Op_checkmaxtimeverify

The discussion revolves around the implications and considerations of incorporating transaction expiration into Bitcoin's protocol. A key point of interest stems from an analysis of historical reorganization (reorg) data, indicating that stale blocks occur infrequently, only a few times per month. This analysis, derived from data provided by 0x10BC in the stale-blocks repository and further visualized through block time plotting, suggests that the economic incentives for executing reorgs to exploit expiring transactions are minimal under current conditions. The potential for high fees from expiring transactions to incentivize reorgs was proposed as not overly concerning but still warrants further contemplation. The rarity of stale blocks, as evidenced by the stale-blocks repo and the plotted data, underscores this point.

Peter Todd's contribution to the OP_EXPIRE mailing list thread introduces a practical approach to manage the potential challenges posed by transaction expiration. He advocates for nodes to impose higher minimum relay fees for transactions nearing their expiration height. This strategy aims to prevent the network from expending bandwidth on transactions unlikely to be mined, thereby aligning with the primary objective of ensuring transactions have a high enough fee rate to be included in the next block. Todd's suggestion underscores the need for a balance between technical efficiency and economic considerations within the Bitcoin network. His proposal, detailed in the source, highlights a methodical approach to address bandwidth waste without detracting from the broader goals of enhancing on-chain efficiency and optimizing the economic aspects of atomic asset swaps. Through these discussions, the intricacies of implementing a transaction expiration feature are explored, emphasizing the importance of careful consideration to maintain the network's integrity while potentially introducing mechanisms for economic optimization.