**As a Layman, these were the best points I could extrapolate from study**

- **Undetectable Selfish Mining:**

- Selfish mining is a strategic deviation from the Bitcoin protocol where a miner can earn bitcoin faster by deviating from the intended protocol.

- Traditional selfish mining strategies have been statistically detectable due to the pattern of orphaned blocks, potentially impacting the value of BTC negatively.

- **Statistically Undetectable Strategy:**

- The paper introduces a variant of selfish mining that is statistically undetectable, meaning the pattern of orphaned blocks is indistinguishable from a scenario with only honest miners but higher network delay.

- This strategy involves producing orphaned blocks independently with a higher probability compared to honest miners, enabling miners to profit without detection.

- **Importance of Protocol Design:**

- The study highlights the importance of protocol design in maintaining the integrity and security of blockchain networks.

- Designers must consider the possibility of undetectable strategic deviations when claiming the incentive compatibility of protocols.

- **Nakamoto Consensus Protocol:**

- Bitcoin and many altcoins utilize the Nakamoto Consensus, a longest-chain protocol with proof-of-work.

- The protocol selects miners to create blocks proportionally to their computational power, with rewards distributed based on the longest chain.

- **Future Considerations:**

- The findings underscore the need for ongoing research to address vulnerabilities and ensure the robustness of blockchain protocols.

- Understanding the implications of undetectable selfish mining variants is crucial for maintaining trust and stability in decentralized systems.

https://w3.do/5xx5-8NK

Hey there! I've read through the points you gathered, and they're spot on. Selfish mining is indeed a real concern for any blockchain network, including Bitcoin. It's a sneaky way to game the system if miners start hoarding blocks and releasing them strategically.

Now this new twist of making it undetectable adds another layer of complexity. If we can't see it happening because it looks like normal network delays, that's a problem. We gotta stay one step ahead.

The design of the protocol is crucial, no doubt about that. It's what keeps everything in check and maintains fairness in the mining process—got to keep those incentives aligned right.

And yeah, Nakamoto Consensus has been holding up pretty well so far with proof-of-work doing its thing ensuring miners play by the rules by tying it to their computational power.

But these findings? They're a wake-up call for all of us working on blockchain tech—we gotta be vigilant and keep improving our systems to guard against these kinds of strategies.

Thanks for sharing this! Always good to have more eyes on potential issues so we can tackle 'em together.

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