Decentralization vs ASIC's | Truth & Privacy Talks
Channel: VerusCoin Community
Date: 2020-09-28

An ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) is built to do only one thing and to do it quickly. Are there risks in using ASIC's on PoW chains? What other options are there?

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Maintaining Decentralization Against ASIC’s

All Proof of work algorithms will succumb to faster computers.  What can be done to prevent centralization by a group of people with single-purpose or quantum computers?

In 2009, Bitcoin offered mining awards for participants with general-use PC’s.  PC’s Central Processing Units are designed for multi-tasking and a wide range of functions.  In search of greater mining awards, mining apps were ported to run on Graphics Processing Units which are designed to run similar jobs, one-at-a-time repetitively.  This makes GPU’s more effective for mining than CPU’s.

Field Programmable Gate Arrays, like GPU’s, are designed to run single programs quickly.  FPGA’s designed to mine are significantly faster than GPU’s.

FPGA’s have the flexibility to run different mining apps.  So, a faster solution embeds the mining algorithm in chip, dedicating the computer to one function.  The more processing that is done on chip, the faster it will run.  

Application Specific Integrated Circuits or ASIC’s are so much faster because they are optimized by minimizing critical signal paths.  
Now, the only way to profitably to mine Bitcoin is with ASIC’s.

Deployment of ASIC’s for Bitcoin mining destroyed an original goal of enabling anyone with a general-purpose PC to participate.  Now, a small group of people like a central bank could buy the next generation of ASIC’s and compromise Bitcoin or any currency relying on Proof of Work.

Serious attempts have been made to create ASIC-resistant algorithms such as Monero’s hard fork in May of 2018.  However, within weeks, Chinese manufacturer Bitmain announced ASIC Monero miners.

Verus engineers pondered, “Is there an ASIC equivalent in modern computers that could provide an advantage over GPU’s, FPGA’s and ASIC’s?”.  
Yes; both Intel and AMD implemented the “Advanced Encryption Standard”, “Advanced Vector Extensions” and “Carry-less Multiplication” instruction sets on CPU’s.  Think of it as a mini-ASIC on your PC enabling simultaneous math and encryption calculations quickly without waiting for slower system components.

VerusHash leverages these hardware-based instruction sets.  
As a result, general-use PC’s can once again earn mining awards.

Finally, if an ASIC is eventually built to run VerusHash, VerusHash can be changed to make the ASIC’s less effective.

ASIC’s themselves are not a problem, but the potential that powerful ASIC’s owned by a few could compromise Proof of Work currencies must not be ignored.  

This is one of many reasons we are bullish on Verus.