Episode 87: The Block 1,983,702 Problem
from Bitcoin, Explained — The Technical Side of Bitcoin
In this episode of Bitcoin, Explained, Aaron and Sjors discuss the so-called “block 1,983,702 problem”. They explain how a bug in early Bitcoin implementations could in rare cases cause a loss of funds, or in a worst-case scenario even lead to consensus failures, while they also explain how BIP 30 and BIP 34 solved this problem. As it turns out, however, BIP 34 introduced a new problem, that could become an issue about twenty years from now… Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction and Coinkite sponsor 00:01:19 The block 1,983,702 problem 00:04:05 How duplicate coinbase transactions arise 00:07:32 Lost coins, reorgs and consensus failure 00:14:39 BIP 30: preventing duplicate unspent transactions 00:17:10 BIP 34: adding block height to the coinbase 00:19:35 Why skipping BIP 30 checks was unsafe 00:27:39 The fallback: restoring BIP 30 checks 00:28:52 The 2017 near miss at block 490,897 00:32:31 Possible soft forks: SegWit commitments and alternatives === This episode’s sponsor: CoinKite, maker of the ColdCard Aaron’s Twitter: @AaronvanW Aaron’s Nostr: npub1art8cs66ffvnqns5zs5qa9fwlctmusj5lj38j94lv0ulw0j54wjqhpm0w5 Sjors’ Twitter: @provoost Sjors’ Nostr: npub1v25jqj332n630klwtqeqxgyrjl4alw4phmluhu2x6lcxzwy9m03suqexw3 If you’d like to sponsor the show, please email info at bitcoinexplainedpodcast.com https://bitcoinexplainedpodcast.com/
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Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction and Coinkite sponsor
- 1:19 The block 1,983,702 problem
- 4:05 How duplicate coinbase transactions arise
- 7:32 Lost coins, reorgs and consensus failure
- 14:39 BIP 30: preventing duplicate unspent transactions
- 17:10 BIP 34: adding block height to the coinbase
- 19:35 Why skipping BIP 30 checks was unsafe
- 27:39 The fallback: restoring BIP 30 checks
- 28:52 The 2017 near miss at block 490,897
- 32:31 Possible soft forks: SegWit commitments and alternatives
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