The incentive mechanism of Ethereum
Ethereum energy coin is not MLM
Ethereum is an open source public blockchain platform with smart contract function. Ethereum provides decentralized virtual machine (Ethereum virtual machine) to process point-to-point contract through its special cryptocurrency Ethereum
in 2013, vitalik buterin, 19, first mentioned the idea of Ethereum in a book entitled "Ethereum white paper: next generation intelligent connection and decentralized application platform". Then, in 2014, the algorithm and protocol of Ethernet coin were officially implemented, and $150 million was raised. The system itself was finally completed on July 30, 2015
as the representative of blockchain 2.0, the mainstream currency Ethernet is regarded as the wind vane of crypto digital currency market. However, over the past week, the price of ether currency has continued to fall. On August 14, 2018, the ethereal currency plummeted by 20%, reaching a record low of $257 this year. Compared with this year's peak of $1295, the price of Ethernet currency has shrunk by more than 80%. Affected by this, on August 15, 2018, none of the top ten mainstream currencies in the digital money market was spared, falling across the board, with a number of single day declines exceeding 10%
extended data
Ethereum started planning almost in 2013, and started to implement the project in 2015. Before that, there were many digital currencies imitating bitcoin in the market, and they made various modifications on the basis of bitcoin code. In this way, it is very difficult to develop a new blockchain application, to re deploy a new chain, and then to develop an application on this chain. Using a consensus mechanism of pow alone is a huge maintenance workload. It's like developing an app on a mobile phone and developing the Android system together
after Ethereum comes out, it is equivalent to the underlying operating system of the blockchain. On Ethereum, it is very convenient to develop various dapps without considering the underlying development, and it can also share the computing power and storage of Ethereum. For programmers, the threshold of blockchain development is lowered instantly. The emergence of Ethereum has played a very important role in the development and popularization of blockchain applications. That's why Ethereum is called blockchain 2.0
Ethereum is an open source public blockchain platform with smart contract function. It provides decentralized virtual machine (Ethereum virtual machine) to process point-to-point contract through its special cryptocurrency ether (also known as "Ethereum")
The token on theblockchain is called ether, and the code is eth. It can be traded in many foreign exchange markets of cryptocurrency, and it is also the medium used to pay transaction fees and computing services on Ethereum
the concept of Ethereum was first proposed by vitalik buterin, a programmer, from 2013 to 2014, inspired by bitcoin, with the general meaning of "next generation cryptocurrency and decentralized application platform", and began to develop through ICO crowdfunding in 2014. As of February 2018, Ethernet is the second highest cryptocurrency in market value, second only to bitcoin
extended data:
Ethereum platform has no characteristics and value. Like programming languages, it's up to entrepreneurs and developers to decide what to use. However, it is clear that some application types benefit more from the functions of Ethereum than others. Ethereum is especially suitable for those applications that automatically interact directly between points or promote group coordination activities across networks
for example, coordinate the application of point-to-point market, or the automation of complex financial contracts. Bitcoin enables indivials to exchange money without the help of financial institutions, banks or governments. The impact of Ethereum may be more profound
in theory, any complex financial activities or transactions can be automatically and reliably carried out on Ethereum with coding. In addition to financial applications, any application scenario with high requirements for trust, security and persistence, such as asset registration, voting, management and Internet of things, will be affected by Ethereum platform on a large scale
At present, the mining mode can be roughly divided into PPLNs, PPS and PPS +. However, if you want to get a stable income from mining, it is recommended to choose the mining software of PPS mode
when miners are mining, if you want to know how many etheric coins you get, you can use ha Yu miner to see clearly the daily mining income
Harbin miners showed a unified display of revenue for BTC, easy to see, and support for cash withdrawals to Alipay wallet and bitcoin wallet. p>
1. Data layer
the data layer is the lowest layer in the six hierarchies of the blockchain. We can understand the data layer as a database, but for the blockchain, this database is a tamperable and distributed database, which is what we call "distributed ledger"
in the data layer, that is, the "distributed ledger", the data information on the blockchain is stored, and the blockchain structure, asymmetric encryption technology, hash algorithm and other technical means of the block are encapsulated to ensure the security of the data in the case of the whole network being open. The specific method is:
