Why so many empty blocks mined on BSV? Joshua Henslee explains

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Bitcoin developer Joshua Henslee recently released a new video discussing empty blocks being mined on BSV, whether or not it’s something to be concerned about, and what it means for both the BSV token price and the network.

The overall picture

Henslee believes that it is a “bit of a concern” that this is allowed to happen. In his estimation, someone has spotted that it’s more profitable to mine on BSV (right now, 16% more profitable according to to coin.dance). He’s concerned that this is an attempt to mine on BSV while it’s relatively easy, rack up a boatload of coins, and dump them.

Henslee points out that, right now, the BSV block subsidy still outweighs any fee rewards gained from mining even larger blocks. He sees this remaining the case until at least the next halving in 2024.

Furthermore, Henslee has seen something similar to this happen before. The last time it occurred was in the run-up to the Kleiman v Wright trial in Florida. Back then, he concluded that it was someone who wanted to have exposure in the run-up to the conclusion of the trial. He has noticed this started around the time of the HODLnaut trial and wonders if someone is speculating on the outcome of that. He notes that this is just conjecture with no evidence to back it up but does find it interesting that this has happened twice.

BSV token price and passivity by miners

Henslee reasons that if this is just a profitable play, the price of BSV should go down. However, since all asset prices are going down, that’s nothing out of the ordinary.

With regards to the empty blocks being mined, Henslee says that miners like TAAL (CSE:TAAL | FWB:9SQ1 | OTC: TAALF) and GorillaPool are passive and allow it to happen. He says they have no incentive to do anything like orphan them, noting that there’s not enough money there to justify taking the risk. A decrease in the subsidy or an increase in the transaction volume could solve this.

Highlighting a practical problem with empty block mining, Henslee points to the fact that transactions don’t get into blocks promptly. He said it took an hour for some to do so the day before he made the video. If this continues to be a problem, Henslee thinks it will disrupt more apps coming onboard. That said, he believes it’s a temporary problem that will be solved eventually. This resolution will speed up after the next halving.

Henslee is bullish on companies like GorillaPool and thinks they’ll offer services that will bring in enough revenue, allowing them to add more hash power and deal with these sorts of things moving forward.

Ending the video with a final thought, Henslee encourages us to watch the verdict of the Granath v Wright trial and observe if this empty block mining stops.

Key takeaways from this video

• An unknown party is mining empty blocks on BSV. Henslee speculates that this might be related to the outcome of the Granath vs. Wright trial.
• He’s mildly concerned about it, but he thinks it’s a temporary thing and is partly due to the fact existing miners have no incentive to stop them.
• He believes this will be resolved in time, especially after the next halving. He says there’s nothing to prevent anyone from mining empty blocks, which can be considered honest mining.

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