[Ethereum] Why did Ethereum not start with Proof of Stake

casperhistoryproof-of-stake

I had been reading up on Proof of Stake and the advantages and disadvantages. As if I am correctly informed, it is planned to change from PoW to PoS in the near future, using Casper. I had also been reading on why they would do so Why Does ethereum plan to move to proof of stake

I am actually wondering, why they did not created Ethereum right away on proof of stake, as nextcoin. Anyone any ideas?

Best Answer

A basic answer is that Casper was not ready (and Proof of Stake theory back then was lacking maturity).

Vlad Zamfir has some posts on his Medium about The History of Casper, starting with Chapter 1.

2 commonly cited problems with Proof of Stake are:

  1. nothing-at-stake
  2. long-range attack

Chapter 2 concluded with the status on these problems and the path forward:

With the nails in the nothing-at-stake and long-range attack coffins completely hammered in, we were ready to start choosing our slashing conditions.

The next chapter will document what we learned from our first struggles to define a consensus protocol by specifying slashing conditions. I’ll also tell you about what we learned from talking with fine people from our space about our research. The game theory and economic modelling story presented here will continue developing in Chapter 4.

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