in the blockchain network, nodes use consensus algorithm to maintain the consistency of data layer (that is, the distributed database), and use asymmetric encryption and hash algorithm in cryptography to ensure the non usurpation and traceability of the distributed database
This constitutes the bottom data structure of blockchain technology. However, it is not enough to have a distributed database. We also need to let the data information in the database be shared and exchanged. Next, we will introce the upper layer of the data layer - the network layer
Second, network layer
the network system of blockchain is essentially a P2P (point-to-point) network. Point to point means that there is no need for an intermediate link or centralized server to control the system. All resources and services in the network are distributed in the hands of each node, and the transmission of information is also a direct communication between the two nodes. However, it should be noted that P2P
(peer-to-peer) was not invented by Nakamoto, and the blockchain only integrates this technology
therefore, the network layer of blockchain is actually a particularly powerful point-to-point network system. In this system, each node can not only proce information, but also receive information, just like sending e-mail. You can write your own e-mail, and you can also receive the e-mail sent to you by others
in the blockchain network, nodes need to jointly maintain the blockchain system. Every time a node creates a new block, it needs to notify other nodes in the form of broadcast. After receiving the information, other nodes verify the block, and then create a new block on the basis of the block. In this way, the whole network can jointly maintain and update the general ledger of the blockchain system
however, what rules should the whole network follow to maintain and update the general ledger of the blockchain system? This involves the so-called "laws and regulations" (rules), which we will introce next: the consensus layer
Third, consensus layer
in the world of blockchain, consensus simply means that the whole network should maintain and update the general ledger of blockchain system according to a unified and agreed rule, which is similar to the rule of updating data. It is one of the core technologies of blockchain and the governance mechanism of blockchain community to let highly dispersed nodes reach consensus efficiently in the decentralized blockchain network
at present, the mainstream consensus mechanism algorithms include: proof of work of bitcoin (POW), proof of rights and interests of Ethereum (POS), proof of rights and interests of EOS (dpos), etc
we now introce the data layer, network layer and consensus layer. These three layers ensure that there are data, networks and rules for updating data on the network. However, there is no free lunch in the world. How can nodes actively participate in the maintenance of the blockchain system? Here is the incentive layer, which we will introce next: incentive layer< 4. Incentive layer
incentive layer is the so-called mining mechanism, which can be understood as incentive mechanism: you can get as much reward as you contribute to the blockchain system. With this incentive mechanism, the whole network nodes can be encouraged to participate in the data recording and maintenance on the blockchain
mining mechanism and consensus mechanism are actually the same truth. Consensus mechanism can be understood as the company's general rules and regulations, while mining mechanism can be understood as the reward rules for what you do well in the general rules and regulations
just like the consensus mechanism POW of bitcoin, it stipulates that more work pays more. Whoever can find the correct hash value first can get a certain amount of bitcoin reward
and Ethereum's POS stipulates that the older the holder is, the more likely he or she will be rewarded
it should be noted that the incentive layer is generally only available for the public chain, because the public chain must rely on the nodes of the whole network to jointly maintain data, so there must be a set of incentive mechanism to encourage the nodes of the whole network to participate in the construction and maintenance of the blockchain system, so as to ensure the security and reliability of the blockchain system
the blockchain is safe and reliable, and it is not intelligent enough, right? The contract layer we will introce next can make the blockchain system more intelligent
v. contract layer
Contract layer mainly includes various scripts, codes, algorithm mechanisms and smart contracts, which is the basis of block chain programming. What we call "smart contract" is at the contract level
if the bitcoin system is not intelligent enough, the "smart contract" proposed by Ethereum can meet many application scenarios. The principle of the contract layer is to embed the code into the blockchain system, in this way to realize the smart contract that can be customized. In this way, on the blockchain system, once the terms of the smart contract are triggered, the system can automatically execute commands< Finally, the application layer. The application layer is very simple. As the name suggests, it is a variety of application scenarios and cases of blockchain. What we now call "blockchain +" is the so-called application layer. At present, the blockchain applications that have been implemented are mainly various blockchain applications built on
eth, EOS and other public chains. There are more applications of gambling and games, and the real practical applications have not yet appeared.
