[RETRACTED] On a blockchain of near immediate finality
0. This was originally posted 03.02.2025 and reluctantly retracted on 18.12.2025. The issue with the design is that it relies on secure time-stamps, without which it can't prevent double-spends from forcing the network to diverge, and "first seen" does not work here as it does for Nakamoto. Whilst the design might be salvaged by some more trickery and thought, I have reused elements of this deign in this alternative architecture, which I like better for now. 1.1 Since we’re after shaving time, you start by taking the Proof of Work out of the blockchain. You still need to hash the block’s contents with its predecessor’s hash to establish a sequence, but there are no further requirements made of the hash itself. This will become important for efficiently checking long chains soon. 1.2 Next, you allow all potentially double-spent transactions to be included in the chain without rendering the chain invalid. You still omit transactions that are invalid due to issues with sign...