alt Hacker News> But to get 10 blocks ahead you have to withhold blocks before knowing you'll be ahead.
You KNOW you are ahead, because you found a block and nobody else has published a block.
> But to get 10 blocks ahead you have to withhold blocks before knowing you'll be ahead.
You KNOW you are ahead, because you found a block and nobody else has published a block.
Yes, but when you find that block you don't know whether you will be 10 blocks ahead in the future. You have to make the decision to put the reward of this block at risk before you know you'll be able apply your strategy. That's what I meant here. It is very costly on average because of the potential loss of the withheld blocks.