[BIP Draft] P2P UTXO Set Sharing

In the recent correspondence concerning UX improvements within blockchain implementations, specific concerns and critiques were raised about the proposal of using peer-to-peer (p2p) distribution to handle utxo (unspent transaction outputs). The discussion highlights that features like assumevalid and assumeutxo are trust-based elements specific to node implementations rather than fundamental aspects of the protocol itself. Such implementations do not address hardware limitations as might be implied, but rather focus on operational details of individual nodes.

The transition from trusted utxo downloads to p2p distribution is critiqued for leading inevitably towards proposals for miner commitments to validate utxo states. This shift is viewed critically because it involves significant validation costs and does not solve inherent scalability issues; instead, it potentially introduces new risks without clear benefits. Historical references indicate that such strategies have been considered and implemented in alternative cryptocurrencies and were particularly prominent among proposals aimed at handling larger block sizes in a way that eschews full validation.

Further discourse dismisses the notion that these changes would yield a real positive impact, pointing out the lack of any substantial advantage given that the blockchain must still undergo complete validation before becoming usable. The dialogue also mentions concerns about the potential misuse of non-validated nodes like untrusted block explorers, which do not contribute positively towards the security or functionality of the blockchain network.

For further reading and context on these discussions, one can refer to the insights shared by Patrick Strateman in 2015 available here.