Access to economic resources is limited in the real world, by legislation and regulations governing their use. Overuse of economic resources can drain and even destroy them. Is it possible that the unrestricted access to the blockchain will lead to its demise?
Blockchain Overuse
Average block size of Bitcoin's blockchain has increased from 0.37MB in Feb-2015 to 0.74 MB in Feb-2016, a doubling of the capacity utilization. When asked about increased complaints at Blockchain.info, its CEO Peter Smith tweeted:
However, as I said in my post, it gave an early indication of trouble ahead. We need to plan for a successful future.
— Peter Smith (@OneMorePeter) March 8, 2016
Overuse of a resource in the real world often leads to an increase in its cost and restrictions being imposed on its usage. There are similar mechanisms which kick in even in the digital, decentralized world in order to conserve resources. Mining rules have evolved to block dust (very small, uneconomical) transactions. Transaction fees impose a cost on those utilizing the blockchain. This in general prevents wanton misuse of the blockchain. Exceptions to this include the stress tests of the blockchain, when a large number of transactions were sent to test the capacity of the blockchain.
Read the full article
