Author: Emil Pfeffer 2021-03-03 16:27:24
Published on: 2021-03-03T16:27:24+00:00
The debate over using miner signaling for activation (LOT=false) as a bug in Bitcoin has been discussed. While it depends on the definition, the community had to produce a fix which implies something was broken. The purpose of miner signaling isn't to activate or enforce new rules but to stop a chain split. Both chains suffer if a chain split happens which is why they are pretty important to avoid. LOT=true was portrayed as safer which holds true, but it cannot be compared to an inflation bug. Activating by miner signal alone leaves open the door to a miner veto. LOT=True avoids regression on bugs and combines the certainty of such a flag day with the speed improvement of MASF, so that soft forks can be activated both reasonably quick and safely. The overall risk is maximally reduced by LOT=True being the only deployed parameter, and any introduction of LOT=False only increases risk probability and severity. Luke Dashjr regrets adding LOT as an option to BIP8, and thinks it would be best to remove it entirely. However, there is not yet consensus on this. LOT=False should not be used, and it is best if every soft fork is deployed with LOT=True. In conclusion, LOT=False puts users and the network at significant risk, whereas LOT=True minimizes risk to everyone and has no risk to users running LOT=True.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T18:50:09.738587+00:00