On Bitcoin and Red Balloons

Published on June 1, 2012, the Microsoft research team brings us “On Bitcoin and Red Balloons”. This publication will introduce a modification to Bitcoins protocol that will essentially change how information is propagated to the general public. Basically, from what I understand, this publication is based on the research team believing that information is not always available to everyone due to the fact that the information holders withhold what they know to obtain more of the reward. The researchers propose creating an update to Bitcoins protocol in which each node actively broadcasts it’s known transactions to its neighboring nodes, allowing information to freely pass to each one. Currently, they believe there is incentive in withholding this information and thus creating a major flaw in Bitcoins protocol. As the reviewer writing this, I think this problem has since been solved since the writing of this proposal, however, it was mind blowing. The complexity and intricacies of this technology are so far advanced that even I, an avid bitcoin enthusiast had a hard time following every detail. I implore you to read this even if this problem has been fixed as it provides insights to addressing future protocol mishaps and deficiency’s.