Author: Chris Belcher 2021-03-03 14:39:23
Published on: 2021-03-03T14:39:23+00:00
The bitcoin community is divided on how to activate taproot, and if no agreement is reached, the benefits of taproot and future soft forks will be missed. The proposed BIP8 method results in different parts of the ecosystem running different consensus rules, making it vulnerable to social media attacks. Flag day activation is a solution that removes miners from activation and eliminates the risk of brinksmanship. It works by choosing a block height after which the new rules become enforced. Supporters of LOT=true can advocate for flag day activation since it takes miners out of activation, while supporters of LOT=false can derisk by setting the flag day further in the future or getting mining pools and businesses to agree on the code. In case flag day activation is used maliciously, the bitcoin user community can create their own counter-soft-fork full node, forcing a chain split between censorship rules and no-censorship rules. This is possible with any user-activated soft fork, and rejecting block headers with certain version bits signaled can work in BIP8 LOT=true. Flag day activation takes less time than other methods, and there is no risk of a game of chicken that puts the bitcoin network at risk since miner signaling cannot change the activation date for passively following nodes. Bitcoin's rules are enforced by wallets backed by full nodes, making miner signaling irrelevant. Ultimately, some group has to make a decision, and asking the bitcoin economy and users what they think of flag day activation is necessary. Nobody seriously objects to taproot, and if Core developers did something evil, the community could resist it with a counter-flag-day-activation. The proposal for flag day activation is seen as a way forward that addresses all objections and risks associated with other methods.
Updated on: 2023-05-21T01:37:17.409268+00:00