# Gavin Andresen
# 2011-05-11 13:53:29
# https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1865.msg115890#msg115890

I'd tweak the formula to be:  max block size = 1000000 + (int64)(difficulty) @p{par}

... just to avoid "if block number is @p{lt} X max block size = 1000000 else..." logic.  Adding in the current 1MB max limit means all the old blocks are valid under the new rule. @p{par}

I like Mike's point that difficulty and transaction volume aren't necessarily related.  Maybe a better formula for miners would be something like: @p{par}

max block size = 1000000 + (average size of last N blocks in the best chain) @p{brk}
... where N is maybe 144 (smooth over 24-hours of transactions) @p{par}

Anybody have access to what Visa daily transaction volume looks like in the days around Christmas?  Are there huge, sudden spikes that the above formula wouldn't handle?