It’s very interesting when you read other forums and find posts that Zooko has written. Here are some clips and how I interpreted them (IMO in my opinion). This was from three days ago:
Zooko - I also think that ASIC mining is better than CPU/GPU mining in one important way, which is that it aligns incentives between the users of the network and the miners. That’s important, and it might turn out to be the most important factor!
ME (IMO) - I read, I want you to invest in a machine that can only mine Zcash and that you can’t go anywhere else.
Zooko - I’m also skeptical that it is actually possible to prevent ASIC mining. We tried, two years ago, despite several experts telling me that they thought it was impossible. Now it looks like (re the Cryptonight and EthHash miners) the experts were right.
So why did I decide to do it even though multiple experts told me they thought it was impossible? Because I had realized that there is a irreconcilable trade-off between broader-user-base and better-incentive-alignment. CPU/GPU mining gives (or at least potentially can give — see below) broader-user-base, but ASIC mining gives better-incentive-alignment. I figured that we would aim for broader-user-base — because at that point the biggest threat to the success of Zcash was just not gaining a critical mass of early users! — and even if it didn’t work, at least we’d still get better-incentive-alignment. I also figured that it would work for at least a few years, and then if it then eventually failed, it would have served its purpose by bootstrapping the Zcash network with a broader base of users.
Me (IMO) - I’m being told that ASIC resistance is probably not possible. However lets say this coin is ASIC resistant, lets get our user base and lets get established on CPU / GPU. Once we are established and if ASIC comes then oh well we have established ourselves
Zooko - But on top of all the other skepticisms listed above, I’m most skeptical of all of the idea that CPU/GPU mining promotes decentralization!
ME (IMO) - I didn’t care (then) if CPU / GPU promoted decentralization or not as long as the user base was established
Question to Zooko and his reply -
“It seems pretty clear that mining coalitions in other coins act purely in their own interests.”
Yes, and we should design for the assumption that they will do so, regardless of what technology is used for mining. This is why the better-incentive-alignment argument is important.
Me (IMO) - we = I (Zooko) should make the decision for the community (miners) because they(current GPU miners) are only going to make the decision that best self serves them and why I (Zooko) think ASIC mining is the best future for Zcash
Link to github posting so that you can read in full detail
Someone asked this question, and I think it deserves an answer “Where did this Zooko go?”