Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

biolizard89
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Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by biolizard89 »

It's been pretty well-known for many months that F2Pool controls a majority of Namecoin hashrate. This is not likely to be an immediate problem, given that F2Pool is a strong supporter of Namecoin and is unlikely to attack the network that they helped support and fund. A more likely attack scenario would be if the Chinese government ordered F2Pool to attack Namecoin -- but this would also apply to Bitcoin, since a majority of Bitcoin hashrate is under Chinese jurisdiction.

All that said, the existence of any kind of trusted party is universally agreed upon by Namecoin and Bitcoin users to be nonpreferable. So, this is a scratchpad thread for tracking our progress improving Namecoin's hashrate diversity. (A lot of this discussion has already happened on IRC over the past few months, but it seems that for transparency reasons, keeping track of it here is useful.)

I'll post more info in this thread later. In the meantime, anyone else who's interested in this topic is welcome to share info or offer suggestions.

Status of various pools:

F2Pool AKA Discus Fish: Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core 0.11 beta
AntPool: Merge-mined between June and December 2014. Currently does not mine Namecoin.
Bitfury: ???
BTCChina: ???
KNC Miner: ???
Slush: Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core 0.11 beta
BW Pool: ???
21.co: U.S.-based, currently not merged-mining
Eligius: Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core 0.11 beta
Telco 214: U.S.-based, currently not merged-mining
GHash.IO: Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core 0.11 beta
BitMinter: Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core 0.11 beta
BitClub: ???
Solo.ckpool: Declined to mine Namecoin
Kano.is: Declined to mine Namecoin
EclipseMC: Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core 0.11 beta
P2Pool: Supports Namecoin if configured appropriately; technical issues with Namecoin Core are reportedly fixed. See viewtopic.php?p=15994#p15994
mmpool: Currently mines 6 altcoins including Namecoin, using Namecoin Core
GMCpool ("give me coins"): Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core
TBDice: Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core
Multipool.us: Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core

Last updated 2015 Nov 27
Last edited by biolizard89 on Sat Nov 28, 2015 3:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Updated notes for P2Pool, thanks Cassini!
Jeremy Rand, Lead Namecoin Application Engineer
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biolizard89
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by biolizard89 »

Cassini believes that Antpool merge-mined between February and April of 2015, and then stopped. See IRC meeting nodes from 2015 Aug 15: https://forum.namecoin.info/viewtopic.p ... 468#p15468

Given this, it seems that Antpool might be a particularly productive pool to approach. Do we have anyone in this forum with contacts at Antpool? (Maybe snailbrain?)

Antpool appears to do business in China (based on their website), so adding Antpool will not help Namecoin resist a hypothetical Chinese government attack. However, nothing can help against that until a majority of Bitcoin hashpower is not Chinese. (I.e. that is not our problem for now.)
Jeremy Rand, Lead Namecoin Application Engineer
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cassini
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by cassini »

biolizard89 wrote:Cassini believes that Antpool merge-mined between February and April of 2015, and then stopped.
I had confused the timestamp data during that IRC meeting. The correct info is: Antpool merge-mined between June and December 2014, and they found 1034 blocks.

The largest non-chinese pools not merged-mining are currently Bitfury and KNC.
Up-to-date weekly report on Bitcoin pools: click the latest "Block Maker" tab at http://organofcorti.blogspot.com/

Some additional info:
mmpool: Currently mines 6 altcoins including Namecoin, using Namecoin Core
GMCpool ("give me coins"): Currently mines Namecoin, using Namecoin Core
TBDice: Still using Namecoin-Qt? We need to contact them. edit: Using Namecoin Core already.
21.co: U.S.-based, currently not merged-mining
Telco214: U.S.-based, currently not merged-mining
Multipool.us: is about to switch to Namecoin Core, see https://forum.namecoin.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2345
(edit 2015-11-28: now using Namecoin Core, see below)
ck and kano: already expressed their aversion to merged-mining (see bitcointalk)

biolizard89
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by biolizard89 »

cassini wrote:Multipool.us: is about to switch to Namecoin Core, see https://forum.namecoin.info/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2345
Is there an update on Multipool.us? Have they mined any blocks since version 3 blocks became enforced?
Jeremy Rand, Lead Namecoin Application Engineer
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foglight
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by foglight »

i dont twitter but someone should ask this guy (https://twitter.com/balajis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw): "How about a tutorial for merge mining Namecoin on the 21 Bitcoin computer?".

or perhaps the nmc team could submit a tutorial.
https://21.co/submit-bitcoin-tutorial/

johnc
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by johnc »

Yes,

AntPool, Bitfury, BTCChina, KNC Miner, BW Pool and 21.co. Everyone should be welcomed, the more people with namecoins the merrier.

On an unrelated news GHash.IO / CEX.IO stopped supporting a lot of altcoins.

