User Resisted Soft Fork for CTV

Summary:

Bitcoin Core developer Michael Folkson discussed the ongoing controversy surrounding a contentious soft fork activation attempt of CTV using an alternative client that is expected to be a Speedy Trial deployment. He stated that attempts to actively resist the proposal should be done outside of Bitcoin Core in an alternative client(s), as getting anything consensus-related into Bitcoin Core is extremely difficult, and there are no BDFL or Linus Torvalds-like figures. Folkson also mentioned that directing people to have this discussion on a particular PR in the Bitcoin Core repo is counterproductive and a massive distraction to other work that is going on on Bitcoin Core. To discuss an alternative client, there is a Libera (and Freenode now) IRC channel ##ursf that has been set up. Folkson labeled the effort to prevent the attempted soft fork from activating as a User Resisted Soft Fork (URSF). He set up a ##ursf channel on Libera IRC to monitor developments and discuss working on an additional release that, if run, may ultimately reject blocks that signal for CTV. The intention of this would be to provide additional direction and incentive to miners that the community does not want this soft fork to be activated. Running a Bitcoin Core release will not signal for a CTV soft fork out the box. If a miner runs a Bitcoin Core release, it will not signal for CTV. The controversy surrounding the contentious soft fork activation attempt of CTV using an alternative client has angered and surprised some people, including some of those who have voiced opposition to a CTV soft fork activation being attempted in the first place. Folkson stated that it is prudent to prepare for an eventuality where the miner signaling threshold might be reached but the community wants to prevent the attempted soft fork from activating. He personally doesn't think a 90 percent miner signaling threshold will be reached, but he wouldn't want to bet Bitcoin's future on it. In conclusion, Folkson recommends sticking to one challenge at a time and resolving the contentious soft fork activation attempt of CTV using an alternative client that is expected to be a Speedy Trial deployment first before discussing the lessons and observations that come out of this. He also advises people who dislike or oppose UASFs to contribute to this effort and potentially ultimately running a URSF release.

Updated on: 2023-06-15T19:14:05.655135+00:00