The timestamp for block 129587 is 2017-01-08 22:01:42 UTC : http://moneroblocks.info/block/1219587
One block later 129588 the timestamp is 2017-01-08 21:58:37 UTC : http://moneroblocks.info/block/1219588
Why has the later block an earlier timestamp?
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Synchronizing time across machines is difficult due to clock drift and network latencies. The timestamp of a block in Monero is specified by the miner, and the nodes only enforce that the timestamp of a new block is greater than the median of the last 60 blocks. If the nodes used their local clock to enforce timestamp, there would be some risk of disagreement of the validity of the newest block, and therefore a potential chain fork could result. Searching anything related to Bitcoin would be of use too, because identical issues with time are present on that system.
A system could require that the timestamps strictly increase or remain equal, but that could force a miner to put a timestamp that they viewed as incorrect in subsequent blocks.
Lee Clagett
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