Ethereum: What happens when two miners at the same time mining the next block?

In the world of cryptocurrency mining, the process is as complex and complex as it sounds. As described in our previous answers, several miners work together to solve a mathematical puzzle called “Work-of-Fours” (POW) algorithm. This puzzle requires significant calculation energy and energy. One of the key aspects of the POW algorithm is that it must be solved separately for each miner. What if two miners try to solve the same puzzle at the same time?

The answer lies in the concept of time synchronization, which ensures that each miner will finish their work at about the same time.

How to Synchronize Time

In Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies, using work-of-off algorithm, miners use special hardware, so-called application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) or graphical processing units (GPU). These tools are designed to quickly solve complex mathematical equations. In order to achieve synchronization, several miners usually use a procedure called “time stamp” or “time synchronization”.

When a miner solves the puzzle, they immediately calculate its block number with the previous hash value of the current timestamp and the previous block. If two miners try to approach the same puzzle at the same time, their calculated block number is close to each other.

What happens if two miners find the next block at the same time?

In a hypothetical scenario, when two miners find the next block at the same time, more things can happen:

1
Duplication of Block Block : If two miners run a pop algorithm at the same time, they can generate blocks that contain the same code or data. In this case, one of the miners must throw away a copy and return it to the network, ensuring that only one valid block is placed in the blockchain.

• Transaction Copies

  

  : Copy block may also contain controversial transactions that can be automatically solved by a validation (node ​​of the Ethereum network). Alternatively, nodes can solve them manually.

• Block Overwrite : In some cases, if two miners find the same blocks at the same time, they must rewrite each other’s block with their own code or data.

Key considerations

It is essential that many factors influence that a copy of a copy occurs and how it is treated:

* Network Delay

: For miners, the duration of the puzzle solution will affect the likelihood of finding a copy.

* POW Difficulty Level : As the POW’s difficulty increases, the chances of two concomitant experiments result in a duplicate decrease.

* HASH BREAKS : When two miners try to dissolve the same puzzle at about the same time, you can enter a state called “hash collision” where their code or data is the same.

In summary, although it is theoretically possible that two miners will find the next block at the same moment, the probability of the event in practice is extremely low. The network’s robust time stamping mechanism and POW’s difficulty levels work together to prevent the adding of duplicated blocks to the blockchain.