Blockseer analytical platform has launched a closed beta version of its mining pool with the function of censoring transactions. The pool will use various sources, such as the us Office of foreign assets control blacklists, to identify transactions that it will not process. All miners in the pool will need to pass identification.
"The pool is focused on removing transactions sent from confirmed wallets of hackers who continue to damage the reputation of cryptocurrencies, in particular bitcoin, and restrain their mass distribution," the company explained.
Monero Creator Ricardo Spagni expressed concern that this could be the beginning of a series of similar initiatives. Spagna admits that over time, the mining pools will be massively censor the transaction under the pressure of regulators.
"If regulators look at this example and consider it positive, then in the future such practices may become mandatory, "he said." Improving the privacy of bitcoin can prevent this. Things like p2pool and Stratum v2 will make this almost impossible."
P2pool is a decentralized mining pool, and Stratum V2 is a proposal that will allow miners in the pool to decide which transactions to add to the block.
Leo Vandersleb, founder of the Wallet Scrutiny portal, believes that a further consequence of such practices may be a soft fork, in which censorship-supporting pools will refuse to add their blocks to blocks that do not use their filters. "Let them own the American coin," writes Wandersleb.
Earlier, one user put forward a version that in the future there may be state pools that will censor transactions, and pools on the black market that will add such transactions for an additional fee.
BlockTower Capital investment Director Ari Paul says that one uncensored miner will be enough to get transactions from blacklisted addresses into the blockchain.
"However, there is one problem. 99% (or 51%) may decide not to accept blocks with addresses from the blacklist, but for this they must be in collusion, " he writes.
ShapeShift CEO Eric Voorhees believes that over time, the problem of censoring transactions in bitcoin will only become more relevant: "This is not an urgent problem, but it is coming. Now is the time to prepare for it."