Hi,
I'm working on a bitcoin fork right now and I'm trying to figure out something related to data structures.
I want to develop a blockchain (hash tree) whose algorithm for hashing subsequent blocks is determined as a function of the nonce of the 0th, 0th + c, 0th + 2c, ... , etc block (leaf) where c is a constant. I assume that the nonce values are pseudorandom and non-predictable, but I don't know if that's actually true.
Which leads to the question: Can I compose a hash tree like this? What kind of problems do you think I'll run into, and are they impossible to overcome? I want to see if anyone knows the answer to this before I begin trying.
I don't know if this kind of hash tree has a name or not either, or if it's been implemented before. I guess it might be called a polymorphic hash tree.
Nonce values may not necessarily be secure. Because the miner can selectively choose nonces without a significant impact on hash rate, intelligent miners will choose the most self-beneficial nonce values.
For example, I can write code to increase the nonce by 5 rather than simply incrementing it, to ensure that the nonce is divisible by 5. Nonce values are only non-predictable if there is no financial incentive to make them predictable.