Altcoins Removal and
Multipool Suspension

Dear user,

Please mind that as of 1 Dec, 2015, DVC and IXC mining on GHash.IO pool will be stopped. GHash.IO multipool will be suspended as well.

Hence, the following altcoins will be removed from CEX.IO exchange: IXC, DVC, POT, ANC, MEC, WDC, FTC, DGB, USDE, MYR, AUR.

Thus, we kindly ask you to either withdraw altcoin funds to your personal wallets, or exchange them into Bitcoins before 15 Dec 2015, when all orders in order books that contain above mentioned altcoins will be cancelled.

Please note that BTC, NMC, LTC, DOGE, and DRK mining will not be affected.

Detailed information is available on CEX.IO forum
It looks like the great altcoin apocalypse has begun, and, thanks to an updated Namecoin software, it's actually good news for NMC. :)

cassini
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by cassini »

johnc wrote:it's actually good news for NMC.
It definitely is. They currently provide some 5 % of Namecoin's hashrate. Thanks for the info.

biolizard89 wrote:Is there an update on Multipool.us? Have they mined any blocks since version 3 blocks became enforced?
If the information about multipool's parent chain address is correct then we've got two blocks from multipool.us:
2015-10-27 23:48:13 UTC, 255165
2015-11-04 02:12:57 UTC, 256266
(both Version3 blocks, i.e. 0x10103)

foglight wrote:or perhaps the nmc team could submit a tutorial.
Anybody with hands-on experience with one of these?
a) Eloipool proxy
b) p2pool (using the --merged parameter)
c) start from scratch and write scripts based on Daniel's instructions
Which strategy looks feasible for that 21.co hardware?

biolizard89
Posts: 2001
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by biolizard89 »

cassini wrote:
biolizard89 wrote:Is there an update on Multipool.us? Have they mined any blocks since version 3 blocks became enforced?
If the information about multipool's parent chain address is correct then we've got two blocks from multipool.us:
2015-10-27 23:48:13 UTC, 255165
2015-11-04 02:12:57 UTC, 256266
(both Version3 blocks, i.e. 0x10103)
Ah, excellent.
cassini wrote:
foglight wrote:or perhaps the nmc team could submit a tutorial.
Anybody with hands-on experience with one of these?
a) Eloipool proxy
b) p2pool (using the --merged parameter)
c) start from scratch and write scripts based on Daniel's instructions
Which strategy looks feasible for that 21.co hardware?
My understanding is that the 21 Bitcoin Computer is configured to mine via 21.co's pool only, but 21.co claims that they will improve this later. Relevant tweet: https://twitter.com/balajis/status/669446465840893952

@cassini and everyone else, is it a good idea if I reach out to the Antpool guys? If antpool joins, it would presumably end F2Pool's majority, but it would solidify the Chinese majority. I don't think that's a big deal, because if the Chinese govt seriously wanted to attack Namecoin, they would presumably order all of the Chinese pools to attack Namecoin regardless of whether they were already merge-mining. So it's not fixable until the Chinese Bitcoin majority is fixed. Therefore I think adding Antpool is a net benefit. Do you agree?

@cassini, is your code for determining mining hashrate distribution for Namecoin open source? I assume it's relatively simple code, but I'd rather not duplicate your effort.
Jeremy Rand, Lead Namecoin Application Engineer
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DyName: Dynamic DNS update client for .bit domains.

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domob
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by domob »

biolizard89 wrote: @cassini and everyone else, is it a good idea if I reach out to the Antpool guys? If antpool joins, it would presumably end F2Pool's majority, but it would solidify the Chinese majority. I don't think that's a big deal, because if the Chinese govt seriously wanted to attack Namecoin, they would presumably order all of the Chinese pools to attack Namecoin regardless of whether they were already merge-mining. So it's not fixable until the Chinese Bitcoin majority is fixed. Therefore I think adding Antpool is a net benefit. Do you agree?
Yes, I agree here.
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BM-GtQnWM3vcdorfqpKXsmfHQ4rVYPG5pKS
Use your Namecoin identity as OpenID: https://nameid.org/

cassini
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Re: Scratchpad / WIP Thread: Namecoin's Hashrate / Diversity

Post by cassini »

biolizard89 wrote:@cassini and everyone else, is it a good idea if I reach out to the Antpool guys?
I agree, too. In the long run it doesn't even hurt the other pools. A better hashrate distribution could improve the acceptance of the Namecoin technology and therefore increase the chance of a substantially higher NMC value in the future.
biolizard89 wrote:@cassini, is your code for determining mining hashrate distribution for Namecoin open source? I assume it's relatively simple code, but I'd rather not duplicate your effort.
I'm going to tidy it up a bit and then push it to github. Should be ready before the next gitter/irc dev meeting.

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