{"id":9487,"date":"2021-07-12T13:54:42","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T13:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/blockchain-immutability-dispute-sparked-by-ethereum-request-for-reorg-contract\/"},"modified":"2021-07-12T13:54:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T13:54:42","slug":"blockchain-immutability-dispute-sparked-by-ethereum-request-for-reorg-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/blockchain-immutability-dispute-sparked-by-ethereum-request-for-reorg-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Blockchain \u2018Immutability\u2019 Dispute Sparked by Ethereum Request for Reorg Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just recently, a software developer and \u201cSolidity nerd\u201d called Bunny Girl has sparked heated conversations within the cryptocurrency community over a smart contract that reveals a process called a \u201cRequest For Reorg contract (RFR).\u201d On Twitter, Bunny Girl explained that the contract \u201ccreates a mechanism that allows users to pay miners to reorg the Ethereum blockchain.\u201d Ever since then, the tweet went viral and there have been lots of debates over whether or not blockchains, in general, are immutable.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Solidity Developer Reveals Blockchain Reorganization Smart Contract for Ethereum<\/h2>\n

Conversations and debates concerning blockchain immutability have been taking place for years, and a fresh new discussion has ignited over a tweet and smart contract<\/a> published on Github by the developer Bunny Girl. On July 10, Bunny Girl explained that the smart contract aims to enhance systematic chain reorganizations.<\/p>\n

A blockchain reorganization<\/a> is a contentious subject and basically occurs when a chain of recorded blocks is invalidated. Reorganizations have taken place on various blockchains when a mining entity or group of miners controls more than 51% of the hashrate.<\/p>\n

Blockchain reorganizations force miners (not participating in the reorg) back to a point where they have to start again from a specific block height. It\u2019s akin to rolling back a recorded history of transactions and then re-recording them again, but of course, the new transactions would never be the same as the ones that were erased.<\/p>\n

Releasing NFTs to commemorate Ethereum chain reorgs. Every time you request a reorg with the contract, you can mint one of these UniV3-like NFTs.<\/p>\n

The higher the bribe attached to the reorg, the more rare your NFT becomes. pic.twitter.com\/dVSqZ1QqZg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bunny Girl (@0xbunnygirl) July 11, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Bunny Girl\u2019s tweet<\/a> explained how Ethereum developers can \u201ccodify chain reorgs\u201d by leveraging the smart contract. \u201cAnnouncing the Request For Reorg contract (RFR),\u201d Bunny Girl said. \u201cThis contract was inspired by a tweet by @EdgarArout. Are there ways we can perform payments to miners for reorgs in an on-chain manner?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing the example of the $40m Binance hack,\u201d Bunny Girl added, \u201cwhat if Binance wanted to pay out a bounty to miners for re-orging the chain to exclude the hacker\u2019s tx? They could pay out a lower amount than the hack e.g. $10m. It turns out this is all possible with what Solidity has to offer. First, Binance will ask that the transaction be mined at a specific block in the past. They will attach the reward amount for doing so in the form of ETH<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The software developer continued:<\/p>\n

Next, the miner will perform the time bandit. They would go back in time to mine a block from the past. This time, they include their `reorg` tx, which sets them as the claimant for the reward attached to the reward. What happened to the previous request tx? Since the state is rolled back, there isn\u2019t a request in the first place right? Easy, we reconstruct the state by including the `request` tx first. OLD STATE: Block N+1 = [request]. NEW STATE: Block N = [request, reorg].<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Daniel Goldman followed up on Bunny Girl\u2019s RFR smart contract with an idea that disincentivizes reorgs called \u201cDeorg<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPublished Deorg: a contract to create bounties for disincentivizing reorgs, all on-chain,\u201d Goldman tweeted<\/a>. After Goldman published his idea on Twitter, one person asked if the Deorg concept would \u201cmake a great incentive to miners to \u2018hope\u2019 for situations to trigger a reorg\/deorg smart contract battle?\u201d Goldman responded:<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s gonna be a battle, best that both sides show up to the battlefield armed.<\/p>\n

Is It Misleading to Describe Blockchains as Immutable?<\/h2>\n

The RFR thread was followed by an extremely mixed reception. \u201cSo we just ignoring immutability now?\u201d asked<\/a> one person in response to Bunny Girl\u2019s tweetstorm. Others made fun of Ethereum<\/a> with memes and some mentioned past controversies like the DAO rollback incident,<\/a> which caused the Ethereum Classic fork. Others claimed<\/a> that once Ethereum 2.0 reaches finality, it won\u2019t be possible with proof-of-stake (PoS).<\/p>\n

