Bitcoin is designed as a peer-to-peer network, where nodes randomly connect to other nodes. Transactions and blocks are transmitted over this network by these nodes, until each node receives all the latest transactions and blocks. This works quite well, as the distributed model makes Bitcoin relatively censorship-resistant; there is no central point of control to shut down or pressure into compliance. But there are other, more centralized alternatives for transmitting transaction data, too. The best known of these is “the” relay network , introduced in 2014 and maintained by Bitcoin Core developer Matt Corallo: “It’s centralizing, but, hopefully, democratizing.” On propagation Corallo’s relay network serves two distinct purposes. First, it adds diversity to Bitcoin. Rather than just needing to rely on the peer-to-peer network, Bitcoin users can opt to receive transaction data and blocks through an alternative channel. This makes it harder to successfully attack the Bitcoin network; the relay network functions as a fallback. But the second, and more important reason, is a potential decrease of network latency. Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine , Corallo explained: The peer-to-peer code in Bitcoin Core is pretty gnarly. It’s stable and it works, but it’s not very efficient, and it’s not very fast. The resulting network latency is a problem, especially for miners. It can sometimes take 10, 15 seconds before they receive newly mined blocks. If you’re a miner, 10 seconds is like 1.5 percent loss in revenue. That is potentially a big deal. You don’t want that.” Some of the bigger miners (typically mining pools) have therefore come up with an alternative solution. Rather than using the peer-to-peer network to transmit new blocks, they have created an alternative – private – network. If one of these miners finds a new block, that miner immediately sends it over to the other […]
