Why is random not random and calculated from last block(s) ?
If random was really random, that would mean that I could always submit blocks that were the maximum value and just tell everyone I'm honest and that I really did "randomly" find a block of 1,499,999 coins. It has to be a random number that everyone agrees on and trusts, so the randomness is based off of the hash of the previous block found. Here's how it works.
1. Each block has a "blockhash", which is a long string like this: 6da0c15336ce5ab8bfd42473bb305743ba22ec86f0f8b6fa184b33a69df30acd
2. That string is converted to an integer, and used as a seed for the random number generator. Every random number generator has to have a starting value, and given the same starting value it will always produce the same sequence of random numbers.
3. The random number generator picks the value of the next block.
This means that everyone on the network can check the work to make sure that the person who submitted the block isn't lying about the value of that block. The downside to this is that it means that you know how much the next block will be worth, BEFORE it is even generated.
Is it possible to program true random block with crypto that is also secure from people submitting false block claims ?