It will take some time to convince the cryptocurrency community to adopt the new protocol, so Spiral, a subsidiary of Jack Dorsey’s blockchain payment firm, partnered with cryptocurrency firm Brainins to test and fine-tune the open source software before it. you go public. .
Spiral boss Steve Lee said what miners should expect from the next update. Now, as a rule, every mining plant on a large farm is connected directly to the pool, which leads to the consumption of a large amount of energy. At the same time, Stratum v2 supports the creation of a proxy that combines all available installations and establishes a single connection to the mining pool. Additionally, the new protocol will reduce the amount of data transferred between miners and pools, which will make cryptocurrency mining more accessible for residents of remote regions where broadband internet access services cannot be used.
The update is also designed to improve security. The current version of the protocol is vulnerable to attacks by hackers who are able to steal the miners’ hashrate, which can lead to the loss of rewards. According to Steve Lee, this problem is addressed in Stratum v2, which introduces a standard security mechanism with authentication and encryption when transferring data between miners and pools. A trial version of the protocol has been released at this stage and its more stable version is expected to appear in November. The updated protocol is likely to become more popular next year.
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