[dirtnugget]

No, as far as I understood the time between blocks in a PoS chain is basically just a timer (e.g. 10 seconds). There is no need to adjust that dynamically because there is no "race" to solve a problem. I guess it is even more predictable if it is not dynamically adjusted.

[zadler]

But that does have to be enforced via incentives/cryptography, and with reference to a clock.

[dirtnugget]

Well it is enforced by the protocol on which all node agree and there needs to be a mechanism for syncing clocks across nodes (also defined by the protocol) but they exist, e.g. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264

Not 100% sure what ETH is using here but there is a mechanism.

If someone would want to fake timestamps, they would need to deviate from the protocol and would thus not be on chain.

[Benmcdonald__]

You are simply raising the fundamental difficulty with blockchains. How do you know what is the true chain in an adversary environment (the internet)? You gave us the question and no answer

[dirtnugget]

Validation of the longest chain, agreed upon by the protocol which the nodes are running. This is the absolute fundamental of this technology. This is not new and it has been working for more than a decade.

[dirtnugget]

* which the majority of nodes are running

[Benmcdonald__]

That's not how the technology networks. That naive implementation would leave you wide open for sybil attack

[hanniabu]

This is incorrect. The difficulty is PoS adjusts to meet the target block time just like it does in PoW.

[dirtnugget]

I have to suspect that you are wrong. Can you provide a source? There is no mentioning of difficulty in the spec, instead there are predefined slot times:

https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phas...

Here is how they sync: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8946264

Assuming they describe the BeaconBlocks mentioned here: https://github.com/ethereum/eth2.0-specs/blob/dev/specs/phas...

Also, which effect would an increased difficulty have?