BitcoinCash
In many cases, when the community promoted the benefits of P2P electronic money (Bitcoin Cash) to the outside world, the outside world also raised many questions. When we explain to the outside world the benefits that payments between people can be made directly without any intermediary (third-party intermediary), some people may ask: "But are the miners not the middlemen?" Then the miners are in Bitcoin What is the role in the cash world?
The role of miners in transactions
The miner is the bookkeeper who packs TX (transaction) in the network and puts it in a new block. This new block will become part of the entire BCH blockchain, and the miner can work in a competitive environment in the process And finally get a fair return.
Why do we need a transaction model without an intermediary, in other words, without an intermediary to pay, then no one can control our funds, no fraud, and no one can review our transactions. The BCH secure transaction is based on only three conditions :
The source of the transaction funds is correct (not fraudulent).
The owner of the funds authorizes the transaction.
The owner of the funds cannot commit fraud by canceling the previous transaction through a transaction sent to another recipient in a double-spending transaction.
The first concept in the world of legal tender is equivalent to when I receive paper money, I must check whether the paper money is counterfeit. In the world of cryptocurrency, security is provided by verifying the source of the money, we only need to view the transaction in the blockchain browser, and then we can verify it.
The second concept is based on the mathematical characteristics of electronic signatures based on elliptic curves. This is a more complex mathematical problem, but any application can easily check the compliance of the fund owner.
The third concept is the most important. In a decentralized environment, it is difficult to fully synchronize all transaction participants. Therefore, since the Bitcoin era, the possibility of covering a previous transaction with a transaction has always existed. This kind of fraud is called a "double-spending transaction", which simply means that the owner of the original funds tries to use the same source of funds to pay multiple recipients.
Double spend rule
Miners are part of the network and will continuously check all transactions. When a miner detects that 2 or more tx (transactions) use the same source of funds, he knows that he cannot pack all funds into the block, because in this case, according to the blockchain rules, The post-packed block will be invalid, which is why the double-spend transaction can only be successful in the end. It is possible that two different miners get two transactions from the same source. In this case, generally the first packaged transaction successfully obtains most of the confirmations, and the other one fails.
Therefore, a transaction that has been included in the last block of the blockchain is more secure than a transaction that is not packaged in any block, because a transaction with 0 confirmation may eventually be overwritten by another transaction that has already been confirmed. So the best case is that when a new block appears in the blockchain, the packaged transaction has already received two confirmations. Having two confirmations will increase the security of the original transaction, making the original transaction difficult Covered by another double spend transaction.
But in practical applications, we use probability to calculate. In fact, there is a high probability that 0 confirmed transactions will eventually be confirmed valid, and the probability of double-spending transactions is very low. This is why it can be accepted as payment if the amount is small (subjective conditions may be used). But the exchange is more strict in this regard, and the exchange will use different acceptance strategies for each cryptocurrency. Generally speaking, 6 confirmed transactions can basically be considered safe, but please note that if I receive a large amount of money, it is best to wait for a larger number of confirmations to determine that the payment is successful.
But is the miner an intermediary?
I think it is not.
An intermediary (middleman) is a necessary participant in the transaction process. For example, when I make an online transfer from my bank account to the other party's bank account, the transaction uses two intermediaries (my bank and the other party's bank). When I pay with a debit card or Paypal, both are intermediaries.
There is no doubt that the fact that miners charge transaction fees may make many people think of him as an intermediary (all previous intermediaries charged fees in one way or another), but in this case there is a premise In BCH, miners themselves are not part of the front end of the transaction process. It is just a preset process, that is, no one knows which miner will receive the transaction fee in this transaction.
In any case, I am not worried about whether to call miners an intermediary, because Bitcoin Cash transaction fees are low enough, and transaction funds are not escrowed by miners at all.
Bitcoin Cash is the world's electronic cash.
...and you will also help the author collect more tips.
I agree.