Ok, its not an easy problem to observe because of the different viewpoints, so lets recap the current situation
There is not enough evidence to show that asics are mining zcash yet
The odds of a Zcash asic currently being developed is high
There is evidence to show that asic miners have come into play with certain other cryptocurrencies recently (physical or otherwise) which further supports the previous statement
From these 3 observations we can conclude the only difference between a gpu mined Zcash (now) and a gpu/asic mined Zcash (soon) and an asic only mined Zcash (later) is time (1,2,3)
And thats how its gonna go, every road leads to this eventuality, its just the timeframes in between we can change, here the options (sorry if i missed any, which im sure of)
Asic resistance fork
Pre asic chip R and D / mfg distribution
Do nothing
Mining algorithm changes
Asic resistance fork
Sure we could fork, but then the fork only repeats the cycle, original zcash was GPU, then both, then Asic (1,2,3) (like monero and others)
And then every fork of every coin worth anything (1,2,3) (asics coming soon)
It happened with Bitcoin and forks of Bitcoin and now forks of those forks
Forking for the purpose of resistance only makes it sorta go away for awhile in a sense that its not you’re problem anymore, for now (out of sight, out of mind)
You’ve solved nothing and really only shows a lack of applied thinking from emotionally driven decision making
It will schism and weaken the network
To willfully stymie what may only actually appear to be an adversary because of fear that it may affect your profits is not the reasoning of a scientist but of a miner and is really only in a miners interests (no one elses profits are really threatened)
Secondly, its unethical (if you dont think so, I’ve got 27 synonyms)
Purposely undermining another business practice, regardless of how we feel about them, be it accurate or otherwise, is certainly not befitting the mission
We are a scientifically driven community and as such we must abide by ethical standards
We may be “keepers of the code”, but we cant say who cant or how, its open for all to use and have and mine however they discover to
(Those who would deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves-Lincoln)
Pre asic chip R and D/ mfg distribution
I think this is a good contingency idea to have the design at least ready and mfgs (who agree) ready to produce if and when its given to them, to try to spread the cheese more if you will, but this is only an after the asic fact fix (1,2), and
If it was given to them sooner (and no other actions taken) it would accelerate gpu mining infeasiblity alot, I mean all gpu Zcash miners call no joy (1,2,3))
This is a one way decision (option limiting) too, there would have to be a lot of money sunk into both development and then manufactured by multiple manufacturers brought on by a zcash community consensus which is why I feel the design should be maybe created but held out until all of those options are already gone anyways
Do nothing
This is the Bitcoin (and others) route, eventually asics will overtake gpus and then it will all be Asic (1,2,3), similar to above (again, timeframes)
A lot of the things discussed on this thread are about 51% attack, which is feasible although impractical
For example, lets say i have well over 50% hashrate on a coin from asics i developed and built (because I run a chip plant or something) which cost millions, and Im making millions and will be for a long time
The idea that I might do anything to jeopardize that is completely illogical (put lightly)
because you’re buying most of the coins from me anyways (or more accurately my employees who also depend on the network working properly lest they have a job)
because the longer it hashes smoothly and stronger, the more confident people are
because their money builds more chips, repeat
Although impractical, it is feasible so it shouldn’t be ignored
Mining algorithm changes
I believe this to be the most practical option for any sort proactiveness towards increasing gpu viability and 51% attack prevention and probably what we should discuss
Remember, its an unwinnable hashrate fight (in an actual hashrate sense) and so far weve discussed turn tail and run, and lay down
In a lose/lose situation, the best you can realistically hope for is a tie
The only option is adaptation through some mining algorithm manipulation.
There are other ideas we should explore as well
I like the daisy-chain idea (asic,gpu,asic,gpu every transaction or block which there are slight differences), i think it offers the most benefits, attack resistance,
continuously lower gpu difficulty vs other algo increasing hasrate (more and more asics),
higher gpu incentive (this would be due to the effective hash rates of both algorithms requiring being about the same to achieve 2.5 min block) difficulty growth self moderation,
network strength,
50/50 reward split across both algorithms (2 ways to mine it, seems fair, this where the contingency should/may be i.e. no closing Pandoras Box once its open)
But even this way will most likely eventually lead to a completely Asic driven zcash but I think this way buys more gpu viability time without (or less risk) potentially damaging the system, mission, community
Technical analysis of the actual feasibility of such a mining protocol would need conducted
I don’t know if that would be something to propose to the foundation or done by the zcash company (i assume the latter, maybe voting through the foundation to have it done I don’t know)