# Block time encourages space travel

**URL:** <https://forum.grin.mw/t/block-time-encourages-space-travel/10095>\
**Category:** Research\
**Created:** [October 17, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/block-time-encourages-space-travel/10095 "2022-10-17T00:26:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![trab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@trab](https://forum.grin.mw/u/trab)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/block-time-encourages-space-travel/10095/1 "2022-10-17T00:26:51Z")

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> **[Bitcoin Astronomy: Part II - Unchained Capital](https://unchained.com/blog/bitcoin-astronomy-part-ii/)**
>
> We follow hyperbitcoinized humanity as they ascend the Kardashev scale and launch a blockchain the size of our solar system.

This article is super interesting.

The basic premise is, Mars is too far away to mine Bitcoin because the BTC block time is too long (10 minutes). So Mars would need to mine it’s own new crypto based on Bitcoin. People are encouraged to travel outside the scope of a “center of hash” because they know they can mine a new currency and get rich from it.

Curious what that means for a block time of 1 minute in Grin. Theoretically a planet closer than Mars would be too far away as well. So if Grin were the currency, it would take less far distances to encourage new crypto to be created.

Anything beyond that?

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**Author:** ![trab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@trab](https://forum.grin.mw/u/trab)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/block-time-encourages-space-travel/10095/2 "2022-10-17T15:44:53Z")

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By the way, some Bitcoin people mentioned that another reason for a longer block time is the amount of time it takes for miners to stay in sync. They estimate that 10% of work is wasted because some are out of sync.

Is this an issue with 1 minute block times?

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**Author:** ![tromp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/forum.grin.mw/tromp/32/22_2.png) [@tromp](https://forum.grin.mw/u/tromp)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/block-time-encourages-space-travel/10095/3 "2022-10-17T16:07:44Z")

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> [@trab](#):
>
> They estimate that 10% of work is wasted

I don’t think they do. They claim that such a large fraction might be wasted if block times were to be much less than 1 minute.  
At 1 minute the waste is a few percent at most.

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**Author:** ![trab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@trab](https://forum.grin.mw/u/trab)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2022, 4:16pm UTC](https://forum.grin.mw/t/block-time-encourages-space-travel/10095/4 "2022-10-18T16:16:14Z")

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I was wondering about that too. I can’t imagine a situation in which miners would be out of sync at 1 minute, but not out of sync at 10 minutes.

Nowhere in the world has that much lag. If they did, even 10 minutes would be a problem.