after Ethereum is upgraded to version 2.0 POS mechanism, miners may switch mining machines to other networks
as Ethereum is finally ready to start its Ethereum 2.0 upgrade later this year, thus eliminating the long-term delay, the network will start to move towards the proof of rights model
therefore, the network will give up the workload proof consensus algorithm, so that eth miners have little choice. As their equipment will become obsolete, they will be forced to start mining counterfeit coins or re qualify as eth mortgagors. So, what is the current situation of Ethereum mining? With the coming transition, what will happen to the whole instry< At present, Ethereum consensus is based on POW system, which is similar to bitcoin (BTC). As a result, Ethereum's mining process is almost the same, as miners use their computing resources to earn rewards for each block they try to complete< However, there are still major differences between these processes. Although bitcoin mining has relied almost entirely on ASIC (large, loud machines designed specifically for cryptocurrency mining, most of which are concentrated in areas with low electricity prices), Ethereum's pow hash algorithm ethash is designed to support global chip manufacturers (such as NVIDIA and AMD). As Thomas Heller, global business director of cryptocurrency mining pool f2pool, explained in a conversation with cointegraph, GPU is much cheaper and easier to access than ASIC
"as ASIC is a very professional machine, when a new generation of procts is released, it is usually a huge technological leap. As a result, they have a much higher hash rate and are more energy efficient than the previous generation. This means that those manufacturers have spent a lot of money to research and develop it. Their machines are usually very expensive, and GPUs are much cheaper. "
Heller added that those who use GPU miners "have more flexibility to mine." For example, the popular NVIDIA geforce GTX 1080 Ti card can mine more than 15 different currencies, while ASIC units usually support only one currency
nevertheless, Ethereum is not completely immune to ASIC miners - at least in its current state. In April 2018, bitcontinent released antminer E3, an ASIC specially proced for mining Ethereum. Although widely praised for its hash rate of 180 megahashes per second and power consumption of 800 watts, it has received different responses from the Ethereum community. After the ASIC is inserted, a considerable number of GPU rig owners seem to suffer from loss of profits, and some are even forced to switch to other networks
"in the white paper, ETH must have ASIC resistance. I would like to say that the white paper stands for something "is one of the highest comments on the AR / ethermining topic about the topic discussed when antminer E3 was announced. Another reddit user argued that "the $800 only applies to 180mh."“ Split or die of a nation. "
some Ethereum users continue to suggest that bitmain's mining devices can lead to greater concentration, thus increasing the possibility of attack by 51%. Soon, a group of developers put forward "programmed workload proof" or progpow, which is an extension of the current Ethereum algorithm ethash, aiming to make GPU more competitive and promote decentralization
according to a paper published in March by Kristy Leigh Minehan, co-founder of progpow, about 40% of the hash rate of Ethereum is generated by bitmain ASIC. Alejandro de la Torre, the vice president of poolin, is the sixth largest pool of eth. He confirmed to cointegration that "GPU mining is still dominant" in Ethereum network, and added:
"at present, the profit of eth mining is not high, and the management threshold and cost of GPU equipment are higher than ASIC equipment. Compared with ASIC devices, GPU devices are more flexible, and you can use other algorithms to switch to other coins. "
progpow has not been integrated into Ethereum, and it is not clear when it will be finally implemented - in March, Ethereum core developers were debating whether progpow will really benefit the network in nearly two hours, and failed to reach a consensus. It is worth noting that a bitmain representative has previously told cointegraph that the mining hardware giant does not intend to extend the service life of antminer E3 to start operation after October 2020: "as far as we know, mining will end in October or some time after that."
