‘Resilient Distribution,’ Multicasting and IPv6: Bitcoin Masterclasses Series 2 with Dr. Craig Wright

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Think “resilient distribution” instead of “censorship resistance.” With the growing use of IPv6 to handle the world’s Internet traffic, Bitcoin will benefit from the use of multicast addresses for transaction processors (miners) and others to receive transaction information. It is the first topic from Bitcoin inventor Dr. Craig S. Wright’s second “The Bitcoin Masterclasses” series held in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Bitcoin Masterclasses Series 2 is a deeper dive into some of Bitcoin’s technical aspects, present and future. IPv6 is the latest and fast-spreading version of the Internet protocol that handles network traffic, and it brings huge benefits to Bitcoin’s scalability and speed.

Although Bitcoin was designed to work in an IPv6 world, it has so far had to live with IPv4 – the older version of the Internet protocol that has been surprisingly robust in the world of network management. However, IPv6 is far better and handles internet traffic more efficiently. The demand for network/address and other realities is finally catching up, and IPv6 is finally gaining traction.

An important improvement in IPv6 is “multicasting” – the ability for one address to send data packets to several others. Receivers can choose which multicast addresses they “subscribe” to, and receive packets from that address almost immediately.

For Bitcoin, this means that transaction information can be sent directly from senders to processors/miners without needing the Bitcoin protocol software to broadcast it to all of them. The Internet itself would handle the data load.

As Dr. Wright notes, IPv4 has a kind of multicasting functionality, but it only works within private networks and not on the wider Internet. IPv6 brings multicasting to every IP address, and IPv6 allows for an almost infinite number of unique IP addresses.

So what does “resilient distribution” really mean for Bitcoin? This means that any node on the network can subscribe to an IPv6 multicast address and receive transaction data. There is no way to prevent a node from joining or leaving the network in this way (Dr. Wright refers to the recent controversy in BTC, where the possibility of “blacklisting” miners who processed Ordinals data was discussed).

As for BTC, Dr Wright also says that the way Bitcoin currently broadcasts transactions to each node actually creates a lot of extra data traffic – so much for BTC Core’s claim that small blocks of transactions are necessary to keep bandwidth usage to a minimum.

IPv6 multicasting can change the way transaction processors build their business. With transaction data being broadcast almost instantaneously, there will be new competition to reduce latency, just as algorithmic traders prefer to place their operations as physically close to the data source as possible.

This second series of Bitcoin Masterclasses features more audience input and interaction, as well as workshop time and group discussions. If you don’t understand any of the concepts Dr. Wright describes or want to hear some expansion on the ideas and what they mean for Bitcoin, continue watching the video after the coffee breaks to see the rest of the sessions.

The remaining sessions in the series will also examine other aspects of IPv6 and how its other features can be used for more inventive Bitcoin transactions. Register to watch the Day 2 live stream here.

See: Highlights from The Bitcoin Masterclasses 1 on identity and privacy

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