Re: What are checkpoints in bitcoin code?

[DumbFruit]

Essentially what I'm trying to figure out is a mechanism for blockchain compression so that we can drop very old txs with minimal to no loss in security.

Hardcore "compression"; Implement max blockchain height of 100,000. When block 100,000 is mined, drop the oldest 50,000 blocks. The remaining oldest block is the new "genesis block". Any remaining unspent outputs on the dropped blocks are given to the miner.

Bam, done.  

[DannyHamilton]

When block 100,000 is mined, drop the oldest 50,000 blocks. The remaining oldest block is the new "genesis block". Any remaining unspent outputs on the dropped blocks are given to the miner.

Bam, done.  

This is a horrible idea.

Thankfully it can't be implemented without consensus from all of the users of bitcoin, and I'm confident that you'll never be able to get consensus on such a poor proposal.

[DumbFruit]

When block 100,000 is mined, drop the oldest 50,000 blocks. The remaining oldest block is the new "genesis block". Any remaining unspent outputs on the dropped blocks are given to the miner.

Bam, done.  

This is a horrible idea.

Thankfully it can't be implemented without consensus from all of the users of bitcoin, and I'm confident that you'll never be able to get consensus on such a poor proposal.

Yep, it's a pretty bad idea for Bitcoin.

Do you mean it couldn't get consensus to make that change among users, because I totally agree with that, or do you mean that the blockchain couldn't get consensus with a sliding history like this, because I don't agree with that (For the most part.).