a safe but uncertain future
indeed, Ethereum will stay away from mining in the future. Ethereum 2.0, which is planned to be launched later in 2020, is a major network upgrade on the blockchain, aiming to transfer its current POW consensus algorithm to a virtual POS (known as "block verifier")
more specifically, users are randomly selected considering their wealth in the network or their "interests". In other words, the more coins a POS verifier chooses to put in, the more coins accumulated as a reward
according to vitalik buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, e to the transition, the network will be more secure and the attack cost will be higher than the network of bitcoin, although the debate about the better consensus algorithm in the encryption community has lasted for many years. However, it is not clear when to start Ethereum 2.0, as many errors and management issues are reported to be delaying the process
another hypothetical benefit of POS system is that it has higher energy efficiency than pow blockchain. According to digiconomist, the cryptocurrency's total annual footprint is 59.31 terawatts per hour, which is comparable to the electricity consumption of Greece as a whole. However, since a report in July 2019 estimated that 74% of the exploitation of bitcoin was done using renewable energy, the environmental impact of bitcoin does not seem to be so serious
what will happen to the actual Ethereum miner? According to the documentation of Casper upgrade as part of Ethereum 2.0 roadmap, the network will initially support a hybrid model including both POW and POS, thus providing some space for block verifiers and GPU / ASIC miners. Jack O & 39, CEO of skale network; "There will definitely be a transition period when two networks are running at the same time," Holleran told cointegration The CEO of scale network (based on Ethereum's blockchain platform) gave a detailed description of this process:
"the transition from eth1 to eth2 takes time of course - it may be years rather than months. The good news about this slow transition is that dapps and defi platforms will be able to roam around based on survivability, security and real-world evidence of adoption. This is a positive impact on the Ethereum ecosystem. "
dig or not
once Ethereum is fully in the POS orbit, miners will have two options. One is to sell the equipment and use the money to accumulate more Eth and start mortgage. The other is the choice for GPU miners, which is simply switching to other ethash networks and mining counterfeit money. Nick foster, a representative of kabombacks, a US mining equipment dealer, told cointegration that most eth miners would choose the latter:
"what I want to say is that most of the miners have not really entered Ethereum or the mining of specific tokens. Yes, there is a certain amount of mineral deposits and holds, but I oppose the view that a large number of Shanzhai coin miners hold their coins at any time. "<
foster then described how he used 3gb GPU units to mine ethash's point-to-point blockchain asset ravencoin (RVN). Once it was unable to mine eth, he said, "this is the reason for mining crows. I immediately sold stability to BTC, and then sold it to US dollars to pay for my rights. I would say that a lot of people are adopting this strategy. "
as foster concludes, he wants eth miners to jump out of the network, and new players - those who don't invest in power infrastructure or drilling rigs - will take a stake in eth. He described the following:
"I can't imagine if I found a five-year lease with $0.04 of electricity and I was mining eth, I decided to sell everything and then continue to pay the rent so that I could hold eth as a share. Substitute. "
Marc fresa, founder of asic.to, a mining firmware company, agreed in a conversation with cointegraph: "if you invest in mining, you won't bet because you have enough room to grow."
one of the main counterfeit coins that may benefit from POW miners leaving Ethereum is Ethereum classic (etc), which is a more conservative version of the blockchain. It is reported that there is no POS related plan. As it also runs on the ethash algorithm, the startup of Ethereum 2.0 may lead to the migration of miners, so its hash rate may have a significant peak
eth's larger pools have similar options. When asked about the company's plans for Ethereum after pow, Heller told cointegraph that after the announcement of Ethereum's POS upgrade, f2pool launched a sister company called story.fish in early 2018. Story.fish has started to provide mortgage services for other POS and delegated POS projects, such as tezos (xtz), Cosmos (atom) and Cardano (ADA), e to numerous handover delays. For prin, e to the transition to POS, it "may temporarily give up supporting eth mining," de la Torre told cointegraph
other top eth pools, namely nanopool, ethermine, pool center, sparkpool and spiderpool, did not respond to requests for comment from cointegraph.