Author: Matt Corallo 2020-01-10 21:30:09
Published on: 2020-01-10T21:30:09+00:00
The author discusses the activation methods for soft-fork designs, which have been making progress towards implementation and future adoption. The author lists five basic requirements for soft forks and their activation methods, including avoiding activating in the face of significant objection and not losing hashpower to un-upgraded miners. BIP 9 is proposed as a way to fulfill requirements 2-4, while also ensuring that miners have upgraded to enforce new rules. BIP 8 has been proposed as an alternative but is criticized for failing certain requirements. The Great Consensus Cleanup softfork proposal includes a text suggesting the use of BIP 9 with a one-year time horizon for activation with 95% miner readiness. In case of no activation within a year, there would be a six-month quieting period during which the community can analyze and discuss the reasons for no activation. If it makes sense, a simple command-line/bitcoin.conf parameter would enable users to opt into a BIP 8 deployment with a 24-month time-horizon for flag-day activation. The author stresses the importance of meeting all the goals and suggests that developing Bitcoin is not a race.
Updated on: 2023-05-20T21:26:47.799174+00:00