Workshares are essentially smaller, easier-to-find proofs of work that miners can generate more frequently than full blocks. Think of them as mini-checkpoints in the blockchain that occur more often.
The Importance of Workshares
In traditional PoW, miners compete to solve a cryptographic puzzle and add a new block to the chain. The process of achieving finality is slow because we have to wait for multiple blocks to confirm the security of transactions. Workshares offer a way to speed this up by providing frequent intermediate proofs. This is similar to wolf packs, where scouts locate prey and signal the pack to coordinate the hunt.
Enhancing Finality and Security
By using Workshares, miners can generate proofs more frequently, reducing the time to reach economic finality and verifying transactions faster. This frequent validation also creates more checkpoints in the blockchain, enhancing the network’s security by making it harder for attackers to reorganize the chain.
Promoting Decentralization
Currently, mining pools centralize power by pooling resources to solve blocks more efficiently. This centralization means fewer entities control a significant portion of the network. Workshares offer an alternative by allowing individual miners to contribute more frequently, which can help promote greater decentralization. This has the potential to break up mining pool centralization that occurs on other chains like the Bitcoin network.
Optimizing Bandwidth
Workshares enable DDoS protection within the network by propagating transactions inside of workshares. This optimization reduces bandwidth usage and minimizes latency, enhancing network performance. This would further mitigate chain outages during peak load, something experienced by many top L1s and L2s when inscription-related transactions.
Incentives
To make workshares appealing, we have integrated them into the reward system, ensuring miners are incentivized to produce both workshares and full blocks. Workshares smooth out variance and allow for more frequent payouts. This reduces the reliance on mining pools and makes solo mining more viable, promoting greater decentralization and fairness within the network.
