[shea256]

Exactly, I'd go further and say that if a particular technique is patented and cannot be matched by a related technique, giving a permanent unfair advantage, it is up to the community to change the proof of work and work around the advantage imposed by a state monopoly.

[jcoffland]

Then Bitcoin has to hard fork every time someone comes up with a new patentable idea. I don't see why people think mining must be fair. It only has to not become completely centralized.

[Taek]

Someone who can control the majority of the hashrate can enforce a transaction whitelist. Bitcoin's independence from the state requires the world superpowers are not able to control a majority of the hashrate.

[midmagico]

> Bitcoin's independence from the state requires the world superpowers are not able to control a majority of the hashrate.

Too late. :-)

[tlrobinson]

But if one miner has a significant advantage for a long enough time then mining will become unprofitable for everyone else, ultimately leading to nearly complete centralization.

[Taek]

People forget that profits can be reinvested. If one miner has 10% extra profits, they will have 10% extra hashrate growth. This leads to effective monopoly.

[um_ya]

Hard fork isn't required to fix this issue.