Responding to the immutability comment, Bunny Girl said: \u201cThis affects time to finality. My guess is that if people use this, immutability wouldn\u2019t be affected if the block already is deep in the chain.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a ‘reorg as a service’ scenario, who is behaving badly?<\/p>\n

-The writer of the software that enables it?
-The miner that accepts the fee to conduct the reorg?
-The party that pays the fee to ‘purchase’ the reorg?
-All of the above?
-None of the above?
-Some mix of the above?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Angela Walch (@angela_walch) July 11, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Bunny Girl also didn\u2019t take too kindly to some of the bitcoiners attacking the RFR thread. The developer noted<\/a> that the fact that Ethereum can reorg the chain via smart contracts is \u201cepic\u201d and bitcoiners were \u201cjealous.\u201d The conversation also fragmented away from Bunny Girl\u2019s thread and brought up the debate about whether or not blockchains are even immutable at all. Angela Walch, research associate at the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies discussed<\/a> the subject on Twitter as well, and talked about the term \u201cimmutable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor *5 YEARS* I have been arguing that it is misleading to describe blockchains as *immutable*,\u201d Walch said. \u201cThe \u2018reorg as a service\u2019 discussion on Ethereum is only the latest manifestation of why. Blockchains are unchangeable only if the people who comprise them *choose* not to change them.\u201d Walch believes the word \u201cimmutable\u201d is a poor term to use when describing blockchain technology and she wrote about it in her paper<\/a> called \u201cThe Path of the Blockchain Lexicon (and the Law).\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitcoin\u2019s Rollback in March 2013 and the Perpetual Motion Claim of an Immutable Blockchain<\/h2>\n

Walch and many others have been discussing the subject for years<\/a> and it was a hot debate when Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) mentioned<\/a> a reorg after his exchange lost $40 million worth of BTC<\/a>. Tim Swanson told<\/a> Walch that he and Ernie Teo talked about the problem in November 2015. Bitcoin Uncensored cohost Chris DeRose published a paper on immutability on July 7, 2016, called: \u201cWhy Blockchain Immutability is a Perpetual Motion Claim.\u201d DeRose wrote at the time:<\/p>\n

Immutability! It\u2019s the buzzword that magically transforms a simple database into the next million dollar VC fundraise.<\/p>\n

Further, In March 2013, Arvind Narayanan described<\/a> a similar situation where Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) developers coordinated to get a large mining pool to revert the chain to prior software after an accidental fork took place. At the time, the inventor of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin questioned<\/a> the move and said \u201cthe incident opens up serious questions about the nature of the Bitcoin protocol and puts into the spotlight some uncomfortable facts about Bitcoin\u2019s notion of \u2018decentralization.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitcoin is not immutable, but in 5,000 years of recorded history it\u2019s the best we\u2019ve got https:\/\/t.co\/byHIMHbzLT<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Hector (@hectorr159) July 11, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There have been countless claims that Bitcoin is immutable and the word has been tossed around so much in the industry it\u2019s like second nature and barely questioned. One individual argued<\/a> that Walch was \u201cignoring the concept of confirmations, therefore your assessment is incorrect.\u201d Walch replied: \u201cI\u2019m not ignoring them. That\u2019s orthogonal to my point that it is misleading to describe blockchains as immutable.\u201d<\/p>\n

There seem to be too many variables pointing to the fact that blockchain immutability really is a perpetual motion claim. Moreover, while blockchains like BTC<\/a> and ETH<\/a> are safe today, the rulesets and concepts of making it very hard to change blocks must be resilient<\/a> to the whims of future generations as well.<\/p>\n

What do you think about the recent debate over blockchain immutability? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Bitcoin News
\nFeatured, Angela Walch, Arvind Narayanan, Blockchain Reorganization, Bunny Girl, Chris DeRose, Ethereum, Immutability, immutable, Immutable Blockchain, Miners, perpetual motion claim, PoS, PoW, Reorg, reorg blockchain, Request for Reorg Contract, Smart Contract, Tim Swanson, Vitalik Buterin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just recently, a software developer and \u201cSolidity nerd\u201d called Bunny Girl has sparked heated conversations within the cryptocurrency community over a smart contract that reveals a process called a \u201cRequest For Reorg contract (RFR).\u201d On Twitter, Bunny Girl explained that the contract \u201ccreates a mechanism that allows users to pay miners to reorg the Ethereum…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":9488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blockchain-news","category-coin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyucoin.com\/crypto-labs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}